(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)
Imagine speaking in tongues or having the power to heal others of their aches, pains and sicknesses. Would not these be wonderful? When I was younger I used to go to prayer meetings. We used to speak in tongues as a group and sometimes we had healing services. We liked speaking in tongues.
These are flamboyant gifts: when we have them, people know us. When people know us, we feel excited and proud of ourselves. We like flamboyant gifts.
Paul, however, teaches us to strive for the greatest spiritual gifts, such as being an apostle, or a prophet or a teacher, gifts that require a little more work than speaking in tongues or healing people. Even if we should have the gift of being an apostle, we cannot brag because we them as gifts, not as things we have earned.
The Corinthians seem to have excelled in these lesser gifts, but their divisions based on personalities and their own ambitions told Paul that they needed strong lessons on more important gifts.
Charity is what makes the gifts work for others. Charity is what gives the other gifts meaning. Charity gives life to our service, to our relationships, to our membership in the Church. Without charity, we have nothing even though we seem to have many things.
This passage is often used in wedding Masses. It instructs the bride and groom that charity, genuine love, must guide their married lives. This passage also has much to teach us, whether we are retired or still working, whether we are married, widowed or single. Without this charity, we are nothing.
This reading about important gifts continues the thoughts of chapter 12 and prepares us for chapter 14. I recommend that you reread chapter 12 and read chapter 14 so that you grow to understand chapter 13 better.