Always love more
“I GIVE you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. Love one another as I have loved you.” This is Jesus’s final message to his disciples.
Love is the central theme of God’s relationship to man.
This infinite love is why God sent His only son to be incarnate, reveal himself to us, and die on the cross so that we will be reconciled with Him and become heirs of eternal life.
God’s relation to humanity has been consistent all about the profundity of His love for his people. This love is the unbreakable bond that binds God with His church.
This should also be the unitive end of every family and marriage, that is, to nurture and deepen this love.
It is love that sustains any and all relationships, whether it is the family, the community, or the nation. Without it, everything will fall apart.
In the Gospel today, Jesus is giving his disciples his farewell message that final night in the upper room.
And the message was to love one another. This is the truest mark of being one of His disciples.
This love is not an exclusive kind of love, limited only to whosoever we want to love.
We are asked to transmit this love to others, even to our enemies, because we have been gifted with a relationship with Him.
By showing love we are revealing
God to the world.
Yet it is easy to love people who do good to us but infinitely difficult to express this love to those who hate or cause us pain and suffering.
But, as already said, giving this love even to our enemies is the true mark of discipleship.
Taking his cue from the day’s Gospel, Pope Francis explored the fruit that can be seen when a Christian abides in Jesus’ love.
Jesus, said the Pope, “invites us to abide in His love so that His joy may be in us and our joy may be full.”
He said this love has its origin in God the Father, who is love and flows like a river through Jesus, His Son, to us.
“The love Jesus gives us is the same with which the Father loves Him: pure, unconditional, freely given love,” said the Pope.
“By giving it to us, Jesus treats us like friends, making us know the Father, and He involves us in His same mission for the life of the world.”
In the same passage, Jesus summarized His commandments with the words: “that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Pope Francis said loving like Christ means going beyond our own selves and opening up to those in greater need.
“To love as Christ means to put yourself at the service of your brothers and sisters, as He did in washing the feet of the disciples,” said the Pope.
“It means making ourselves available, as we are and with what we have. This means to love not in word but in deed.”
The Old Testament tells us to love your God with all your heart with all your mind with all your soul and with all your might.
But why the same God is now telling us to love one another as I have loved you as the new commandment?
What is the difference between the commandment in the Old and in the New Testament?
The New Commandment is about serving others, forgiving our enemies, showing compassion and mercy to those in need, and loving one another as Jesus loved us.
This is what will lead us to the new heaven and new earth.
It’s not about material possessions or wealth, but about the spiritual nourishment that comes from following the New Commandment.
Jesus’ sacrificial love for humanity, demonstrated through his death and resurrection, is the highest form of love and spirituality.
To truly love, according to Jesus’ teachings, we must practice nonviolence and non-retaliation.
When faced with difficult situations or conflicts, we should look to Jesus on the cross as an example of love and forgiveness.
It is only through living in this way that we can create a new church, a new life, and a new family in the time of baptism.
Baptism, along with the other sacraments, is a covenant between ourselves and God, and it is important that we remain faithful to this covenant, just as God is always faithful to us.
Unfortunately, many of us fail to live up to these teachings, and this is why we see so many problems in families and society.
We must learn to love our enemies, show compassion, and avoid spreading hatred and violence.
If we can practice these teachings in our daily lives, then we can truly experience the newness of heaven and earth that Jesus promised.
In front of contradictions, in the face of uncertainty and confusion, always love more.
I committed this big mistake in the last few weeks as I grappled with my illnesses and external pressure. Because of this, I hurt people I care for deeply.
Moving forward, I can only pivot, apologize, and seek forgiveness. And love more.
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In front of contradictions, in the face of uncertainty and confusion, always love more