NOT ANY LESS GREAT

So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13

It was supposed to be our pre-Valentine outreach with streetkids from He Cares Foundation. Along the way, they taught us their definition of love.

“Why don’t you want to take a bath?,” one of the volunteers asked one young girl. “Because this is my sister’s dress,” the girl replied.

“I promise not to curse anymore,” said one boy, when we discussed what to do as our Valentine promise.

“Why do they ask for cellophane when they sit down to eat?,” I asked Daryl, the housefather. “Because they want to bring the food to their mother,” he said.

If we judge the topic of love by the amount of attention it gets in songs, movies, books and everywhere else, we can easily conclude that it is the greatest. But “greatest” is not necessarily popular. So on that day in February, I learned the various ways of showing love.

And it wasn’t any less great for being different from what I am used to. Just like Jesus—who offered His life for love of me. Joy Sosoban (jsosoban@gmail.com)

Reflection: God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Dearest Jesus, as You are Love Himself, grant me the grace to show love.

St. Blasé, bishop and martyr, pray for us.

The idea of “election” is fundamental in the Jewish understanding of a relationship with God. It involves a sense of God calling a person to a particular task in His plan for the world. Each of us has a role to play in God’s plan. We should seek what it is and prepare ourselves for what it might involve. This is part of becoming and being a disciple of Jesus.

Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19

4 The word of the Lord came to me saying: 5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. 17 But do you gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you. Be not crushed on their account, as though I would leave you crushed before them; 18 for it is I this day who have made you a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land, against Judah’s kings and princes, against its priests and people. 19 They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.

Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15, 17

R: I will sing of your salvation.

1 In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 In your justice rescue me, and deliver me; incline your ear to me, and save me. (R) 3 Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked. (R) 5 For you are my hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth. 6 On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. (R) 15 My mouth shall declare your justice, day by day your salvation. 17 O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds. (R)

St. Paul gives us a wonderful description of the nature of love. One of the aspects of love that the modern world would do well to reflect on closely is that it is primarily a decision and not just a feeling. If love is what it promises to be, we must understand its true nature — a design of God and commitment to the other.

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

31 Brothers and sisters: Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. 13:1 If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, 5 it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, 6 it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 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. 9 For we know partially and we prophesy partially, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 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. 12 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. 13 So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Those who express doubt in the origins and, thus, the message of Jesus represent those who will say the same sort of things until the end of time. There will always be doubters — those who are skeptical of the promises of the Gospel — and those who want to remain uncommitted to God. As believers, it is our job, responsibility and call to live the Gospel in such a way as to convince others by the witness of our lives, “using words if necessary” (in the words of St. Francis of Assisi).

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives.

21 Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” 23 He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’” 24 And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25 Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. 26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. 29 They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. 30 But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.

think: As believers, it is our job, responsibility and call to live the Gospel in such a way as to convince others by the witness of our lives, “using words if necessary.”

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ___________________________

God’s special verse/thought for me today_________

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Acts 21-24

                                                                                                          SABBATH PAUSE

A long brewing issue regarding salvation is about who and how many will be saved. Through the ages, various religious movements — including numerous Christian sects and denominations — have claimed that their respective groups are surely and only the ones certain to be saved.

The people of Nazareth also wanted to put a hedge around Jesus. They believed that since Jesus was their compatriot, He ought to have made them the first beneficiaries of all the good things He had begun to be known for, among which were His miracles of healing. Instead, Jesus made His early signs and works more known in Capernaum.

Beyond what had happened, Jesus seemed to have further enraged His listeners from Nazareth when, reading the scroll from the prophet Isaiah, He broke off the quotation in mid-sentence (cf Is 61:2), omitting all reference to divine vengeance against the Gentiles. Jesus even went on to refer to the stories about the prophet Elijah and his disciple Elisha who, in their respective ministries, blessed a Sidonese widow and a Syrian general respectively.

The religious, it seems, have a great tendency towards exclusivity and elitism. We make classifications that lead to the exclusion of others. We label each other in Church: between the baptized and the unbaptized; the ordained as against the unordained; the covenanted as distinguished from the ordinary members; between diocesan priests who have but a promise of obedience to their bishops, and the religious priests who profess the three evangelical vows; between nuns who are contemplative and those in active mission. While we preach about various callings and charisms as works of the same Spirit of God, we cannot help but compare many times — which one could be superior in graces and in privileges? Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you more welcoming than discriminating, embracing than alienating? What does today’s Gospel challenge you to do in your ministry and in your relationships with people?

Lord, I pray for a heart that is like Yours: open, blessing and all-embracing.