A Day in the Life: As I Have Loved You

"As I have loved you, so you should love one another. This is how all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

- John 13:34-35

In one short statement, Jesus places fraternal charity at the forefront of the attributes of Christian discipleship. "As I have loved you..." How can mortal, fallible, self-centered human beings even begin to love like God loves? A divine love that is constant, perfect, unconditional, and unaffected by moods or emotions. It almost seems as though Our Lord is asking the impossible.

Life with others is not always easy. We are all still human, still growing, still works in progress. Christ never did promise that following Him would be easy, however. In fact, we hear things like:

"They hated me... they will hate you." (cf. Matt 24:9)

"I send you out as sheep among wolves." (Matt. 10:16)

"In the world, you will have trouble." (John 16:33)

"Pray that you may not be subjected to the test." (Matt. 26:41)

So, if He promised anything, Our Lord promised that following Him would come with the cost of detachment from our own will and the opinions of others. At its heart, fraternal charity requires that we prioritize the Other above the Self. That's not always hard, especially when we have some attachment or affection for the other person. We are warned by Christ, however, that even the pagans love those who love them. It's easy, but it's not enough; we have to love our enemies, too.

Enemies come in all forms. We can quickly limit "our enemies" to people who are actively working against us. What about the people in our lives who hurt us because of indifference? The people who are attentive only when it is convenient? That co-worker that constantly leaves you to clean up their mess. The family member who only comes around when they want something. The fair-weather friend, the annoying roommate, the inconsiderate boss? All of the "everyday" people in our lives who irk us, cause us grief, irritate us to the point of distraction. If you ask me, these are the real "enemies" that we have to work hard to love.

Of course I can say, "I love my enemies" when we're talking about distant enemies: anti-Christian officials, terrorist groups, criminals, and so forth. Loving the people who are in your sphere of daily activity and seem to do their best to rock the boat as often as possible requires supernatural assistance. Fortunately, St. Paul tells us that the grace of God is sufficient and in Christ, we can do all things. You know, some people speculate that the "thorn" in Paul's side (2 Cor. 12:7) was some sort of physical affliction. Personally, I think it was probably some other disciple that drove St. Paul up the wall!

May God in His mercy grant us the grace to love our daily enemies.