St. John begins his account of the Last Supper with these words, “Jesus loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). It was at this time that the Lord washed the disciples' feet. That was unthinkable. On the eve of his Passion, the Lord spoke at length with his disciples. It was then that he gave them a new commandment: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (John 13:34).
This raises the question: why did the Lord call the commandment to love others a new one? The people of Israel already had a similar commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Loving one's neighbor as oneself means making their life as much a priority as one's own. That is already a high standard. St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it" (Ephesians 5:29).
The Lord's commandment is new because of the standard by which this love is now measured: the way the Lord himself loved. This raises the bar far beyond the Old Testament command. It is in fact the highest standard one can aspire to, for the Lord's love went to the extreme, even to laying down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
St. Thomas Aquinas taught that to love is to will the good of the other and to act upon it. In other words, the true sign of love is sacrifice. When someone truly loves another, they give of their time, go out of their way, put the other first, and most of all, make the other’s suffering their own. St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, offered to die in place of a married man with children.
After giving his new commandment, the Lord said something very important: "This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). There are many signs that someone is a disciple of the Lord. One is that the disciple hears the Shepherd's voice and follows him. "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). But the defining mark of a disciple is love.
The love among disciples is essential to the mission of evangelization. A missionary’s holy way of life is their greater witness. In his magnificent hymn to love (1 Corinthians 12:31-13), St. Paul writes, “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Love is the hallmark of the Lord’s disciples.
To love our neighbors indiscriminately, as the Lord loves us, is a high calling. Yet, the Lord trusts us̶ He believes we can do it. And the saints throughout history have proven that it is possible. Let us humbly ask the Lord to open our hearts to receive his commandment and to grant us the strength to live it out.