Those admitted to the great wedding feast of heaven will be there not because they knew all mysteries, did miracles, had all faith,... but because they possess charity, the white garment of true love.  For this reason, and having spoken on sins of the tongue, it is fitting to speak on something even more important: charity, the love of God in the soul.

These following Sunday sermons will reference the work by St. Alphonsus Liguori written in 1768, “The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ” which I recommend to us all.

St. Alphonsus asserts that man has one care in this life: to acquire a true love for Jesus Christ.  And, of all masters, St. Alphonsus says St. Paul, “the preacher of love,” best teaches us how to practice true love for Jesus Christ.

In his First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13, St. Paul sums the importance of charity  (love),
“If I speak with the tongues of men and angels BUT have not charity - I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. 
“If I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge and if I should have all faith so as to remove mountains, BUT have not charity - I am nothing. 
“If I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor; if I should deliver my body to be burned, BUT have not charity - it profits me nothing.”

Restated, St. Alphonsus says that if a person were to distribute all his goods to the poor, “and even gladly suffer martyrdom, without love, so that he did it for any other goal than that of pleasing God, it would be no use to him.”  We may add that if a person had all Catholic Faith, and even gladly handed over his body to be burned, without love, it would be no profit to him.   

In this same letter, St. Paul lists some signs of true love whereby we might measure ourselves. 
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; love is not irritable or resentful; love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Over the coming weeks we will examine each of these articles, these marks of love in the soul; today we begin with: “Love is patient.”

St. Alphonsus explains this mark of love: The soul that loves Jesus Christ loves suffering.

He tells us, “This earth is a place for winning merit, and therefore it is a place for suffering.”

Our life on earth is a warfare.  Our true home is paradise, a place of enduring rest and joy; our present home, more a hotel, is filled with pain and sorrow.  “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1); “Every creature groans and travails in pain even till now.” (Rm 8-22)

There must be suffering and all must suffer, the good and the bad, every one must bear a cross.  St. Alphonsus says those who bear the cross without patience, are lost; those who bear the cross  with patience, are saved.  “In your patience you shall possess your souls.” (21:19)
 St. Augustine adds that the same toils send some to heaven and others to hell.  Suffering is the winnow which separates chaff from wholesome grain; St. Alphonsus says those who become haughty, and so forsake God, become chaff for hell.

If we wish to become a blessed grain of wheat, then we must kneed ourselves into Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, “Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” (Rm 8:29) We know that the Savior’s life was filled with ignominy and persecution.

But Christ suffered in His life to give us an example... not to be watched but followed.  “What glory is it if sinning and being buffeted for it, and endure?; but if doing well you suffer patiently this is worthy of thanks before God.  For unto this are you called: Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you follow in His steps.” (I Pt 2:20-21)

And as God treated His Son so He treats all those He loves, “For whom the Lord loves, He chastises; and He scourges every son whom He receives.” (Hb 12:6)   One day, our Lord told St. Teresa or Avila, “Know that the souls dearest to my Father are those afflicted with the greatest sufferings.”

Suffering and the willingness to suffer are both needed.  After the St Teresa’s death, she revealed to a chosen soul,  “if I could possibly desire to return to earth, the only reason would be to suffer some more for God.”  This is the willingness we must strive to obtain.  So that when the Lord says, “let (my disciple) deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23), we may lift up and carry our burdens not by constraint or repugnance but with humility, patience, and love.

Oh, but why must we suffer? 
Without suffering we can not be united to God.  St. Catherine of Genoa put it this way,
“to unite ourselves with God one must have adversities because God uses these to consume all our evil impulses.  Insults, scorns, infirmities, abandonment by relatives and friends, confusions and temptations... are all necessary, so that we fight on, until our vile impulses are extinguished.... as long as they seem bitter and not sweet for God’s sake, we cannot arrive at the divine union.”

Suffering repels natural man; only the supernatural will see its great benefits, even in this life.  St. Alphonsus says that true peace of heart cannot be obtained except by those who endure and lovingly embrace their sufferings to please God.

Yet to patiently embrace the trials sent us in this mortal life, we need encouragement.  The best remedy to overcome our natural fear of suffering is the frequent meditation on the passion of our  Blessed Savior.  A confessor was once asked for an encouragement to suffer more willingly, he replied, “Inscribe at base of your crucifix these words: ‘This is how one loves.’”

Finally, at this holy Mass, let us ask our Divine Redeemer for the grace to suffer well, to suffer without murmurings or complaint, all that the good God should send us.  Let us pray for patience in our trials.  Love is patient.  The more patient we are, the more united we shall be to God, the more sure shall be our happy eternity.

Next week we shall speak on “Love is kind” wherein St. Alphonsus teaches us that those who love Jesus Christ love gentleness.