Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter
YOU ARE MY FRIENDS
Fraternal love among Christians, but also love of all people for one another, without boundaries or reservations is inseparable from friendship with God. Both loves are in fact one. For Christians, human relations have a religious content and express a religious relation. For sure, we can and must love God in himself. But we experience God when our love, like his, is liberal and without calculation, oriented towards people in their otherness. Such a love converts us, that is, turns us to God and to others, overcomes selfishness, forgives and shares. It recognizes the sensitivities and respects the backgrounds of others; see today’s first reading, Jews and Christians recognizing one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. This is Christian love in action.
Reading 1: Acts 15:22-31
Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They picked Judas (nicknamed Barsabbas) and Silas—they both carried considerable weight in the church—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas with this letter:
From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Hello!
24-27 We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn’t send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they’ve looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We’ve sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we’ve written.
28-29 It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage.
These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you!
30-33 And so off they went to Antioch. On arrival, they gathered the church and read the letter. The people were greatly relieved and pleased. Judas and Silas, good preachers both of them, strengthened their new friends with many words of courage and hope. Then it was time to go home. They were sent off by their new friends with laughter and embraces all around to report back to those who had sent them.
Gospel: Jn 15:12-17
“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.
16 “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17 “But remember the root command: Love one another.
Prayer
Lord our God, love is your name
and you have revealed all its depth
when you sent your only Son into the world
and let him be the sacrifice that took our sins away.
Through Jesus, who calls us his friends,
make our love as strong as life and death;
let it always have the last word in us
and be given for free, like yours.
May we always remain in your love
and love one another as Jesus has loved us,
he who is our Lord, for ever and ever.
Reflection:
12 May 2023
John 15:12-17
Be a loser for love
Jesus calls us to love one another “as he has loved us.” How did Jesus love his disciples? It is set in the context of the Last Supper. Jesus brings them together for the meal. Sharing a meal is a sign of love, friendship and family. In the past, our elders insisted that families gather around the table and eat together. In today’s world, one of the reasons for the rising numbers of broken families and lack of love in the families is – that the members rarely share the table; people are too concerned about their jobs, social life and studies … we have time for everything except for the family meal and family prayer.
Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples, his new-found family. And there, he would first wash his family’s feet and tell them to love. Regardless of how badly the other person wronged you, our call – our vocation is to wash our brothers’ or sisters’ feet – to be a loser, for love’s sake. That’s why Jesus stoops before Judas Iscariot, who would betray him, to wash his feet.
The story does not end there: He tells them to feed on his body and blood – his life. “I am donating my life to strengthen and nurture yours.” This is exactly what happens in a family united by this sacrificial love, where the wife and the husband surrender their lives, freedom, personal likes and choices to each other because they are in love. They are willing to sacrifice their lives for each other and their children.
This is the desire of the Lord that we love one another. This new commandment calls on us to accept others as they are and not as they should be or as I would like them to be. So easily said, but had we Catholics given serious thought about this, there would not have been disputes and divisions in our families and communities.
Just imagine! Today, Jesus called us his friends and asked us to remain in his love. Let us do all we can to put this into practice. Can I kneel before my husband, wife, elderly parents, or anyone else to wash their feet, as a sign of Jesus’ love for them?