Fourth Sunday – Ordinary Time Cycle C

Reflecting on 1 Corinthians 12:31; 13:1-13

Do you have a memory, or a million memories, that you snuggle up with at night when you say your last prayers of the day?  And when you make your Morning Offering, what do you resolve to try to do with the day God has given?  I’ll bet the answer is right there in Paul’s most famous passage, which we hear in today’s second reading.  It’s love.  Wonderful, painful, life-changing love.

Paul wrote his famous letter to the church in ancient Corinth

Want to feel God’s closeness immediately?  Love somebody.  Want to connect with Jesus as he hung on the cross?  Forgive somebody.  Want to share in the witness of the martyrs?  Bear all things, hope all things, endure all things.  That ache in our hearts as we pray for Haiti is the result of love, and it takes us straight to the heart of God.

Can you recall a time when you were caught, red-handed, in a lie or some other embarrassing transgression?  Now try to remember that great relief and love washing over you when you were forgiven.  That’s love!  The one you wronged didn’t brood over injury or rejoice in your humiliation, but rejoiced in this truth: love is the gateway to God.

Let somebody off the hook today.  You’ll feel the presence of Jesus every time you remember how good it felt.

Sharing God’s Word at Home:

Do you have a special memory of being let off the hook?

Ordinary Time - Cycle C