Bible Study, Prayer, and Homily Resources
by Fr. Tommy Lane
We have just listened to some of what Jesus said during the Last Supper as reported by John (13:31-35). Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, giving them an example of loving service. Then he gave them this instruction:
I give you a new
commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, you also
should love one another. (John 13:34)
What is new about it? The Old Testament had already instructed to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Lev 19:18). What is new is that Jesus said we are to love “as I have loved you.” That is what is new, as I have loved you. We are to love others as Jesus loved us.
How did Jesus love us? Out of love for us, Jesus became human, one of us. Imagine, God becoming one of us to convince us of his love for us. To imagine becoming a dog because you love your dog does not even begin to capture the love of God for us. Temptations came to Jesus, but he remained faithful to his love for us. Temptations came when Jesus was in the desert after his baptism before he began his public ministry. The devil offered him what was better and more exciting but Jesus, even though he must have been physically weak from fasting, remained faithful. Then on the cross, as he was mocked by various people, he suffered another temptation, uttered to him by the chief priests and scribes as they said to him, “Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” (Mark 15:32) How tempting that must have been for Jesus, to put an end to his suffering and prove to them who he was. But Jesus, in his intense suffering, remained faithful to his love for us when temptation came to him at his weakest moment. That is because of Jesus’ love for you. He showed his love was genuine love, remaining faithful and making a sacrifice when a better option was available. His love for you meant the ultimate sacrifice for himself, suffering dreadful torture and giving his life in exchange for your sins. Jesus’ love for you saved you on Good Friday. It really was Good Friday.
In today’s Gospel Jesus said we are to love one another as he has loved us. In practice, what does this mean? Those of you who are married, the day you got married, you promised your spouse to love your spouse for the rest of your lives. That promise did not mean that you would not be tempted by someone else in the future, but it did mean that when you would be tempted by someone else in the future you would remain faithful to your spouse. That promise did not mean that you would never meet someone prettier or more handsome, someone more fun or exciting, someone with more money or means, someone with better health or more free time. But your promise meant that when you would meet someone prettier or more handsome, someone more fun or exciting, someone with more money or means, someone with better health or more free time, you would remain faithful to your spouse. Your promise did not mean that temptation would never come but that when it would come, you would remain faithful to your spouse. That is genuine love—remaining faithful and making a sacrifice when what appears to be better comes along because love always involves sacrifice. When a parent or the two parents do not make the sacrifice to continue loving each other as Jesus has loved us, what happens? The children suffer. When a parent or the two parents do not want to suffer, they pass that suffering on to their children and the children bear the brunt of the suffering, instead of the parents. (See a summary of the adverse effects on children on page 31 of a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, May 2025) A parent or parents who love like Jesus so that their children will not endure the suffering are real heroes.
To love others as Jesus loved us is obviously not easy sometimes. To love as Jesus loved us, we need the help of Jesus and for some, the help of professionals such as marriage counselors. To receive help from Jesus to love as he loved, obviously we need to stay close to Jesus. Praying every day is essential. Pray in a way that suits you, in a way that helps you. You could read a paragraph from one of the Gospels first and use that to help you enter into prayer and spend some moments with Jesus. We encounter that love of Jesus for us every Sunday at Mass. We hear the words of his sacrificial love for us repeated at the consecration of every Mass: This is my Body which will be given up for you . . . This is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you.
We are to love as Jesus loved us, so we need as much as possible of Jesus in our lives. A little later in the Last Supper, after today’s Gospel, Jesus makes this clear: a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me (John 15:4) . . . whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
Stay close to Jesus so that we can love as he loved us.
I give you a new
commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, you also
should love one another. (John 13:34)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2025
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Fifth Sunday of Easter Year C
Jesus’ new commandment to love as he has loved 2022
Love one another just as I have loved you 2013
Related Homilies: Homilies on love of God for us
Homilies on loving neighbor as ourselves