The greatest is Love.

One of my favorite prayers in the Roman Missal comes in this Advent season. The ideas are expressed in a few different ways; this one from the First Sunday: May these mysteries, O Lord, in which we have participated, profit us, we pray, for even now, as we walk amid passing things, you teach us by them to love the things of heaven and hold fast to what endures

As we draw near the conclusion of the Jubilee Year of Hope, it is good to look back on what you have been praying and hoping for in these months, and perhaps far longer. We long for those things that will endure: peace, mercy, love, our cherished relationships, our health, our sense of well-being. Yet we also know how many are those “passing things” of life – what once was and is no more, or at least no longer the same.

It is natural to think of those passing things that we miss, people and routines and events that we remember with affection and nostalgia from the past. Those passing things may bring sadness as we recall them. But we can also turn this around a bit. Other passing things we do not miss. They have been difficult moments, hard decisions, painful experiences.

Their passing into the past can foster gratitude to God for have moved beyond challenges and obstacles. Through them, too, we come to long for what endures with the promise of peace, rest, and glory.

Spend some time in prayer reflecting on what has passed that once burdened you:

- a health concern what was resolved

- a fractured relationship that was reconciled by an apology, sought or given|

- a worry that troubled you and colored so much else in life

- a debt that was paid, or a long-deferred repair finally accomplished

- something lost that was unexpectedly found or returned

- a habit that was tough to break but gradually yielded to something better

- a grudge that was finally surrendered

- an attitude about self, others, or the world in general that led to internal and external tensions and division that has gradually evolved to a more balanced understanding

- a heavy responsibility that weighed on you and now has been relieved

- an expectation about yourself or another that was unrealistic and led to ongoing frustrations

“To hold fast to what endures” speaks to our values and priorities, and the enduring power of God’s grace and mercy. It evokes St. Paul’s famous words in I Corinthians 13: 8-13: 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.

Faith will one day yield to sight, and hope to possession; but love will never be exhausted or displaced, for God is love.

And it is that love, made flesh in Jesus, that we prepare to welcome anew: for even now, as we walk amid passing things, you teach us by them to love the things of heaven, and hold fast to what endures.