‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’ (John 13:34)
So what exactly is new about this command from Jesus? In Luke 10:27, Jesus reminded his followers that under the law of Moses, they were to: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
The difference with the new commandment is that we are now required to love as Jesus himself loved. Jesus demonstrated his love through parables, healings and other actions. From the Wedding Feast at Cana to the washing of his disciples feet at the Last Supper and finally through his suffering, death on a cross and resurrection. God gave His only Son to save us. We in turn must do whatever is needed to demonstrate love for one another.
One example is St Maximillian Kolbe, a Catholic priest who voluntarily gave up his life in Auschwitz to save the life of a Polish army sergeant and family man.
We might not be asked to demonstrate such heroic love for another but we should make it our mission to love one another as Jesus loves us even in the small things of life and particularly with the world in such darkness as it appears today.
Contemplative Catholic 