Love one another as I have loved you. We hear that command of Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel (John 13:31-33a, 34-35).

 

We can simply hear these words, which Jesus addressed to his disciples at the Last Supper, as simply another command from the Lord to love others.

 

But if we consider what Jesus said, we realize that he is commanding us to love others in a particular way: we are to love others just as Jesus loved us. This begins with our appreciating the way in which Jesus loves us.

 

We are loved in an individual, personal way. In the waters of baptism, Jesus chose each of us to be part of his family of faith. He knows our names and allows us to call him our brother and friend. Jesus recognizes our voices when we turn to him in prayer, and he speaks to us when the scriptures are proclaimed. Jesus trusts us so much that he places himself into our hands when we step forward to receive the Eucharist.

 

Jesus washes us from our sins and failings as assuredly as he washed the feet of his apostles. He walks with us on our journey of life just as he walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus supports and encourages us through his Church. He reveals the meaning and purpose of our lives. And above all, Jesus suffers and dies so that we might be raised with him to a life of everlasting joy.

 

That is the way Jesus loves us and the way he tells us that we are to love one another – just as he does!

 

It is interesting to consider that when Jesus gave that new commandment, he was not speaking to a crowd of people—he was speaking directly to his disciples and telling them how they were to love each other.

 

And that is how Jesus is telling us to love our fellow Christians today! Such an all embracing, compassionate, trusting, sacrificial love can be a challenge in a Church where Christians are often divided by political preferences, liturgical practices, social views, immigration policies, judicial decisions, unspoken racial prejudices, economic status, educational levels, parish politics, and all the other things that separate people from one another in our polarized society.

 

What a powerful witness we would give to the world if despite the many things that divide us, all Christians truly loved one another just as Jesus loves us!  

 

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

© 2025 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski