Friday 5th week of Easter
"Jn 15:12-17"
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends...No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. This I command you, to love one another.
Freedom is a really important part of friendship. You aren't given your friends, you choose them. Jesus chooses His friends as well. And your name is written on the list of His friends. But friendship is like a delicate plant, a bonsai, for instance. You need to take care of it every day; you need at least to put it in the light and water it; in particular seasons plants require more attention (pruning, feeding...) and friends also demand more dedication.
Friends sometimes argue; they may fall out, but they always make up, with humility, after asking for forgiveness and recognising their mistake. That's what we do in Confession when we fail our Friend Jesus Christ. Disagreement isn't the main enemy of friendship; the main enemy of friendship is forgetfulness. If you forget your plant and neglect it... the plant dies. The same could happen to our friendship with Jesus. Let us put a special effort into checking that relationship: Am I being the friend that He wants? Can He find me when He needs me? Do I talk to Him, listen to Him? Do I give Him my time?
"This very moment I may, if I desire, become the friend of God," taught St Augustine. I do desire! You chose me, Lord, to be Your friend, and You made it possible by giving Your Life for me on the Cross. For that reason, I choose You as my best Friend; I want to grow in friendship with You every day, to be with You. Help me not to forget You ever.
Holy Mary, my Mother, ask your Son to treat our friendship like a delicate plant: that He may water it with our daily conversation, feed it with Holy Communion, repair it with Confession. May I abide in His Love to keep our friendship exposed to the rays of the Divine Sun.
