16 Characteristics of Love

In the kingdom of God, love is (Corinthians 13:4-8):

1. Patient.
2. Kind.
3. Respectful of others.
4. Humble.
5. Open to others ot sensitive.
6. Courteous.
7. Helpful.
8. Understanding.
9. Forgiving.
10. Merciful or compassionate.
11. Truthful.
12. Ready to make allowances.
13. Ready to trust.
14. Optimistic.
15. Preserving or enduring.
16. Last forever or faithful.

Source:
St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church in Plano, TX.
Sunday June 8, 2008's homily.

Love Your Enemies

Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say,
love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give, and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.

For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

Faith, Hope and Love According to St. Paul

From the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians:

Brothers and sisters:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it 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.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;

then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

The Liar Sermon

A priest wound up the services one morning by saying, ''Next Sunday I am going to preach on the subject of liars. And in this connection, as a preparation for my discourse, I would like you all to read the seventeenth chapter of Mark''.

On the following Sunday, the priest rose to begin and said, ''Now, then, all of you who have done as I requested and read the seventeenth chapter of Mark, please raise your hands.''

Nearly every hand in the congregation went up.

Then said the priest, ''You are the people I want to talk to. There is no seventeenth chapter of Mark.''