Gospel of John, chapter 15:12

Some time ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. In their rush, holding on to their tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed flight.

ALL except ONE who told his buddies to go on without him. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were scattered all over the floor.

The sixteen-year-old girl whose apple stand had been overturned was blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration as she tried to pick up the apples.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?”

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered, blind girl called out to him, “Mister!” He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, feebly: “Are you Jesus?”

He stopped in mid-stride, and could only wonder within himself. He quietly went back to where the girl was and said: “No, I am nothing like Jesus. He is good, kind, caring, loving and would never have run into your display in the first place.”

The girl gently nodded: “I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples, and He sent you.”

The salesman, full of interior joy, slowly made his way to catch a later flight with that question bouncing about in his mind: “Are you Jesus?”

In today’s scripture, Jesus gives us a new commandment to love one another as He has loved us. He improved and fulfilled the Old Testament commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus’s new commandment is the sum of all the commandments. As St. Augustine said: “Love and do what you like.” The person who loves the way Jesus loved us is the freest person in the world because he or she has nothing to fear whatsoever.

If you claim to love Jesus, you should act like Him. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture or going to church. Knowing Him is actually following His example as life unfolds from day to day. It is not easy to do this, at times, but it makes life much easier when you pass this love along.

When you are in doubt about what to do, simply ask yourself: what would Jesus do? He will show you what to do.

Fr. Hugh Duffy