‘T his is my commandment: love one another as I love you” (Jn 15:12). 

 

These words of Jesus need to ring in our ears and in our hearts. They have deep and wide implications for life and for how we are going to function and flourish (or not) as a society.

 

First, Jesus tells us that this is His commandment. It is not His recommendation or a mere counsel for good manners. It is a directive to us from Christ Himself, to be applied at all times and not simply selectively.

 

Then His word contradicts one of the shallow errors of modern thinking, that is that love is a feeling or emotion that can come or go. Jesus commands us to love one another. That means to love each and every person we meet, always. 

 

It is easy to love them when they are family, or attractive or agreeable to us. But the Lord’s commandment to love one another is to love even those who are disagreeable, or who do not love us back.

 

Finally, Jesus describes how we are to love each other. He says to do so as He loves us. Not as He loved us when He was physically present 2,000 years ago. But as He loves us, even now, today. Our love for others then participates in and is meant to reflect the continuing love of Jesus for them and for us.

 

It is hard not to be impacted by the anger and division that permeates our culture and society today. Because of the prevalence of the news, especially television or social media news, we are bombarded with clips and cuts of individuals on all sides of virtually every question attacking, demonizing and insulting those who disagree. Serenity and forgiveness are notably absent. Is this the people we are meant to be?

 

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” We should not just wait for opportunities to arise when we can love one another. We should actually seek out those opportunities. Those moments can be for us individually, or we can offer that love in a more organized manner.

 

Our diocesan Catholic Charities, for example, among its many services of love, offers on our behalf what is called the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. For the last 30 years, representatives of that program have visited residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities to advocate for their care and services. In doing so they build relationships with and bring comfort to some of the most vulnerable among us, especially in this time of the pandemic.

 

Much has been made of the profound effect COVID-19 has had on residents of such communities. To safeguard against the spread of the virus, family members have often not been able to visit or enter the building. Sometimes neighboring residents have not even been able to get out of their rooms to chat and visit with each other.

 

The result has been isolation leading at times to loneliness and depression. This has been particularly difficult for residents with dementia.

 

To bring our love to these residents, Ombudsman personnel have been connecting with patients by means of window visits. Postcards are distributed with contact information for residents to know they are not forgotten. Phone calls with family members have sought to bridge the gap of separation. And all of this is in the context of the worry and concern by family members if their loved one has been part of that population in such facilities that have been so impacted by contracting the virus.

 

The point is that we need not feel trapped in the anger of our society. There are opportunities for us to love one another as Jesus loves us. That will take work, sacrifice and constant prayer to do them well. 

 

But Jesus’s command is not a burden. It is an antidote to many of the problems that assail us each day. In doing so, we can choose to be ombudsmen for each other, prayerfully advocating for health, healing and care.