Love never fails.

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1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13:13

Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

The Word of the Lord.

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I’m a sucker for today’s second reading – Saint Paul’s most famous words on love – as are many couples on their wedding day.

It just sounds so romantic: “If I do not have love, I am nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous. It does not seek its own interests… Love never fails.”

And while that’s true – love never fails – what is love?

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I often ask engaged couples that question while helping to prepare them for marriage. “You are promising to love one another for the rest of your life, so what is it? How would you define love?”

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One of the most recent answers I received came from a groom-to-be. I asked him, “How would you define love?”

And after a few seconds of the “deer-in-headlights” look, he said, “What, am I supposed to answer that?”

***

Love can be hard to define. Yet it’s what created the cosmos; it’s the reason why we exist; it’s the one, often elusive, thing that every human heart craves. Scripture even tells us, “God IS love.”

So, what is it?

Perhaps the best definition that I’ve read comes from William Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet. Maybe you’ve heard me use this before, but I believe it’s worth repeating.

In the famous balcony scene, a young Juliet gazes down upon Romeo and says, “Romeo, the more I give to you, the more I seem to have.”

Juliet had everything the world could offer: a palace, servants, and the blue blood of royalty running through her veins. But without love, as Saint Paul would say, she’d be, “a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.”

Juliet learned to live in a world of “we,” not “me,” by discovering the strange, scary truth about love: the more we give ourselves away, the more we seem to have.

***

This idea of giving oneself away is a law written by God into all of creation.

It’s the law of self-donation.

For example, the sun does not shine on itself; it gives its light away to warm and brighten the earth. 

Rivers do not drink their own water. 

Trees do not eat their own fruit. They offer it for the nourishment of others. Meanwhile, their branches stretch towards the heavens to offer others shade from the noonday heat.

Flowers release their fragrance.

Everything and everyone is meant to offer themselves for the good of others – a husband to his wife, a parent to their child, a shepherd to his flock, one friend to another, or a Christian to another in need.

***

Allow me share an example of love in action, that has tugged at my heart.

There’s a woman who’s been suffering from cancer for the last seven years. She’s fought the cancer tooth and nail and is one of the most resilient people I’ve ever met. But her mobility has been compromised to the point that she’s nearly paralyzed.

Recently, she said to me, “Father, the only thing I want is to go to Mass.” 

And for the last two weeks, a friend of hers has managed to carry her from her wheel chair into her car, back into her wheelchair, and finally here into church, positioning her near the altar, and covering her with a blanket.

Carrying a paralyzed friend to Mass. That’s love.

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In what ways do we also love other people? Or, how do we give ourselves away?

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It’s the mom making mac and cheese for the hundredth time, the dad attending soccer practice, a smile from the cashier at the grocery store, a grandfather tossing baseballs with his grandson despite his arthritis, a loving note sent in the mail to a friend, a teenager cleaning the house when they’d rather be outside.

Love is anything that inspires us to live in a world of “we,” not “me.” And that love is all around us. 

Together, may we bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.

Because love never fails.

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Image credits: (1) NIV Bible, It Never Fails (2) Brainy Readers (3) Catherine, OnSpritsWings.com