From: 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
[31] But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you still a
more excellent way.
Hymn to Charity
[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have
all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
[3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned,
but have not love, I gain nothing. [4] Love is patient and kind; love
is not jealous or boastful; [5] it is not arrogant or rude. Love does
not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it
does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. [7] Love bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
[8] Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for
tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [9] For
our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the
perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. [11] When I was a child,
I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child;
when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. [12] For now we see in a
mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall
understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. [13] So faith,
hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Commentary:
31. "Earnestly desire the higher gifts": according to some Greek
manuscripts this can be translated "earnestly seek the greater gifts."
St Paul is encouraging his Christians to put greater value on those
gifts of the Holy Spirit which contribute most to the goal of the
Church than on those which are spectacular. He probably has in mind the
teaching he will develop (chap. 14) about the superiority of graces and
charisms to do with teaching and catechesis.
"A still more excellent way": this undoubtedly refers to charity, which
he goes on to describe and praise (chap. 13). Therefore, what is called
his "hymn to charity" is not a digression, much less a later addition,
but an outpouring of the Apostle's soul, which perfectly explains why
charity is the greatest of all gifts, a sure route to holiness and
salvation, and the identifying mark of the Christian: "the first and
most necessary gift is charity, by which we love God above all things
and our neighbor because of him. [...] This is because love, as the
bond of perfection and fullness of the law (cf. Col 3:14, Rom. 13:10),
governs, gives meaning to, and perfects all the means of
sanctification. Hence the true disciple of Christ is marked by love
both of God and of his neighbor" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 42).
1-13. This wonderful hymn to charity is one of the most beautiful
pages in Pauline writing. The literary style of the chapter is designed
to present charity in all its splendor. St Paul sings the praises of
love as seen from three points of view--the superiority and absolute
need of this gift (vv. 1-3); its features and practical expression
(vv. 4-7); and the fact it endures for ever (vv. 8-13).
Love, the charity of which St Paul is speaking, has nothing to do with
selfish desire for physical passionate possession; nor is it restricted
to mere philanthropy, whose motivation is purely humanitarian: charity
is a love which is to be found in the new order of things established
by Christ; its origin, context and purpose are radically new; it is
born of the love of God for men, a love so intense that he sacrificed
his only-begotten Son (In 3:16). The Christian is enabled to respond to
this love of God by this gift of the Holy Spirit, charity (cf. Gal
5:22; Rom 15:30), and by virtue of this divine love he discovers God in
his neighbor: he recognizes that all are children of the one Father and
brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ: "Our love is not to be confused
with sentimentality or mere good fellowship, nor with that somewhat
questionable zeal to help others in order to convince ourselves of our
superiority. Rather, it means living in peace with our neighbor,
venerating the image of God that is found in each and every person and
doing all we can to get them in their turn to contemplate that image
and learn to turn to Christ" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 230).
To make this clear St Paul mentions those gifts which appear to be most
exceptional--the gift of tongues; knowledge; and heroic actions.
Firstly, the gift of tongues. St Thomas Aquinas comments that the
Apostle "rightly compares words lacking in charity to the sound of
lifeless instruments, to the sound of a bell or cymbals, whose sound
though clear is a dead sound. The same occurs in the speech of someone
who has no charity; no matter how brilliant it be, it comes across as
something dead, because it is of no help as far as meriting eternal
life is concerned" ("Commentary on 1 Cor, ad loc."). By way of
emphasis St Paul speaks of the tongues of angels as the highest degree
of the gift of tongues.
"I am nothing": this conclusion could not be more emphatic. A little
further on (1 Cor 15:10), St Paul will himself say that "by the grace
of God I am what I am", to make us see that from God's love for man
(grace) derives man's love for God and for his neighbor for God's sake
(charity).
Knowledge and faith, which need not ever be separated, also acquire
their full meaning in the Christian who lives by love: "Each one
according to his own gifts and duties must steadfastly advance along
the way of a living faith, which arouses hope and works through love"
(Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 41).
