Friday Reflection

Daily Gospel Reflections May 15^th 2020

Gospel                                                                   JN 15:12-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”

Dear Friends and Family,

            Today’s Gospel is a shorter version of what we read yesterday.  Because it’s such rich material, let us consider what Jesus says before he calls us his friends.  “I no longer call you slaves.”  So that implies that at one time we were slaves?  He clarifies in the rest of the quote, “a slave does not know what his master is doing.”  Jesus teaches and sets a powerful example for his apostles.  As they journey with Jesus they learn from him and begin to understand what God the Father is all about.  That wisdom, that understanding changes their relationship from that of a slave to friend.  This is great for the twelve apostles but what does it mean for us?

            We must always be studying and growing in our faith and in our understanding of our God.  It’s easy for us to get trapped in the busyness of life and forget the one relationship that will save us.  How many of us have become slaves to our work, our entertainments, or our distractions?  In a moment of pandemic we see how these things that we structure our lives around can be torn away from us.  The chains that bound us to our sports, our computers and even our jobs have been broken.  We may be wondering what we are to do with our new freedoms.  Our friend, Jesus Christ is waiting for us in his Word.  We have a variety of online forums available to us to study God and our Catholic faith.  Consider returning to our roots, the scripture itself and allow it to nurture our faith.  Let us begin with the Gospels, not rushing through them but allowing the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and our minds to his love and mercy.  Our world has changed in the last few months and as a result we may understand his word anew..  Is there anything apparent in scripture now because of our lived experience in this pandemic?.  Every relationship takes time and effort; our God, who sees what we are doing, is going to bless and grace our efforts and open our eyes.  Slaves look down and blindly go where they are led.  Friends look into one another’s eyes and see the other for who they are, they share their lives and are transformed.  Jesus looks upon us as a friend, will those that see us recognize Him?