I heard a really great homily today in which the priest told us that the "commandment" of Jesus was not, "Love thy neighbor" or the Golden Rule. His commandment, His constant commandment is "Do this in memory of me."
If we love Jesus, we will celebrate the Eucharist, eat and drink of the New Testament, the new covenant of His sacrifice.
Thinking back on Fr. Baker's homilies, though, I realized that if the commandment Jesus refers to here is to receive the Eucharist, then the commandment is really to accept His sacrifice, to accept His love. Or, in Fr. Baker's phrasing, to BE LOVED.
If you love me, you will accept my love. If you love me, you will allow yourself to be loved. You will let me love you.
The first and foremost commandment we receive from Christ is not to do anything at all, really. It's to surrender ourselves to His love, to be with Him and to allow Him to love us. When we accept His love, we love Him in return and we are capable of loving others.
This is made even clearer by the ending of today's Gospel:
"And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." - John 14:21
I'm praying for you!
:)
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