In the second reading (1 Cor 12:31-13:13) for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, St. Paul explains to the fractious Corinthians that the more excellent way is the way of love. Charismatic gifts such as speaking in tongues or the ability to prophesy do not necessarily contribute to a person’s holiness. Indeed, without love “I am nothing” and “I gain nothing.”

As Christians, our mission is to bring the loving presence of Jesus Christ into our world. To do so, we must first have His love within us. Yet, what exactly does this loving presence “look” like? St. Paul offers an extensive, but certainly not exhaustive, explanation in his hymn of love:

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.

Perhaps this description of an abstract concept like “love” fails to motivate us to follow the more excellent way. As a solution, or just to promote further reflection on St. Paul’s revealed text, consider the following insight from the Dominican Scripture scholar Fr. Ceslaus Spicq (†1992). Fr. Spicq suggested that we should replace the word “love” with the name “Jesus.”

The modified version of St. Paul’s hymn of love would read like this:

Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind.
Jesus is not jealous, Jesus is not pompous,
Jesus is not inflated, Jesus is not rude,
Jesus does not seek His own interests,
Jesus is not quick-tempered, Jesus does not brood over injury,
Jesus does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
Jesus bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

In truth, the more excellent way of love is nothing other than the way of Christ Jesus our Lord.

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