There is an old saying in Spanish, no hay mal del qual bien no venga, which is so applicable to so many situations that we have experienced in a lifetime. In the midst of all the heartache and heartbreak of the natural disaster of the earthquake in Haiti, I have seen such an outpouring of real loving concern and such a graphic expression of real hurt by all the world for the people of Haiti. It seemed somewhat unbelievable that so many nations were so quick to cancel the debts owed by Haiti and among those so 
touched by the suffering of the people there that even the IMF and the World Bank followed suit. It has been more than heartwarming to see the many individuals and groups that so generously are contributing to supply food, water, shelter for those people.
All of the above makes our second reading so timely. So many of us memorized and proclaimed those words in one class or another throughout the years. That reading from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians is a favorite of favorites for so many of us. I especially remember the words, "Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous, it is not pompous, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick tempered, it does not brood over injury, 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."
In my 85 years I have been blessed to experience such outpourings of love and loving concern often unexpected but more often expected from so many people around us. During the Great Depression, never once did I hear of anyone being turned away who came in search of food. In the missions every tragedy inspired great acts of loving concern and generous help. In my adult life I don't remember a single tragedy in our country and throughout the world that did not inspire an extremely generous and loving response from the American people. It has always been very difficult for me to understand how, in a country so filled with love for others, especially those in need, can at the
same time be filled with so much prejudice, racism, hatred, ill will, and the list goes on and on. What is interesting is that sometimes, but not too often, you find both extremes in the same people, as if we could focus on being a caring people or be totally or partially consumed by the opposite.
The second reading can so easily be understood by those of us who came from caring families with self-sacrificing dads and moms. For us it is a given to be concerned about those in need at all times: the poor, the hungry, the marginalized and the greed, selfishness and self-indulgence that so often surrounds us never minimizes that concern. If this great country of ours ever disintegrates, it will be because we as a nation have lost our ability to care about those in need or perhaps, very selectively care about some and not others. We however believe the words of St. Paul, "Love never fails," and even though sometimes greed for power, things and money seems to prevail over loving concern, we must remember that love never fails.
As I read the whole passage I feel that sometimes the selfish child in us prevails and we allow many wonderful opportunities of living our faith to its fullest. Maybe St. Paul is reminding all of us of this possibility when he says, "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." Perhaps it is time to put aside childish thinking and start thinking, living and deciding as mature human beings.