Once again it is time for us to reflect on our lives. Are we living our lives in the light of our resurrected Lord and saviour Jesus Christ? Have we matured in our faith? Is our hope in the life that awaits us strong? Have we grown deep in our love for brethren and for our Lord such that it is our inner most desire to glorify Him with all that we say and do?
We are all aging and sooner than we think, the window to do all that we plan in our minds and in our time closes. Even then we do not know if tomorrow will come for us. And so if we die today, are we more concerned about who will remember us in this world for all that we have done and how we have lived? Or is it more important that we are remembered in Heaven for being found worthy of the rewards of eternal life through the promises of Christ.
Lord Jesus forgive me my shortcomings and indiscretions. Purify my thoughts, words, actions and grant me an ardent desire to always do Your will. That I may one day be remembered as a witness to Your love. Amen
First reading
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
The supremacy of charityBe ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them. If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever. Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known. In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.
Gospel
Luke 7:31-35
‘We played the pipes, and you wouldn’t dance’Jesus said to the people: ‘What description can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market-place:‘“We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t cry.”‘For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her children.’
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