The setting for this Sunday’s Gospel is the Last Supper. Jesus had promised to give the Holy Spirit to instruct and guide the Church after His Ascension into heaven, but at this moment of His final meeting with the apostles before His death He was eager to tell them what was closest to His heart. He did so in but a few words: “Love one another.” These days some Catholics think that the Church has gone soft. They lament the fact that the practice of fasting and abstinence has been lessened both in its frequency and its severity. They say there is too much talk about mercy and not enough about penance. They judge that the Church is lax about allowing frequent communion. They seem to be of the opinion that the “good old days” meant it was a challenge to be a good Catholic. The truth is that some of the external practices were easy to comply with in comparison with the command of Jesus. When we face what His commandment entails, we see that it is far from easy, especially when we understand what Jesus meant when He declared that His commandment is new. That is what He meant when He added, “Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for each other.”
It was this commandment of love which inspired the preachers of the early Church, like Paul and Barnabas whom we heard about in the first reading, to travel great distances under difficult circumstances to proclaim the good news. It was love which made their hearers accept the faith and persevere in it so that the Church spread throughout the world. It was love which moved the martyrs to give up their lives. It was love which inspired saints to serve others unselfishly without hope of gain. And it is this same love for each other which will make us good Catholics today. Participating in the Eucharist helps us to become more and more like Christ so that we may keep His commandment, “Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for each other.”