1Cor 13, 1-3 If I do not have love, I am nothing

1Corinthians 13

(1Cor 13, 1-3) If I do not have love, I am nothing

[1] If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. [2] And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

(CCC 1822) Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. (CCC 1824) Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love" (Jn 15:9-10; cf. Mt 22:40; Rom 13:8-10). (CCC 773) In the Church this communion of men with God, in the "love [that] never ends," is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied to this passing world (1 Cor 13:8; cf. LG 48). "[The Church's] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members. And holiness is measured according to the 'great mystery' in which the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom" (John Paul II, MD 27). Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church's mystery as "the bride without spot or wrinkle" (Eph 5:27). This is why the "Marian" dimension of the Church precedes the "Petrine" (Cf. John Paul II, MD 27).