How can this be a new commandment?

May 6, 2007 -- Fifth Sunday of Easter

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. Do you prefer new or old things and ways of being? 2. What is "new" about Jesus' commandment of love? 3. What is the connection between love and faith?

Back in 1932, President Roosevelt introduced a policy regulating industry, child labor, and wages. It was called the New Deal. Back when Columbus sailed west and "discovered" America, this land was called the New World. When the last day of December is over, we enter a New Year. "Newness" is part of the human experience and has always been so. For those who like the "old," this newness can be disturbing. For others who enjoy change, it is a desired goal.

Jesus tells us that he has a new commandment that we are to follow, the commandment of love. Yet, prior to Jesus, many philosophers and schools of thought urged upon the human race to be loving. So, how can this be a "new" commandment? Well, Jesus adds a qualification regarding his new commandment: "As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." This is indeed new! For Jesus' love is one of total self-giving, grounded in compassion, and expressed through unconditional forgiveness. It is a total, complete, absolute love. It means one is willing to lay down one's life for another.

In our reading from Revelation, "newness" appears in several places. John's vision is that of a new heaven and a new earth. The old and former order is on its way out: "Behold, I make all things new." And it is love that brings about that transformation, which radically changes everything.

St. Therese of Lisieux offered to the world a "new" spirituality, one that she labeled the little way. Essentially, it was one thing: to do whatever we are doing with love. Be it the dishes, or the laundry, or mowing the lawn, or raising children, or going off to work, if it is done with love we will bring about a new world through God's grace. This way of life transforms duties and obligations into opportunities of growth and joy.

As St. Paul and Barnabas traveled around the Mediterranean Sea proclaiming the good news of the risen Lord, they were making things new. But it was not simply their work. God was working through them and accomplishing great deeds. Their love for the Gentile people opened "the door of faith" and with that opening, love poured in. A people once in darkness was given the light. Indeed, this people was given a whole new way of life.

In speaking about the new and old, we are dealing with a paradox. St. Augustine, in that magnificent passage from his Confessions captures it well: "Late have I loved thee, O Beauty, ever ancient, ever new, too late have I loved thee." God's beauty and love is ancient and new, old and young. And God's commandment is as old as the hills and as new as the morning dew. Old because love has always been the foundation of morality; new because the love that Jesus expressed was so unconditional and extravagant.

Again, St. Augustine is a good mentor when speaking of love: "We come to God by love and not by navigation." To the extent that we live God's "new" commandment, to that degree we will experience the peace and joy that Jesus desired for all people.

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)