And the greatest is love…

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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 18 September 2024
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Luke 7:31-35

What a lovely Wednesday
today, O God our merciful Father!
Thank you for this wonderful moment,
thank you for your presence,
thank you for the gift of life.
Thank you for the love.

St. Paul tells us today
that love is the greatest
of all your gifts,
O God
because no amount of
goodness and giftedness
will ever be worthy
without love.
And what is love?

Love is.
That is,
being present always.
Never absent.

Love happens in the present moment,
never in the past nor the future.

That is why
love is patient,
love is kind,
love is not jealous,
love is not pompous,
love is not inflated,
love is not rude,
love is not self-interested,
love is not quick-tempered,
love does not brood over injury,
love does not rejoice over wrongdoing,
love rejoices with the truth,
love bears all things,
love believes all things,
love hopes all things,
love endures all things
(1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
because precisely,
love is always in present tense.

Jesus said to the crowds: “Then to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are the children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep’” (Luke 7:31-32).

Forgive us, dear Jesus
for being loveless,
always missing
every moment to love,
missing every chance
to be kind to others,
for desiring and having
always the best intentions
but never having 
even the the smallest
kind deeds for anyone;
let us live in every present moment,
that thin line between 
here and now
called present
which is the other word
for gift.

Let us live, 
O Lord,
in love,
finding and cherishing
the gift of every presence
right here,
right now.
By being 
a gift too 
to others
in You.
Amen.