Strictly speaking, martyrdom is the supreme act of love. St Paul is
referring here as in the previous points to hypothetical cases or
merely external gestures, which seem to be token detachment and
generosity, but are in fact mere appearances: "If someone does not have
charity", St Augustine says, "even though he may have these gifts at
the moment, they will be taken away from him. What he has will be taken
away because he is missing the main thing, that whereby he will have
everything and which will keep him safe [...]. He has the power to
possess, but he has no charity in what he does; and because he lacks
charity, what he has in his possession will be taken from him"
("Enarrationes in Psalmos", 146, 10).
4-7. In his listing of the qualities of charity, St Paul, under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, begins with two general features--
patience and kindness--which the Bible attributes to God. Both of these
lead on to thirteen particular ways in which love expresses itself.
Patience is a quality often praised in the Bible: in the Psalms God is
said to be slow to anger (Ps 145:8); patience means great serenity in
the face of injury; kindness has to do with being inclined to do good
to others. St Thomas Aquinas explains this by starting with the
etymology of the word: "Kindness ["benignitas", benignity] is like good
fuel ["bona igneitas"]: just as fire causes solid substances to become
liquid and start to melt, charity sees to it that a person does not
keep his things for himself but distributes them to others"
("Commentary on 1 Cor, ad loc."). Since to charity are attributed
qualities which in the first instance apply to God, we can see the
excellence of this virtue: "Charity towards our neighbor is an
expression of our love of God. Accordingly, when we strive to grow in
this virtue, we cannot fix any limits to our growth. The only possible
measure for the love of God is to love without measure: on the one
hand, because we will never be able to thank him enough for what he has
done for us; and on the other, because this is exactly what God's own
love for us, his creatures, is like: it overflows without calculation
or limit" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 232).
"Love is patient", St Gregory the Great comments, "because it bears
serenely the injury it suffers. It is kind, because it repays evil with
good. It is not jealous, because it covets nothing in this world: it
does not know what it is to envy worldly prosperity. It is not
boastful, because it yearns only for spiritual reward and it is not
carried away by external things. It is not arrogant, because it thrives
only on the love of God and neighbor and avoids whatever would take it
from the path of righteousness. It is not covetous, because although it
ardently pursues its own spiritual goals, it does not desire the goods
of others. It does not insist on its own way, because it scorns as
alien those things it temporarily possesses here below: it seeks to
hold on only to what is enduring. It is not irritable, and even though
injuries seek to provoke it, it does not let itself have any desire for
vengeance, for no matter how difficult a time it may have in this life,
it hopes for greater rewards in the next. It is not resentful, because
it has invested its thought in the love of purity, and having rooted
out all hatred it is incapable of harboring in its heart any type of
aversion. It does not rejoice at wrong, because it feels affection for
others and does not rejoice at seeing the ruin of its enemies. It
rejoices in the right, because by loving others as it loves itself, it
is as pleased to see goodness in them as if it were indeed something
to its own personal advantage" ("Moralia", X, 7-8, 10).
7. The repetition of the word "all" reinforces the absolute, essential,
value of charity. This is not hyperbole, much less a depiction of
utopia: it is recognition of the fact, as the Word of God confirms,
that love lies at the very source of all Christian virtue. "Since we
are all children of God," the founder of Opus Dei reminds us, "our
fraternity is not a clichi or an empty dream; it beckons as a goal
which, though difficult, is really ours to achieve.
"As Christians we must show that affection of this kind is in fact
possible, whatever cynics, skeptics, those disappointed in love or
those with a cowardly outlook on life might say. It may be quite
difficult to be truly affectionate, for man was created free and he can
rebel against God in a useless and bitter way. But it is possible and
people can attain it, because it flows as a necessary consequence of
God's love for us and our love for God. If you and I want it, Jesus
also wants it. Then we will obtain a full and fruitful understanding
of the meaning of suffering, sacrifice and unselfish dedication in
ordinary life" ("Friends of God", 233).
