A reading from the Book of Genesis (1:26-28,31a)
God said: "Let us make man in the image and likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish in the sea, and the birds of heaven,
the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth."
God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea,
the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth." God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good.
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians (12:31-138a)
Brethren: Be ambitious for higher gifts. And I am going to show a way that is better than any of them.
If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal
clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith
in all its fullness to move mountains, but am without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I
possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good
whatsoever.
Love is always patient and kind, it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and it is not resentful. Love takes
no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope and to endure
whatever comes.