In the Scripture reading for this Sunday’s Mass, Jesus puts before each of us the great command; ‘love one another, just as I love you.’ Jesus is not describing a sentimental view of love and he is not asking us to simply like each other. We are asked to love each other as Jesus showed us; the type of love that is shown in service and sacrifice. The season of Easter reminds us of the lengths Jesus went to so could he physically demonstrate his love for each of us. On Holy Thursday, he got down on his knees to wash our feet. On Good Friday, he was ridiculed, tortured and lifted up on the cross for us. And on Easter Sunday, he burst out of the tomb with the gift of new life.

Jesus tells the disciples that all will know that they are his disciples because of the love they show for one another. This kind of love is the hallmark of Christianity. We see it lived in the witness of the martyrs. We see it in the example of the lives of the saints – like Mary Mackillop and Mother Teresa - and we see it in the holy women and men around us who live and love daily, making small and large sacrifices for others.

Followers of Jesus are called not simply to believe in His resurrection and the promise of new life, but to live it through the quality of their daily lives, through how they treat each other and speak to each other. Actions will speak louder than our words.

As St John of the Cross reminds us, ‘at the end of our lives, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and our human achievements but on how much we have loved.’

Let us strive for excellence in taking up Jesus’ call to truly love one another – as He loved us!