1 Jn 4: 7-10
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Living out a friendship with God
St. Ignatius invites us to call Jesus a companion and friend. When a friend does something generous for us, we are often moved with gratitude and want to respond to their generosity with some of our own. In Jesus, we have a friend who loves us so intensely that he gave up his life in order to save us.
Today’s reading from the first letter of John states that an authentic relationship with God leads us to love others. If we truly know God, who is love, then we, too, will love. Developing our relationship with Jesus, speaking to him as a friend and listening attentively to his words, will give us the ability to love like him and will fill our lives abundantly with love.
God is constantly inviting us to be closer to him and to love more like he does. In what ways may God be calling you to live out your friendship with him?
—Justin Prom, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic of the Midwest Province studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.
Jesus… Best Friend
May your soul give life to me,
May your flesh be food for me,
May you warm my hardened heart.
Jesus… Best Friend
May your tears now wash me clean,
May your passion keep me strong
May you listen to my plea.
Jesus… Best Friend
May your wounds take in my hurts,
May your gaze be fixed on me,
May I not betray your love.
Jesus… Best Friend
May you call me at death’s door,
May you hold me close to you,
May you place me with God’s saints,
May I ever sing your praise.
Amen.
—David L. Fleming, SJ, Draw Me into Your Friendship, inspired by the prayer “Soul of Christ”
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Ignatian spirituality reminds us that God pursues us in the routines of our home and work life, and in the hopes and fears of life's challenges. The founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, created the Spiritual Exercises to deepen our relationship with Christ and to move our contemplation into service. May this prayer site anchor your day and strengthen your resolve to remember what truly matters.
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