Beloved, we love God because
God first loved us.
If anyone says, “I love God,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.
This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
(1 Jn 4:19-5:4)
They tell a story about old Saint John. Every liturgy he would get up and say to the people, “Little children, let us love one another!” and then he would sit down. After several weeks of this, the new deacon pulled old John aside and said, “Every week you tell us the same thing. When are you going to teach us something new?” Old John answered, “When you’ve done what I’ve asked you, I can teach you something new. 'Little children, let us love one another!'” After the troubling events yesterday on the Mall and in the Capitol of the United States, perhaps we need old Saint John's message more than ever: "Let us love one another!"