8-13. Love is enduring; it will never disappear. In this sense it is
greater than all God's other gifts to man; each of those gifts is
designed to help man reach perfection and eternal beatitude; charity,
on the other hand, is beatitude, blessedness, itself. A thing is
imperfect, St Thomas comments, for one of two reasons either because it
contains certain defects, or because it will later be superseded. In
this second sense knowledge of God and prophecy are overtaken by seeing
God face to face. "Charity, on the other hand, which is love of God,
does not disappear but, rather, increases; the more perfect one's
knowledge of God, the more perfectly does one love him" (St Thomas
Aquinas, "Commentary on 1 Cor, ad loc.").
St Paul is constantly reminding us to pursue the goal of charity, the
bond of perfection (cf. Col. 3:14). Following his example the saints
teach the same message; St Teresa of Avila puts it in this way: "I only
want you to be warned that, if you would progress a long way on this
road and ascend to the mansions that we desire, it is not a matter of
thinking much, but of loving much; do, then, whatever most arouses you
to love. Perhaps we do not know what it is to love; that would not
greatly surprise me; for love consists, not in what most pleases us,
but in the strength of our determination to desire to please God in
everything and to endeavor to do everything we can not to offend him,
and to pray him ever to advance the honor and glory of his Son and the
growth of the catholic Church" ("Interior Castle", IV, 1, 7).
11-12. "Then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully
understood": the Old Testament usually avoids mentioning God by name;
these words in effect mean "Then I will know God as he knows me."
The knowledge which God has of men is not merely speculative: it
involves an intimate, personal union which embraces a person's mind and
will and all his or her noble aspirations. Thus in Sacred Scripture God
is said to know someone when he shows a preferential love for him
(1 Cor 8:3), particularly when he chooses him out to be a Christian
(Gal 4:8).
Happiness in heaven consists in this direct knowledge of God. To
explain this better St Paul uses the simile of the mirror: in those
times mirrors were made of metal and produced a reflection which was
blurred and dark; but it is still easy for us to understand what St
Paul means; as St Thomas explains, in heaven "we shall see God face to
face, because we shall see him directly, just as we see a man face to
face. And by seeing in this way we become very like God, becoming
sharers in his beatitude: for God has knowledge of his own substance
in its very essence and therein his happiness lies. Therefore does St
John (1 Jn 3:2) write: 'When he appears we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is"' ("Summa Contra Gentiles", III, 51).
In this connection the Church's Magisterium teaches that "in the usual
providence of God, the souls of all the saints who departed this world
[...] see the divine essence with an intuitive and even face-to-face
vision, without the interposition of any creature in the function of
object seen; rather, the divine essence immediately manifests itself to
them plainly, clearly, openly [...]. We also define that those who see
the divine essence in this way take great joy from it, and that because
of this vision and enjoyment the souls of those who have already died
are truly blessed and possess life and eternal rest" (Benedict XII,
"Benedictus Deas, Dz-Sch", I000f).
13. Faith, hope and charity are the most important virtues in the
Christian life. They are called "theological" virtues, "because they
have God as their direct and principal object" ("St Pius X Catechism",
85 9), and it is he himself who infuses them into the soul together
with sanctifying grace (cf. ibid., 861).
When discussing the superiority of charity over faith and hope, St
Thomas Aquinas says that the greatest of these virtues is that which
most directly unites one to good: "Faith and hope attain God in so far
as we derive from him the knowledge of truth or the acquisition of
good; whereas charity attains God himself that it may rest in him not
that something else should come to us from him" ("Summa Theologiae",
II-II, q. 23, a.6).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
From: John 19:25-27
The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (Continuation)
[25] So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were
His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene. [26] When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He
loved standing near, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"
[27] Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from
that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Commentary:
25. Whereas the Apostles, with the exception of St. John, abandon Jesus
in the hour of His humiliation, these pious women, who had followed Him
during His public life (cf. Lk 8:2-3) now stay with their Master as He
dies on the cross (cf. note on Mt 27:55-56).
Pope John Paul II explains that our Lady's faithfulness was shown in
four ways: first, in her generous desire to do all that God wanted of
her (cf. Lk 1:34); second, in her total acceptance of God's will (cf.
