Friday, May 8, 2026

 

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

Sr. Marie Chin was a Sister of Mercy from Jamaica who became famous as a speaker on the spirituality of mercy.  She told the story of how she discovered mercy with the help of a leper.  When she was in secondary school she accompanied a woman religious to a leper colony.  Knocking on the door of one of the huts, they heard a voice from inside say, “Come in.” Entering, she saw something that repulsed her.  The leper, named Miss Lillian, had a completely deformed face.  When she stretched out her arm, which was little more than a stump without fingers, to the youth, Marie was taken aback again.  “Go on,” Miss Lillian prodded, “put your hand in mine.”  Marie responded, “I can’t; I’m afraid.”  The leper woman said, “Yes, you can.”  Marie said that she did not know where the grace came to touch the rotten flesh, but suddenly she was shaking hands with the leper. The story may help us to understand why Jesus has to command us to love one another.

As anyone over twenty should realize, love is often not easy.  Fyodor Dostoyevsky called love in action “a harsh and dreadful thing.”  Love, after all, requires commitment and often suffering as well.  We could never love everybody, and some of us might never love anybody without Jesus’ command.  We also need Jesus’ help to accomplish the seemingly impossible feat of loving as he loved. 

Let us not worry if we do not feel affection for others.  Affection is not of the essence of love.  We must, however, treat everyone with respect.  Those for whom we feel a particular repulsion we can, at least, pray for.  We pray that they receive God’s grace to become better people and to know His eternal love.

 

Friday, May 12, 2023

 Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

Since the rise of Facebook, people have “friends” whom they have never met.  This is not what Jesus has in mind when he calls his disciples “friends” in today’s gospel.

Jesus’ exalted sense of friendship probably stems from the Greek cultural influence in Palestine.  Aristotle taught that there are different kinds of friends.  Some are people just fun to be around.  Others are useful for business purposes.  The most important friends are those with whom one may share the secrets of her or his life.  They love the person so well that they only want what is best for her or him.  One does not have many friends of this type and can be grateful for having just one.

Jesus wants to be our friend.  He is near so that he might hear our deepest desires and disappointments.  He is ready to support our efforts and to console us when we fail.  All he asks of us is to love one another, something like the way in which he loves us.

Friday, May 7, 2021

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

In one of Shakespeare’s greatest speeches King Henry V rallies the English army against the numerous French.  The king calls his men “brothers” so that they will stand with him in the fight.  After they win the battle, however, Henry retreats from the metaphor.  The soldiers are no longer “brothers.”  In today’s gospel Jesus calls his disciples not “brothers” but “friends.”  Unlike Henry, he will not take back that relationship.

The word “friends” may make some people think that the relationship between Jesus and his disciples is shallow.  After all, some people have thousands of “friends” on Facebook.  But assuredly that is not Jesus’ intention here. St. Thomas Aquinas sees “friends” as “other selves” as Aristotle defines the term.  Jesus’ friends not only know all about him but also are enriched by his insights into and affection for them.

We too share Jesus’ friendship if we obey his commandments.  As he says many times, his commandments boil down to a sincere love for one another.  Our friendship with Jesus results also in our sharing his destiny.  We become heirs of his eternal life.

Friday, May 24, 2019

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

An old song said, “Love makes the world go round.”  A high school teacher challenged this idea.  He told his students that love does not make the world go round.  Rather, he said, money does.  He was referring to the idea that money motivates most people to work which, in a way, sets the world in motion.  An astrophysicist would give another answer.  She would claim that the earth spins on its axis because of the way it was formed.  The swirling gases and dust from which the earth was formed started the rotation which has never ceased. 

 

With today’s gospel in mind we might ask ourselves, what does love do then after all?  Love puts us in harmony with God.  Since God’s very being is love, we share God’s life when we love others.  There is the difficulty of how to identify true love.  St. Augustine can help us here.  He once preached, “What does love look like? It has hands to help others.  It has feet to hasten to the poor and needy.  It has eyes to see misery and want.  It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men and women.  That is what love looks like.”

As we all know, it is easy to talk about love but quite another thing to live.  The novelist Dostoyevsky wrote that love in action is “a harsh and dreadful thing.”  It requires sacrifices that we would be loath to make except for the good of the beloved.  For God, the greatest good, we should be ready to make great sacrifices.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

Sr. Marie Chin was a Sister of Mercy from Jamaica.  She became famous as a speaker on the spirituality of mercy.  She told the story of how she discovered mercy with the help of a leper.  When she was in secondary school she accompanied a woman religious to a leper colony.  Knocking on the door of one of the huts, they heard a voice from inside say, “Come in.” Entering, she saw a something that repulsed here.  The leper, named Miss Lillian, had a completely deformed face.  She stretched out her arm, which was little more than a stump without fingers, to the youth.  “Go on,” Miss Lillian said, “put your hand in mine.”  Marie responded, “I can’t; I’m afraid.”  But the leper woman said, “Yes, you can.”  Marie did not know where the grace came to touch that rotten hand.  But all of sudden she found herself shaking hands with the leper. The story helps explain why Jesus has to command us to love one another.

As anyone over twenty should realize, love is often not easy.  For this reason Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky called love in action “a harsh and dreadful thing.”  Love, after all, requires commitment and often suffering as well.  Most of us would never love everybody, and some of us might never love anybody without Jesus’ command.  Also necessary to accomplish the seemingly impossible feat of loving as he loved is his help. 

