Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter
Acts 15:22-31; Jn 15:12-17
The last words of a loved one before he or she dies are undoubtedly the most precious and most important that he or she can say. In a way, they summerise the entire life of the person and his or her way of thinking. At that point, there is nothing to lose and nothing to be kept for oneself. At that point, just a few minutes before one dies, one bares all and gives all that he or she has.
These powerful words that Jesus says today can also be considered to be part of the Jesus's spiritual will that he shares with us.
Jesus, here, as usual is revolutionary. Until then the standard understanding of friendship is only between equals. Rich citizens could only be friends with rich people, the poor with poor. Friendship across different social strata was unheard of and scandalous. How much more is friendship of man with God shocking!
And therefore with these words, "I have called you friends" Jesus gives us a whole new understanding of who we are, for Jesus. By giving his life for us, Jesus elevates us to a new status: we are now his friends not because of anything that we deserve or out of merit, but because of his self-emptying on the cross.
"There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friend."
One thinks here of St Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish Franciscan priest who offered to take the place of a one of the inmates in a concentration camp and to be executed by the Nazi soldiers instead of the father of family.
One also thinks, more recently of Arnaud Beltrame, the French policeman who replaced and gave his life instead of a hostage in a siege against terrorists in a supermarket last March.
But one also thinks of the teacher who struggles to keep her patience with the student who is putting on a tantrum everyday because she knows that back at home there is a difficult situation.
One also thinks of the young man, only recently married, whose wife is chronically ill in bed and who puts his needs after other priorities because he wants to care for his wife. Indeed, there is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friend.
If Jesus has given us this privilege to be his friends, how much more must we be inspired by him to do the same? It means that it must go beyond our comfort zones, beyond our usual circles and bubbles. And friendship means that we must be ready to say, "I am ready to give my life for you."
In practice this means also means that I must be ready to lose my perspective, my point of view, my ideals and my way of looking at things to adopt a new perspective without judging the other person. This is the culture of encounter that Pope Francis likes to mention over and over again and which we hesitate so much to undertake.
That we may be accept the invitation of friendship that Jesus has made to us and that we may likewise share our friendship with others, especially those who are most alienated from God. May this be our prayer.
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