The Holy Martyr Callinicus
1 Corinthians 13:4-14:5; Matthew 20:1-16
Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-14:5
St. Paul reminds us today of the primacy of love and charity. For Christians, love should be the measure of our being and growth in the spiritual life. It is not knowledge or prophecy—the preaching of truth— that determine our spiritual advancement, but love. It is for this reason that the entire Old Testament law can be summed up in two laws: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” (Matt 22:37-39).
There is a reason why the Lord God commands us to place Him first in our life. The reason is that God is love and for us to grow in love we must be oriented towards the infinite source of love. Notice also that the first fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. This also means that to grow in the characteristics described by St. Paul—patience, kindness, admiration toward others, unassuming attitude, humility, politeness, giving way to the other, positivity, rejoicing in the right, bearing the other, believing the other, hoping and enduring all things for the sake of the other—yes, requires a certain human effort, but transformation cannot be achieved without the presence of the Divine Love of the Holy Spirit.