When Jesus says to us that we must "love one another," He means we are to show a love which transcends mere feelings. He speaks of a divine and holy love that reaches out to the one who is difficult to love. It means reaching out to the unlovable, even to someone who might seem to be an enemy, and to those who want to hurt us, or who have hurt us in the past.
When we love with the love of Christ, we will be patient and kind with one another. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: Love means that we will bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things - for no other reason than that is exactly how God loves us.
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Christ makes this divine love the mark of His disciples. This is how the world will recognize a disciple of Jesus, by the love flowing through that person. Christian love is like the beam of light shining from a lighthouse, guiding the ships at sea out of the darkness into port.
And that kind of Love makes a difference in the world. The unbelieving world will take notice, just as the pagan Roman world could not help but notice how the first believers cared for one another, when they said, "See how they love one another!" The world saw the love of Christ through the love of Christians, and that is what drew them to the Church.
If Christians seem to have such little impact in today's world it is not for lack of words or books or advertising or communication. It is for lack of love. Without genuine Christian love for one another, no one will know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, no matter what we say we believe. Love makes faith visible.
We probably need to acknowledge that we have not always loved one another as Christ has loved us. We have sometimes let our own egos and prejudices and pride interfere with our love. We have not always let God's love have its way in our hearts, and so our love for others has failed.
And sometimes our failure to love one another has turned people away and kept them from hearing the Gospel. We need to be truly sorry, and we need to do better. It might be in some simple way – a word, a kindly action, an act of generosity – but what a difference it might make. The Lord gives us His love, not so that we can keep it for ourselves – but so that we can love others, as He loves us.