Lk 1:38); third, in the consistency between her life and the commitment
of faith which she made; and, finally, in her withstanding this test.
"And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole of life can be
called faithfulness. Mary's 'fiat' in the Annunciation finds its
fullness in the silent 'fiat' that she repeats at the foot of the Cross"
("Homily in Mexico Cathedral", 26 January 1979).
The Church has always recognized the dignity of women and their important
role in salvation history. It is enough to recall the veneration which
from the earliest times the Christian people have had for the Mother of
Christ, the Woman "par excellence" and the most sublime and most
privileged creature ever to come from the hands of God. Addressing a
special message to women, the Second Vatican Council said, among other
things: "Women in trial, who stand upright at the foot of the cross like
Mary, you who so often in history have given to men the strength to
battle unto the very end and to give witness to the point of martyrdom,
aid them now still once more to retain courage in their great
undertakings, while at the same time maintaining patience and an esteem
for humble beginnings" (Vatican II, "Message To Women", 8 December 1965).
26-27. "The spotless purity of John's whole life makes him strong before
the Cross. The other apostles fly from Golgotha: he, with the Mother of
Christ, remains. Don't forget that purity strengthens and invigorates
the character" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 144).
Our Lord's gesture in entrusting His Blessed Mother to the disciple's
care, has a dual meaning (see p. 19 above and pp. 35ff). For one thing
it expresses His filial love for the Virgin Mary. St Augustine sees it
as a lesson Jesus gives us on how to keep the fourth commandment: "Here
is a lesson in morals. He is doing what He tells us to do and, like a
good Teacher, He instructs His own by example, that it is the duty of
good children to take care of their parents; as though the wood on which
His dying members were fixed were also the chair of the teaching Master"
(St Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 119, 2).
Our Lord's words also declare that Mary is our Mother: "The Blessed
Virgin also advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully
persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in
keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the
intensity of His suffering, associating herself with His sacrifice in her
mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim
who was born of her. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus
dying on the cross as a mother to His disciple" (Vatican II, "Lumen
Gentium", 58).
All Christians, who are represented in the person of John, are children
of Mary. By giving us His Mother to be our Mother, Christ demonstrates
His love for His own to the end (cf. Jn 13:1). Our Lady's acceptance of
John as her son show her motherly care for us: "the Son of God, and your
Son, from the Cross indicated a man to you, Mary, and said: 'Behold, your
son' (Jn 19:26). And in that man He entrusted to you every person, He
entrusted everyone to you. And you, who at the moment of the
Annunciation, concentrated the whole program of your life in those simple
words: 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according
to your word' (Lk 1:38): embrace everyone, draw close to everyone, seek
everyone out with motherly care. Thus is accomplished what the last
Council said about your presence in the mystery of Christ and the Church.
In a wonderful way you are always found in the mystery of Christ, your
only Son, because you are present wherever men and women, His brothers
and sisters, are present, wherever the Church is present" (John Paul II,
"Homily in the Basilica of Guadalupe", 27 January 1979).
"John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, brought Mary into his home, into
his life. Spiritual writers have seen these words of the Gospel as an
invitation to all Christians to bring Mary into their lives. Mary
certainly wants us to invoke her, to approach her confidently, to appeal
to her as our mother, asking her to 'show that you are our mother'" ([St] J.
Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 140).
John Paul II constantly treats our Lady as his Mother. In bidding
farewell to the Virgin of Czestochowa he prayed in this way: "Our Lady of
the Bright Mountain, Mother of the Church! Once more I consecrate myself
to you 'in your maternal slavery of love'. 'Totus tuus!' I am yours! I
consecrate to you the whole Church--everyone to the ends of the earth! I
consecrate to you humanity; I consecrate to you all men and women, my
brothers and sisters. All peoples and all nations. I consecrate to you
Europe and all the continents. I consecrate to you Rome and Poland,
united, through your servant, by a fresh bond of love. Mother, accept
us! Mother, do not abandon us! Mother, be our guide!" ("Farewell
Address" at Jasna Gora Shrine, 6 June 1979).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reading I 
THE PING!
