Have you ever found that one in the same task can be at times easy yet, at others, difficult? Driving on dry roads, for example, is easier than driving on ice. Going on a run when well rested is easier than running when exhausted. Sanding a piece of lumber is easier with a new sheet of sandpaper than with a worn one. One could say that ease, in this sense, is born simply from gaining one’s traction.

Let’s add Jesus’ command to this list: love one another.

There are times when fulfilling this command is the easiest thing in the world to do. At other times, it can seem insurmountably difficult. So, I ask, how do we gain our traction when it comes to loving?

Ignatius of Loyola has something important to teach us, I think, when it comes to just this. In the First Annotation of his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius characterized these very Exercises as preparing and disposing the soul to rid itself of all the disordered tendencies. By doing so, we are free to seek and find the Divine Will.

Today’s Gospel from John is set against the backdrop of Judas’ betrayal and the apostles’ choosing of Matthias to take his place. It is set against the tendency (or attachment) that kept Judas from reciprocating Jesus’ love for him with his own love for Jesus.

What are the tendencies in your life that keep you from loving. From what attachments do you need to tear yourself to be truly free to love? It is through ridding ourselves of such attachments that we can gain our traction when it comes to loving. Let us rejoice this Easter season in Jesus’ example of perfect love and endeavor to imitate him and love better.