Love one another Acts 14:21-27; Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13; Rv 21:1-5a; Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35 Today’s passage from John 13 contains perhaps one of the most well-known sayings from the Gospels, “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (vv. 34-35). As we already know, biblical commands to love others are not exactly new. Leviticus commands us to love our neighbor and the stranger (19:18, 34). In Deuteronomy, Israel is called to love others, specifically the stranger, as God loves them and cares for them (Dt 10:17-19). The great sage Hillel, who was still alive for possibly the first few years of Jesus’ life, is cited as saying, “be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind and drawing them close to the Torah” (Avot 1.12). In emphasizing this command to love, Jesus is affirming its significance for Jews in the first century. The passage is commonly understood as a command for the disciples to not only love each other, but to love others in this way as well. However, it is much narrower than that. It is more like the command given specifically in Leviticus 19:18. This is a command that specifically concerns relationships between Israelites. Israelites are commanded to not be vengeful or hold grudges against each other and to love each other. Jesus here is speaking to his disciples and specifically commanding them to love each other, as in to love those who are also disciples of Jesus. Many people view these passages as the Bible commanding us to only love “our own” people. Neither of these commands can be read that way, or even seen to be insinuating this. They are merely focused on a certain set of relationships. Jesus’ command here, like the command in Leviticus, is a command focused on the relationships between disciples of Jesus. Perhaps this passage from John also reflects conflicts among the disciples in John’s own community. Emphasizing this saying, then, could have been a call for the community to reevaluate the way they were treating each other. It can also serve as a call for modern readers to examine the relationships they have with those in their own religious communities. The Easter season is the perfect time for individual Catholics to do their part to breathe new life into their communities. Where are there tensions or conflicts in your parish community? Are there parish ministries that need help, such a lectors, catechists or people to welcome new parishioners? In what ways might you be able to participate in the work of repairing relationships and building community in your parish? No church community is perfect. Fortunately, God does not require perfection. God does, however, require effort. The reading from Acts today shows not just Paul and Barnabas doing work for the infant church, but it shows how the disciples in each community participate in that work. The growth and betterment of the church is not just in the hands of “official” church leaders, but of every person who is baptized. Building strong parish communities is an important part of that growth. This work requires that Catholics love one another as they are commanded to do. Through this love, all will know that they are disciples of Jesus.
About the Author Kate Oxsen is an assistant professor of Old Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union.