Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter (5.15.2020)




In today's Gospel, when Jesus commands his disciples to love one another; he is trying to strongly reassure them of his love and their importance. He wants to ensure that they don't gloss over the message, so he makes it imperative. Today's Gospel is an invitation to a relationship; our relationship to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit which resides in each of us. When we love each other, we are in a loving relationship with God. This message of gentle love is also evident in the first reading as the representatives take a letter to Antioch with the purpose of making peace, easing undue burdens, and making friends rather than enemies. How could I be certain that our friendship will bear fruit that will remain? and Jesus said, “because I was the one who chose you; I laid down my life for you; I love you." These words were for all of us. So many people never get to hear any of those words throughout their lives from those around them, and today Jesus says them all to us through the Gospel.  He simply says, “you are my friends", "I choose you", "I love you." Is there someone in our life that would appreciate hearing those words of affirmation today?  Let us tell them and see what fruit that message bears! Let us tell them, so that they are no longer afraid, no longer uncertain, no longer alone, no longer excluded, and no longer isolated. Let us tell them because we are friends of Jesus • AE




El evangelio de esta mañana se centrar en el que es, sin duda, el mensaje más profundo de Jesús: el amor. Del amor se puede hablar de muchas maneras. Jesús, en este pasaje de Juan, elige un símbolo: la amistad. En la Escritura aparecen muchas referencias a la amistad. Jesús destaca tres: El amigo no es un simple conocido o un socio, sino alguien con quien se comparte la intimidad, lo más profundo de nuestro ser: A vosotros os llamo amigos porque todo lo que he oído a mi Padre os lo he dado a conocer. El amigo siempre está dispuesto a hacer lo que el amigo le pide: Vosotros sois mis amigos si hacéis lo que yo os mando. El amigo demuestra la verdad de su amor estando dispuesto a entregar la propia vida si fuera necesario: Nadie tiene amor más grande que el que da la vida por sus amigos. Hace poco leía que llamar a Jesús amigo está bien en la etapa de la adolescencia, pero que luego este concepto resulta pequeño y que conviene sustituirlo por otros de más densidad dogmática: Cristo, Señor, etc. Y me pregunto a mí mismo: quien así piensa, ¿habrá meditado en alguna ocasión sobre este pasaje de Juan? ¡Chi lo sa! • AE

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