24 May 2019
Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Friendship is always a mystery because we cannot know who will want to be our friends. We can try to love someone as a friend, but he or she can always refuse our friendship. Or someone can try hard to be our friend, but it is up to us whether or not to be his/her friend. Since I joined the religious life, friendship become more mysterious for me. Over the years, I have made many more female friends than I would have imagined. Recently, I have been reaching out to many friends by inviting them to my presbyterate ordination. Some old friends that I have not been in touch with for many years said that they were touched that I invited them to my ordination. But some people that I consider close friends never said anything, let alone making plans to come to my ordination.
Apart from laying down his life for us, the primary evidence of Jesus’ love for us is his friendship. In the Gospel reading today, we hear that Jesus called us friends. The Gospel of John does not distinguish between philia(friendly love) and agape(unconditional love), which are two different kind of loves. Jesus simply considers us his friends. In his humanity, Jesus put up no barriers, no defense against those he loved or with those who hated him. The bottom line is that Jesus wants to be a friend to us and have an intimate relationship with us. The irony of friendship is that it always requires reciprocity. People can always refuse Jesus’ love. In the world that is filled with violence and fear, the Cross of Jesus Christ is always a reminder for us; there is always a rejection of the love of Christ in this world.
In your prayer today, perhaps you can be thankful for the friendship that you have with certain people. Perhaps you can also reflect on how to let go of your desire to be friends with some people who for some reason or another do not want to be your friends. How do you feel about your friendship with Jesus, your loyal friend? Speak to Jesus in your own words about what friendship with Him means for you. What do you expect from your friendship with Jesus? Perhaps you can close your prayer by expressing your desire to have a deeper friendship with your closest friend, and especially with Jesus.