May 18, 2025.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13, 34-35)
Love is a law imprinted, in one way or another, in the heart of every man. Even the most abject of criminals loves or has loved at one time. He loves his family, those of his blood, the members of his band or gang of fellow assassins. What Christ does is not to simply invite us to love, in that there wouldn’t be much novelty. He doesn’t talk of love, but of “his love”.
This “love as Christ does” is distinct and typically Christian. Only He has it, since only he takes Christ as his reference point, as his model to imitate. But to love as Christ loved implies a series of requisites, the same as done by the Lord. For example, it is essential to forgive ones enemies and that as we all know well is extremely difficult. It is also mandatory to be able to reach the limit of giving one’s life for a loved one, just as Christ did for us, and this as well is extremely difficult. Another characteristic of Christian love is that it must embrace all and not just those of the family, or of the group that deserves our sympathy. Love as Christ loved must lead us “to love first”, without waiting for the other to take the initiative. In the same way, it invites us to procure a love that is reciprocal, so that our fellow man doesn’t have to always be living to us without receiving anything in exchange.
All this is very difficult and, in a way, very much above the human capability. This is why to love as Christ one must be join with Christ, since without him we can’t do anything.
Intention: Love all, be the first to love, begin again by forgiving, or asking forgiveness, do not tire one’s fellow man by one’s own egotism, and above all pray.