During these Sundays of Ordinary Time, we have been reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Today we have his magnificent description of love, the highest gift, without which all other gifts or good works are worthless. He tells us what love is and what it is not. For example, it is “not pompous”, or “arrogant” would be another translation. Arrogance is an attitude of exaggerated self-importance and a disdain toward others as inferior. It is pride in its most evident form.

If love is a seeking of the good of the other, or a giving of self to the other, it can easily be seen how arrogance is opposed to genuine love or charity. If I am arrogant, I am not concerned with my neighbor’s good but taking smug satisfaction in my own superiority. I seek my own selfish good, in this case vain-glory, at the expense of some other person. They are a victim of my rash judgement as inferior, whether they are aware of this or not.

Some people are obviously arrogant, but some keep this ugly vice fairly well hidden. Because of our fallen nature, we all have a tendency to pride. It is said to be the root of all sin, as humility is the root of all virtue. A good examination of conscience in this is to reflect on how I speak about others, especially people I find difficult to deal with or I disagree with. Do I call them degrading names? Jesus said, “Whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.” (Mt 5:22) These words should give us a holy fear of falling into abusive or arrogant speech.

Our lord is Love Incarnate, and He describes Himself as “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29). To be humble is to live in reality, according to the truth, to recognize that all good things come from God. St. Francis said that if we take credit for the good that God does in us, we steal our Master’s money. Likewise, St. Paul writes: ” What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” (1Cor4:7).

Let us prayerfully allow the Holy Spirit to show us the truth about ourselves, and let us repent of any arrogance in our hearts so as to allow Him to love through us. May Our Lady of the Holy Rosary help us to seek the highest gift, the gift of love, which is God Himself. And may He bless you greatly.

Fr. Peter