Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8)

If you have been to a wedding lately, it is very likely that you heard the second reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians that we heard proclaimed this Sunday. In fact, I think this would be the second reading that has been used at about ninety percent of the weddings that I have ever celebrated. So often is this reading used at weddings, that I think for many people they may assume that it is the love between a couple that St. Paul is writing about. For that reason, I thought it would be good to speak this week about St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians and the place that this passage plays within it. Continue reading →

“We Have Seen His Star in the East.” This is the theme that was chosen for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year.  The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place each year in the week leading up to the Solemnity of the Conversion of St. Paul, which is celebrated on January 25^th. Along with this theme, the organizing committee for this international week of prayer also wrote a meditation to accompany this week’s prayer intention. At the same time that we are celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, this Sunday in the Catholic Tradition is Word of God Sunday; a celebration introduced to the Church by Pope Francis in 2019. Continue reading →