Quinquagesima Sunday
The Epistle. I Corinthians 13. 1.
Brethren: though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge: and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long and is kind: charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easilt provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly: but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity..
I am sure that over the years you have, at various times, heard the following quotes from Holy Scripture or from portions of sermons given by my illustrious predecessors; “we are the children of God. We are Sons of God. We are the adopted sons of God”. “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven“ (Matthew 18:3); “I write unto you, little children…“(1 John 2:12).
The obvious implication is that we are still in the beginning stages of our faith; that our faith has not yet grown to full maturity. In spite of our dedication to the Church and to Jesus Christ still, we are “child-like” in our understanding of the Mystery of the Holy Incarnation.
And since this point is so obvious, we are tempted to think that we can excuse our behavior because we are, after all, “just young”. We believe that God will excuse any number of offenses because we commit them in the “innocence of youth”; we rationalize our sins by pointing out the fact that we are merely children who don’t know any better. But St. Paul refuses to let us get away with these excuses; and he uses his own experience as an example.
“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge: and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing“. Beside the original Apostles, only St. Paul could claim with any authority that he knew the mind of Christ. And remember, this was a man who had studied under the foremost experts in the Jewish faith. Indeed, he was a Pharisee; someone whose knowledge of that faith was superior to most.
Further, at the time of his Conversion, St. Paul had been visited by the Risen Christ in a vision; and his witness in Holy Scripture implies that he was granted additional “knowledge” and “gifts” before he began his earthly ministry. And yet he makes this statement; “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge: and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing“.
In this statement St. Paul is telling us that we will always be immature in our faith, as long as we rely only upon our human knowledge and understanding of the Mysteries of God. Rather, the Apostle says, true understanding comes with Charity; true maturity comes from the Love of God.
To emphasize this point, St. Paul dissuades us from any prideful attempt to justify our actions; “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing“. It is not enough to simply tithe to the Church. It is not enough to simply attend Mass or the other services offered by the Church. It is not enough even to tell others about the Church. The reason why you should do so makes all the difference.
If you tithe to the Church so that you can say “well, I gave them money”, then “it profiteth you nothing“. If you attend Mass so that you can say, “well, I was in Church last week”, then “it profiteth you nothing“. If you mentioned our Church to someone just so you can say, “well, I told them about us”, then “it profiteth you nothing“.
You can do all these things; but if you don’t do them for the right reason your efforts will come to naught. If you don’t do them with the Love of God in your heart, then your labors will be wasted. If you do these things “and have not charity, it profiteth you nothing“. If you do these things and have not Charity, then you prove that you are still immature in your faith.
St. Paul tells us that these are the ways in which we may display the maturity of our faith; “Charity suffereth long and is kind: charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth“.
These things should be obvious to us; “Charity suffereth long and is kind“. The Love of God is a Patience that is never-ending, and an indicator of what is in our hearts. “charity envieth not“; the Love of God cleanses us from any meanness of soul that would provoke us to jealousy or personal desire.
“charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked“. The Love of God moves us to reject the sins of pride and arrogance. Likewise, we are discouraged from the temptation to brag about our accomplishments and to haphazardly respond to the insults inflicted upon us by the world.
“thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity“. This is a particularly enormous temptation for us to overcome. How many times have we wished that those with whom we disagree will come to some unfortunate end? How many times have we enjoyed the distress and discomfort experienced by them because “they got what they deserved”? How many times have we wished evil on others and then rejoiced when evil is visited upon them? This is again an indicator of an immature faith.
“but rejoiceth in the truth“. How many times have we actually celebrated when we learn that someone has converted to Christ? How many times have we been overjoyed when someone returns to the Church? How many times have we ourselves reveled in the Word of God, just because we are thankful for the Truth that Christ has brought to the world? When we do these things, well, it is a sure sign that we are starting to “grow up” a bit.
“beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things“. You see, even as we acknowledge that we are Children of God, and that our understanding of Him is still in its earliest stages, we must likewise acknowledge our responsibility to act as guides, as mentors, as “parents”. In doing so, we must exhibit all those characteristics that a human parent should display.
“beareth all things“; we must accept that others will argue with us, they will dismiss us, they will subject us to ridicule; and they may even try to persecute us. We will watch as others continue to afflict the Church with derision and spite. The way in which we accept these attacks and respond to them, will also be an indicator of the maturity of our faith.
“believeth all things, hopeth all things“. This is the level of maturity to which we should all aspire. When we “believeth all things“, we come to the realization that even though the Mysteries of God are beyond our human ability to comprehend, we believe them in our hearts nonetheless. When we “hopeth all things“, we acknowledge that from this total, unconditional faith comes the awareness that with God all things are possible. When we “believeth all things, hopeth all things“, then we have nearly reached the level of maturity that the Saints and Martyrs of the Church obtained.
We can achieve that level of maturity when we combine them with the ability to “endureth all things“. We have to accept that when we “believeth all things“, and “hopeth all things“, the world may subject us to all manner of insults. As Christians, we will face a world that will ridicule and condemn our Traditional Faith. But no matter the offense, we must respond with Charity; no matter the offense, our response must be Love.
Rather than pointing out the inherent evil of those who attack us, we must respond with Love. Rather than seeking to publically refute and embarrass those who attack us, we must respond with Love; the type of Love that can bear any attack, injury or disappointment; the type of Love that the Saints and Martyrs displayed as they were being lead to their deaths; the type of Love that “endureth all things“, because we “believeth all things, and hopeth all things“; the type of Love that “never faileth“; the type of Love that was exemplified by Jesus Christ himself.
“Charity never faileth“. And of course our love must be endless, just as the Love of Our Lord is endless. We cannot cease to Love, in spite of all the offenses that the world inflicts upon us; just as God has never ceased to Love us, in spite of all the sins and offenses we have committed against him. We cannot cease to show the Love that is inspired and commanded by our Faith; because of the Love that Christ showed as he hung upon the Cross (“Greater Love hath no man than this…” John 15:13).
Yes, we are children of God; and as children we lack the maturity to say that we “know it all”; we cannot claim that we have truly comprehended all the Mysteries of God. But we also cannot use this as an excuse for our sinful behavior. We have been taught by those who have gone before us. We have the example of those Saints and Martyrs who gave their lives in defense of the Faith and in the Name of Jesus Christ. And we have the instruction of his Apostles, like St. Paul; who have shown us the way in which our Faith may grow to maturity.
“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing“; If you do these things and have not Love, then you prove that you are still immature in your faith; true maturity comes from the Love of God.
“Charity suffereth long and is kind“; the Love of God is a Patience that is never-ending, and an indicator of our maturity.” charity envieth not“; the Love of God cleanses us from any meanness of soul and is another indicator of our maturity. “charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked“; the Love of God inspires us to reject the sins of pride and arrogance and is yet another indicator of our maturity.
“thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity: but rejoiceth in the truth“; the Love of God will inspire us to rejoice with the angels “over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10). “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things“. By His Love, God will not only reveal to us as much of His Holy Mysteries as we can handle, but He will also give us the strength, guidance and wisdom that we will need to persevere in our Faith. He will give us as much knowledge as we need to “grow-up” and become mature in our Faith.
“Charity never faileth“. And the never-ending patience of God, the Eternal patience of God, is the epitome of His Love for us. This is the example for us; the true indicator of our maturity in the Faith. No longer can we get away with the excuse that “we are but young”; because even though we are still children, we have been taught, we have received instruction; and we should know better by now.
Yes, we are children of God; but we are no longer “immature”. We have the witness of the Saints and Martyrs; we have the Gospels; we have the instruction of those like St. Paul; and we have the example of Christ Himself. It is now time for us to “grow-up”.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.