Sunday, January 31, 2016
Sirach, Chapter 27, Verse 3
Unless one holds fast
to the fear of the Lord, with sudden swiftness will one’s house be
thrown down.
Sexagesima
literally means "sixtieth," though it only falls 56 days before
Easter. During these weeks before Lent contemplate the ways you can build up your fear of
the Lord remembering that fear of the Lord is really a deep abiding love for
God.
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. (1 Cor. 12:31-13:13)
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