Ode of Love

St. Paul examined all those extraordinary features of church life, i.e. speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 13:1); prophetic power, knowledge of mysteries, faith to move mountains (13:2); total self-renunciation and martyrdom (13:3) and concluded that without love (ἀγάπην), these features are worthless. If we focus on their utilities or their consequences, these features are good. They are good for individual members as well as for the church as a whole. These features are gifts from the Holy Spirit. They help build up the church. Therefore, it is hard to imagine their worthlessness.
Of course St. Paul knew that these features are good. But he strongly felt that they are not good enough if love is not the motive. Both millionaires donated $1,000,000 to the charity. The first one did it for fame. The second one did it for the care of the needy. If you are a utilitarian or consequentialist, the two donations make no difference to you. However, if you are like St. Paul and you judge the two, not according to how much they had donated and how many needy people benefited, but according to the nobility of their motives, then you would only approve of the second one.
But what exactly is love? This is too abstract and is rather difficult to articulate in words.
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Love is patient. But is patience love? Obviously not. A man goes patiently fishing. Does he love the fish? Of course not.
We then see Paul try to describe love, like God, in a negative way, in what love is NOT: not jealous, not boastful, not arrogant, not rude, not insistent, not irritable, not resentful and not unjust οὐ ζηλοῖ, [ἡ ἀγάπη] οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐ φυσιοῦται, οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ, οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς, οὐ παροξύνεται, οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν, οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ, (13:4b-6a). All these are the opposites of abstract qualities. So, love is a concept that is difficult to capture. But is love a concept?
Then St. Paul continued to describe what love does: does the right thing, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things συγχαίρει δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ. πάντα στέγει, πάντα πιστεύει, πάντα ἐλπίζει, πάντα ὑπομένει. (13:6b-7). Using action verbs was Paul's attempt to concretize such an abstract entity. Here, St. Paul tended to lump everything together, including even faith and hope in love. No wonder at the end, he claims that among the three, love is the greatest.
So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
νυνὶ δὲ μένει πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη, τὰ τρία ταῦτα: μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη. (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Modern psychologists are in a better position than St. Paul. For example, Eric Fromm wrote a popular book in 1956 called The Art of Loving. He was a Jew like St. Paul and had received extensive Talmudic training. He turned away from orthodox Judaism, but popularized its ideas in his books. In analyzing the nature of different kinds of love, e.g. parental love, love between husband and wife, among friends and even patriotism etc., Eric Fromm was able to isolate four common elements of love: care, responsibility, respect and knowledge. His treatment makes love a more tangible and accessible entity.

My dear Advocate, warm up our hearts so that we are better able to care about our neighbours, more willing to commit ourselves for the welfare of people around us. Enlighten our mind so that we may know the proper way to love You and our neighbours. Amen.