John 15: 12-17
Jesus said to his disciples:
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved 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 do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”
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.
Jesus Calls Me Friend
So often I find scripture to be both challenging and consoling at the same time. Today’s Gospel passage is one of those times. It’s simply stated, “…love one another as I have loved you.” But then Jesus goes on to say that the greatest love is to lay down one’s life for one’s friend. That’s the challenging part. Can I love another as Jesus loves me? Can I lay down my life for my friend? 12-step programs talk of progress not perfection. That I can do – progress toward loving another as Jesus loves me.
Then you get to the consoling part of the passage. Jesus doesn’t view me as a servant but as a friend and has shared all with me that the Father shared with him. Plus, Jesus chooses me and not the other way around. So, when I stumble at loving another as Jesus loved me, I can take consolation in the fact that Jesus still chooses me, still calls me friend.
—Tom Drexler is a graduate of Marquette University High School and Creighton University. At present he works in the advancement office of the Midwest Jesuits.
Prayer
Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in love.
Honor one another above yourselves.
—Romans 12: 9-10
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.