The Second Sunday after the Epiphany AD 2025

“Let love be without dissimulation,” writes St. Paul in today’s Epistle. True, perfect love cannot be anything other than without dissimulation, but since we are only able to experience love when it is expressed either in words or actions, it is not uncommon for what appears to be love to be selfishness or even malicious cunning.

This happens, for example, when a person does something good in order to be praised by others or to be rewarded in some way. Or much worse, when someone tries to take advantage of others and profit from their sincerity by just pretending to be loving and caring. Most often, this involves a desire to do something that everyone will see and admire, avoiding tasks that require humility and self-denial and that often remain hidden from others.

However, it is true, paradoxically, that in the long run, small things and people often turn out to be more important and visible than big people and their important activities. If the CEO of a company is away from work for a few days, no one might even know, but if the cleaning lady hasn’t come to work for two days, everyone will notice right away. This doesn’t mean that the work of a CEO is not crucial – but it does mean that small people and their work, which often goes unnoticed and unrecognized, are also important, and if they work from the heart and with love, then in principle they are just as valuable as the big ones. The apostle says: “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.”

Saint Paul shows in the Epistle that all our skills and talents are a gift that God has given us through His grace. We must understand that we have received them on loan. God has given us our talents to use – not for ourselves, but to serve others, to care for them, and to love them. In both great and small things – and without dissimulation.