On a Maundy Thursday years ago Fr. Arthur began his sermon with the observation that there are really only two instructions that the Lord left to His Church. The first and most obvious is the command which is repeated at the celebration of every Holy Eucharist, “Do this for the remembrance of me.” The second may not be as conspicuous, but it is also familiar: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you that you also love one another.”

To reflect upon the command to love in the context of the Foot Washing and Lord’s Supper of the Maundy Thursday Liturgy, is to discover that there is a person in this love. The “I” in the command designates the person of Christ. Just as he instituted the Sacrament of the Altar and by his authority the bread and wine are truly His Body and Blood, so he has instituted love within the Church and there is a sort of real presence of Himself and of His Sacrifice in this love. When we love as Christians it is a manifestation of the resurrected and living Christ within us and a witness of this presence to the one being loved. We discover the Christ dwelling within us and others are able to see Christ through us. Christian love draws attention past ourselves to the one whose disciples we are. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples.”

That this love is not merely a suggestion or a proposal but a commandment also points us to the personal presence and involvement of the Savior. A commandment to love sounds to us about as awkward as an arranged marriage. The spontaneity we associate with love can have nothing to do with the tedious duty we associate with a command. Yet for our Lord the two were united. “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” His love for the Father was expressed through His perfect obedience, and His love for us is shown in His faithfulness to the mission the Father entrusted to Him. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

If our love in the Church is to witness to him, it must be united to the will of the Father also. I have sometime lamented, usually in the context of marriage, the idea that we “fall in love.” I have suggested instead that we should say that we rise to love. Love is no accident. It does not cause us to stumble. It does not “sweep us off our feet.” Genuine love sets us upon our feet; it restores us to the way God intends us to be: healthy, active, able to do His will and to serve others. The more our love is joined to a generous obedience to the Father the more it will manifest the presence of the Son in His loving obedience and the stronger and more persevering our love will be. It is a sign of the continuing activity of the risen and ascended Lord in His Church. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.”

The Lord says of the Holy Eucharist that it is “the new covenant in his blood.” So also when he instructs his disciples to love He calls it a “new commandment.” It is new because it has a new basis in His own love revealed on the Cross: “even as I have loved you that you also love one another.” This is a new starting point. To love in obedience to this command is to invoke the presence of the Lord and His own redeeming, life-giving love.

This love that comes from within, from our Baptismal union with Christ, will always be something new in the world. As Mother Teresa said, love is “a fruit always in season.” It is fresh, new, surprising; it changes the situation; it is a foretaste of the new creation. In any circumstance love is the way forward, the path that leads to a genuinely new beginning.

The great days are coming when we will venerate the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and praise and glorify His Resurrection. Through our celebration of these holy days may we apprehend more fully the power of His love by which the world has been redeemed and recreated. By embracing His commandment to love we can know His presence within us and manifest it to the world. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

As noted in the last newsletter, October 1st will be the 100thth anniversary of the birth of Fr. Arthur. We hope to have a several events in October proximate to his birthday to commemorate this milestone. Everything is still in the planning stage, so we continue to welcome ideas and offers of help.

In January our Long Term Guest Christopher Crandall returned to his home in Oregon after more than three months here sharing in our life. We invite men interested in experiencing monastic life to stay with us as Long Term Guests anywhere from a month to six months. Please contact us for more information.

The beginning of February Fr. Thomas began to serve as the interim pastor at Mt. Hope Lutheran Church in Pontiac. The position is expected to last a year to eighteen months.

In order to raise funds to purchase side pews in the new Church (to replace the metal folding chairs) a Pig Roast is being planned. It is tentatively scheduled for Sunday afternoon the 5th of June. More information will be forthcoming.

We have received a pledge of $5,000 for the enlargement and development of our cemetery. General plans call for the small cemetery to the east of the Church to be expanded to include the area to the south as well. We would like the area to be patterned after the church yards in Sweden and Europe and once common also here. The area would have walks and serve as a place for meditation as well as for liturgical processions. There would also be a place for the lighting of the Easter fire. Individuals with a special interest in the cemetery should contact us so we can keep you informed.

A reminder to those who shop at Meijer stores: you can have a percentage of your monthly purchase totals donated to St. Augustine's House. Please register at your local store using our organization number: 234415.

The Holy Week Liturgies will be held at the same times as for the past several years:

• April by Robert Facko in commemoration of our Lord’s glorious Resurrection.

Following Jesus

What love is you can learn from Jesus.

He is the one who has loved most. He will teach you to put the center of yourself outside.

For no one has greater love than one who dies for friends. He will also teach you to be unlimited space for others, invitation and openness: “Come to me, all who are weary and over-burdened and I will give you rest.

So be converted to love everyday. Change all your energies, all your potential, into selfless gifts for the other person. Then you yourself will be changed from within and through you God’s kingdom will break into the world.

You are called to follow Jesus closely. With Him you will take the road up to Jerusalem, the city of suffering and glorification. With Him you will give everything that the Kingdom may come.

On this road you are called to be least of all and not master, to carry others’ burdens and not lay your own on them, to give freedom instead of taking it, to grow poor in order to make others rich, to take the cross upon yourself thus bringing joy to others, to die in order that others may live. This is the mystery of the gospel and there is no purpose in endless talk about it. Be silent—for it will be true and genuine only if you practice it.

So keep Jesus Christ before your eyes. Don’t hesitate to go anywhere He leads you; don’t stay where you are and don’t look back, but look forward with eagerness to what lies ahead.