All I Ask

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us what could be called his final, “death bed” request.

It sums up the entire sense of his incarnation, teaching, passion, death and resurrection in these few words:

“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.”

This might also be the greatest message of the Jubilee Year of Mercy—that we can be assured God loves us.

St. John Chrysostom, the revered Archbishop of Constantinople and Church Father, pointed out that for St. Paul, “The most important thing of all was that he knew himself to be loved by Christ. Enjoying this love, he considered himself happier than anyone else.”

There is a beautiful song often heard in our churches. Its refrain: “All I ask of you is forever to remember me as loving you.”

If we can live a life rich in love for God, self and one another, as Jesus instructs, we will be blessed to have these poetic and saving words as our epitaph.

Our prayer today: Dear Jesus, grant us the grace and perseverance to love one another as you love us.