Week Two (Day 6) - The Love that Jesus Taught

Week Two (Day 6) - The Love that Jesus Taught
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
In chapter 13 of St John’s Gospel we read:
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:31-35)
Jesus asked us, commanded us, to love one another as he has loved us. When we love one another in this way, people will know we are his disciples. The love that was in him is the love that is in us. When Jesus spoke these words at the Last Supper, he had just removed his outer garment, wrapped a towel around his waist, knelt down and had washed his disciples’ feet.
He asks us to love in this way, to love in a “washing of the feet” kind of way, to be of help, to be of service to our brothers and sisters; to attend to their needs, to make them the centre of our lives. In this way, people will know we are his disciples.
This “washing of the feet” kind of love can take many forms. For a moment, let’s remember and give thanks for those people who have shown us what it means to love like Jesus, in this “washing of the feet” kind of way …. perhaps our parents who nurtured us … perhaps a teacher who believed in us … or a colleague at work who mentored us ….
And let’s remember and give thanks for those who in the current health emergency are showing us what it means to love like Jesus …. The doctors, nurses and carers ….
All those who have volunteered to help ….
Those who are encouraging others on their phones ….
Those who are shopping for those in isolation ….
Those who are comforting the bereaved …..
And finally, let’s ask that the words of Jesus may be words we look for ways of living, today, tomorrow and for many days to come:
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.