'Love One Another'

By FATHER ROBERT O'NEIL

In Sunday's second reading from Revelation, John has a vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Here is the newness of life, God's power in creation, unleashed by the resurrection of Jesus.

A sign of the presence of this new life among his disciples is to be the love that they show toward each other. "I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

And so it is not words, devotions or even martyrdom that will enable the followers of Jesus to stand out in the darkness of the world, but the intensity of their concern, their compassion, their love for one another.

We can immediately identify with those who join us to celebrate the Eucharist each Sunday in our parish church. But do we give thought to the suffering of persecuted Christians in other parts of the world?

It is appropriate to speak of love this Sunday because it is also Mother's Day. We honor those good mothers, living and dead, who have loved us. They spend their lives putting love into action.

And we have a model in Mary of Nazareth, whose love expressed in an act of humility before the messenger of God enabled her to become the mother of Jesus and in turn the mother of us all.

This Sunday is a celebration of love: the love of Jesus for his followers; their love for each other; the love of his mother, Mary, the first of the disciples; and the love of good mothers for their families. Ultimately, we celebrate the love of God, so that, like Julian of Norwich, we may affirm the beauty, friendliness and love of our creator for each of us and all creation.

Father O'Neil is parochial vicar of St. Mary's parish in Manhattan.