The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

Love One Another


For the Christian, faith is measured by its ability to love. That is the message of the gospel reading for today. It is a good reminder to each of us of our human need for love.

We have heard many times the call to love God and love neighbour. The law, the eternal commandment, calls the community to love neighbour as self. "When you love your neighbour," wrote Kierkegaard, one of the great theologians of the church, "then you resemble God." To love one's neighbour, is to love, not because we have similar interests, to love, not because we are members of the same family, to love, not because we live next door to someone, but to love because we are part of God's humanity. As part of the human family, we are loved. We love because we are called to be like God and God loves.

But, as difficult as this may be to live out, the new commandment of Jesus to love goes far beyond even that.

The gospel passage begins with the departure of Judas. He is about to betray Jesus. Jesus knows that from this point on there is no turning back. The outcome is inevitable. He is going to die. What follows is in effect, a farewell speech.

To those who have been close to him through this time of ministry, he says: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." It is a new law that demands that we love, not as ourselves, but better than ourselves. It demands that we die for our friends. It is a law of sacrificial love. The kind of love which is lived out only in community by the care we have for one another. The commandment of love within the Christian community is not a rule to live by. It is a gift of the risen and glorified Christ. It is enacted by the community in the breaking of bread and in loving service to one another. It is the fulfillment of our baptismal covenant.

When I was a child growing up in downtown Toronto, there was an elderly woman who lived at the corner of our street, just a few houses away. The children in our neighbourhood were afraid of her. There were stories about how the house was haunted. We would walk on the other side of the street to avoid getting too close.
It is true that she was rather eccentric. She lived alone. She stayed much to herself. She loved to spend time in her garden. And it was a truly beautiful place. I would see her out there early on summer mornings, watering the garden. She always played classical music as she worked. Being a lover of such music, I longed to talk to her about it. One day very early in the morning, so that none of my friends would know, I got up enough courage to visit her. I talked to her from the sidewalk, a safe distance away. She told me that flowers enjoyed good music. And who am I to doubt? Her garden was certainly the most beautiful in the neighbourhood.

Our early morning talks grew over the years and I began to drop in on her in a more formal way. She enjoyed our chats and always had cookies and milk for me. She took to giving me little gifts – one time a note pad, another an old Girl's Almanac. Then one day she gave me a beautiful cameo brooch. When I showed my mother what she had given me, she said that I couldn't keep it. It was too expensive a gift. I was to take it back. I did so rather reluctantly. When I handed it to her, she simply put it aside. I will never forget what she said. "Things are nothing. They are just doorways to people."
There was a deep truth in what she said. What we experienced from each other was a mutual love for one another, love that went beyond love of neighbour. It was a love that allowed me to see Christ in her and overcome all the barriers and fears that society put in place.

The kind of love Jesus spoke about calls us to generosity. It is a giving, not of material goods, but of oneself. It is sacrificial giving. Not many are called to the ultimate sacrifice. But we are all called to sacrificial love. God’s grace is free; love, on the other hand, is costly.

It requires a commitment to a spirit of giving. It is something we experience and live. It is lived out in community by the care we have, one for another. That is why love is the mark of the Christian.

St. Teresa of Avila, one of the great mystics of the church, put it this way. "Let everyone understand that real love of God does not consist of tear-shedding, nor in that sweetness and tenderness for which usually we long, just because they console us, but in serving God in justice, fortitude of soul, and humility."

How do we show that kind of sacrificial love? Do we show it in the respect we have for the human family? Do we really care for our planet? Do we care for, and nurture others? Do we show it in our values in a society that struggles with issues that devalue human life? Do we show it in our response to the aged, the abused, the hopeless? Who do we love? Whom should we love?

Love clearly has to do with caring for others. If we do not care about others, then no amount of churchgoing, no amount of money, no amount of faith, will give us any cause worth working for. How can we even believe in God if we lack concern for others?

Love is not some sentimental thing. It is shown in our lives by our genuine, sacrificial, Christ-centred love for others. It doesn't come naturally, or all at once. We must be empowered to do it. It begins with us, now, right where we are. Once in a while we are graced enough to recognize it and to come to a sudden, clear recognition of the risen Christ who lives in those we love.