“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. So faith, hope, love remain; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinth 13:3-8, 13) Christian love: love for one another,
because of Christ’s love for us can be summed up in “charity.” Why do many of us, including myself, struggle with this? Because we cannot embody “this love” without Jesus. Charity is being generous of yourself with others. To the extent we have faith and hope, we
live it out in charity. Fasting and prayer are empty without growth in charity. Charity is also bearing with one another’s sins and imperfections with patience and forgiveness. For all these reasons, Peter the rock said “Charity covers a multitude of sins.”
       If you / I don’t think we need to hear this, either we “are not far from the kingdom” or in our pride, we don’t want to hear this because we know we do. Humanity is something we all share, that Jesus took on, to save and show us how we are to love one another. My question is: Do we excuse ourselves from seeing one another’s humanity? What do we hide behind, to excuse ourselves from charity: being present, patient and caring of another person? Do we hide behind our work? I don’t time to stop and be present. Do we hide behind our control? I don’t have time to listen for what they’re trying to say or even help with. Do we hide behind
the pressure? This is more important to handle than how they are doing. I can’t stop, so come back later. Do we hide behind our feelings? I’m the one who is hurt. I’m struggling. I’m having a bad day. I can only take care of me, not them. Do we hide behind our sins? I’m already down on myself, so how can I be there for them? Do we hide behind other’s sins: what they did wrong and excuse ourselves from seeing their brokenness? They need to know how sorry they should be before I forgive them. Do we withhold eye contact because that would involve an encounter? Do we withhold our smile because we don’t feel like it or because they don’t deserve it? These things are tedious, but serious. These are sins against charity. When Jesus said “My command is this: love one another as I have loved you”, He said this before He went forward to give Himself on the Cross, to give Himself in the
Eucharist: Total self-gift and un-withheld charity.