Jesus gathered with His Apostles. The next day He would die. Jesus gave them His last teaching that summed up everything He taught them for three years. “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13:34) Why did Jesus call this a “new commandment?” The Jewish religious leaders taught that we should love. But their teaching on love was incomplete. They taught one is only required to offer a type of love called “storge.” Storge love exists between family members, friends, or companions. You love them because they love you back.
Jesus teaches a new type of love called “agape.” It is the highest love because it demands you be willing to make sacrifices for the one you love. It is completely selfless. Jesus makes this love new because it is based on how God loves. Jesus is saying, if you want to be my disciple, you must love the way God loves you. Jesus gives a completely new teaching on love that no one had ever heard before. For the first and only time in history, Jesus will create a new church based solely upon agape love. “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
Jesus based His Church on the way God loves you. I ask, “How does God love?” God’s Love is not based on the worthiness of the one He loves. No one is worthy. Jesus washed the feet of Peter who denied knowing Him, the feet of Thomas who doubted Him and the feet of Judas who betrayed Him. Jesus still loves you even when you doubt, deny and betray Him. I left the seminary 50 years ago when I was told I had no vocation to priesthood. I also left the church for over a year. I doubted God loved me. I denied God the worship He deserved. I betrayed Him by turning my back on Him. Did God turn His back on me? No. He never gave up on me. He sent me a kind priest who brought me back to God. When I spiritually turned around, I beheld the face of Jesus in Fr. Ed, a small, five-foot, four-inch Irish priest whose love made me whole again. He would say to me, “Michael me boy, God has a plan for you. Be patient and keep faith.” Five years later, Fr. Ed put the stole around my shoulders on my ordination day. That was 44 years ago on June 13th.
The more you live a life of agape love, the more it will flow out of you to others. Then you will become a blessing to others. I remember my first day of ministry at St. Al’s Orphanage. There lived teenage boys and girls whose families could not care for them or wanted them. I arrived on a day after a heavy snowfall. The kids wanted to play in the snow. I joined them. A big snowball fight ensued. Guess who was their favorite target? Me. Those kids could make a snowball really fast. When I would bend down to make a snowball, they would lob four snowballs right at my rear. One kid said, “an easy target.”
When the fight ended, one young boy asked me, “Why are you here with us?” Before I could answer another boy gave a surprisingly insightful answer. He said, “God sent him here to say He loves us.”
The Father sent Jesus to show us what true love looks like. It looks like Jesus kneeling at the feet of flawed and sinful men, washing their feet. Jesus commands us to do the same. I want to thank you for giving me the honor to wash your feet for twenty years. You are a blessing to me.
