Love is patient, love is kind… – 1 Corinthians 13:4
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “To love is to will the good of another” (ST I-II, Q26, A4). Our second reading today is the gorgeous gem of St. Paul’s definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. It is at the same time one of my favorite pieces of Scripture and one that challenges me most. I read it each morning and try to live up to each day. At the end of the day, I often examine my conscience based on these verses. I can seem to get through the day with kindness, but not perfect patience, or vice versa. Sometimes I am generous, but then I am proud about it (#facepalm). Living up to 1 Corinthians 13 is the work of a lifetime and takes God’s grace to live fully.
In his book Love and Responsibility, St. Pope John Paul II wrote about the connections that exist among love, freedom, generosity, selflessness, and responsibility. He wrote: “Love consists of a commitment which limits one’s freedom—it is a giving of the self, and to give oneself means just that: to limit one’s freedom on behalf of another.” 1 Corinthians 13 is a list we can use to help train us to live out love each and every day as a commitment by willing the good of the people in our lives, even at our own expense.
Love is a verb, not a noun. True love is not a feeling; it is an action, an engagement of the will. We put love into action, it does not “happen” to us. It takes an effort to love as God asks us to, in fact as He commands us to. Love is the greatest commandment (see Mark 12:29-31). We will each be judged on this commandment to love. It is how we demonstrate our discipleship, as well: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
Father, I know that all love comes from You first (cf. 1 John 4:19). Help me to rely on the perfect love that You pour into my heart and in turn pour it out for others (cf. Romans 5:5).