Sanctifying Sunday- First Comes Love

My dear and sorely missed husband managed to rip one out from New Orleans. While he had a front row, up close view to a really great game, my half time show consisted of a dark highway and whining kids, asking for more cookies and blankets. He may have gotten the better deal, but I won in the area of so humbly sacrificing and loving our kids. Its all a competition over here :). 

My holier half with take over from here...

While reading the Scriptures for today's Mass I'm reminded of several experiences connected to Paul's letter about love.  One of those memories vividly comes back from my freshman year of college.  

I joined a Bible study led by a great Protestant man.  I soon realized that I was the only Catholic in this group.  We were reading St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians, the same passage from today's second reading at Mass. The leader of the group asked me what I thought about the reading and it's message.  I don't exaclty recall what I said, but, I clearly remember what he said.  "If you focus on Paul's verbs you'll know what he's trying to say to you."

Isaiah has his shirt on backwards and inside out in this pic. I love him!

Well, it's a facinating way to read and attempt to understand what the Lord is trying to say. The reading from Corinthians is Paul's famous exposition on LOVE.  You know the one, everyone uses it at their weddings and quickly forget about after the reception.  Love is patient, love is kind, love is long-suffering(that's the King James translation).... you can most likely finish it on your own.  Or people get cute copies of this treatise on love and hang them in their kitchens.  Actually, years ago a good friend of  my moms asked me where she could get another copy of this poem.  She was calling around all the malls asking where the store called Corinthians was located!  HA!

Little love!

Anyways, Love is central to everything.  If we get this right we can get everything right.  If we don't get this right, then we can possibly get everything wrong.  

The classic definition of love is to "will the good of the other."  Now, if God IS love, then this is a radically revolutionary reality.  God wants the good for us?  For me?  For you?  

First comes love, this is what it is all about. 

Ps. I just have to add that my Mass time consisted of one reflection alone, "Love is Patient". This was all I could think about as I spent the whole time saying, "Shhhhhh" to one Gracie Girl. She was insisting on singing, "Jesus, Jesus," which was super cute during the songs, but not so cute to others during the readings, prayers, and homily. So, like always, I resorted to taking her out, kicking and screaming none the less. We did make it through the Homily though :).