We ought not to worry if we do not feel affection for others.  That is not of the essence of love.  We should, however, treat everyone with respect.  Those for whom we feel a particular repulsion we can, at least, pray for.  We pray that they receive God’s grace to become better people and that will come to know his eternal love.

Friday, May 19, 2017

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

In his book The Four Loves C.S. Lewis writes that friendship is grossly undervalued in modern times.  He says that the ancients considered friendship as “the happiest and most fully human of all loves.”  In contrast, he continues, modern people have trouble seeing friendship as a love at all.  Friendship, according to Lewis, is sharing personally and fully over common interests.  By no means does he equate friendship with regular companionship, however.  That is the point; with very few people would a person risk relating feelings of the heart. It is remarkable then that in today’s gospel Jesus calls all his disciples’ friends.

But it is not even the case that those men who gathered around Jesus the night before he died exhaust his list of friends.  Really all serious followers of Jesus become his friends because they recognize in him one whom they can trust implicitly. They can tell him how they yearn to know God.  In reply he will urge them to keep his commandment of love.

We should see the course of our lives as grooming our friendship with Jesus.  As children we will listen with awe the gospels stories of him helping the needy.  As youth we will imitate his virtue in our quest to find a mate and launch a career.  And in old age we will confide in him as one who suffered own worries.  His friendship will not let us down.  Rather, it will bring us to eternal life.

Friday, May 8, 2015

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

In his book The Four Loves C.S. Lewis sees friendship as grossly undervalued in modern times.  He writes that the ancients considered friendship as “the happiest and most fully human of all loves.”  In contrast, he comments that moderns have trouble seeing friendship as a love at all.  Friendship, according to Lewis, is sharing personally and fully over common interests.  By no means does he equate friendship with regular companionship, however.  Rather he indicates that one would be blessed to have only two or three friendships in her entire life.  So it is remarkable that in today’s gospel Jesus calls all his disciples’ friends.

But, of course, it is not the case that the twelve or so men gathered around Jesus the night before he died exhaust the list of his friends.  Really all serious followers of Jesus become his friends because they share the same desire to know God.  In order to reach this goal Jesus has revealed that they have to keep his commandment of love.

We should see the purpose of our lives as having God for our friend.  The grace of the Incarnation is that He took on human flesh to overcome the impasse that our bodily nature posed from knowing Him.  He has become one like us.  We can know him as an ever-caring, ever-helpful friend.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

In "Peter Pan," the captivating story about coming of age, children are taught a lesson on wish-making. When Tinker Bell offers to grant any worthy wish, the tots ask for frivolous things like candy and toys. They seem perplexed when their requests are dismissed. Then they catch on. They should seek noble qualities, like happiness and peace. This is the kind of request that Jesus has in mind in the gospel today.

Jesus tells his disciples, whom he now regards as friends, that they have developed a new level of consciousness. They will no longer be thinking in the ways of the world; that is, they will not be looking out primarily for their own welfare. No, from now on they will pursue God's will above all.

Some Christians will trivialize faith by praying that their baseball team win the pennant or for some other frivolous thing. But faith has an infinitely higher purpose. It is to connect us to God so that we might have the way to eternal life. Of course, we have to God to meet our real needs, but may our petitions always be in line with His plan for us. Let us ask for patience to take good care of our children and for courage to face pain and death. Such requests, Jesus assures us, the Father always honors.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter (Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17) In "Peter Pan," the captivating story about coming of age, children are taught a lesson on wish-making. When Tinker Bell, the fairy, comes on scene to grant any worthy wish, the smaller children ask for frivolous things like candy and toys. They seem perplexed when their requests are not honored. Then they catch on. They should seek noble qualities, like happiness and peace. This is the kind of request that Jesus has in mind in the gospel today. Jesus tells his disciples, whom he now regards as friends, that they have developed a new level of consciousness. They will no longer be thinking in the ways of the world; that is, doing what they like and looking out primarily for their own welfare. No, from now on they will pursue the common good and do God's will above all. Christians still may trivialize faith by trying to use it to pursue personal whims. They believe that they could use it to ask that the Cubs win the pennant or for some other frivolous thing. But faith has an infinitely higher purpose. It is to connect us to God so that we might have the fullness of life. We should not restrain from asking God to meet our needs, but our petitions should always be in line with the plan that He has for us. Let us ask for patience to take good care of our children and for courage to face pain and death. Such requests, Jesus assures us, the Father always honors.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

There is no inherent contradiction in being both Christ’s slaves and his friends. A slave can win the confidence of his or her master to be treated as a friend and even as a relative. Bishop Edward Braxton once wrote an article about a slave in Georgia who labored for a Catholic family. There was such mutual love between her and her masters that the woman chose to stay with the family after Emancipation and was eventually buried in the family plot.

Being slaves to Christ means that we follow his directives implicitly. When he tells us to love those who hurt us, we get past our outrage and at least pray for them. But there is no need to dwell long on our slavery. Jesus has set us free so that in following him, we do so willingly and meritoriously.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

An old song says, “Love makes the world go round.” Once a high school teacher, challenging this idea, told his students that love does not make the world go round. Rather, he said, money does. Of course, he was referring to the fact that money motivates most people to work which, in a way, sets the world in motion. An astrophysicist would give another answer. She would inform that the earth was set in rotation at its foundation by the swirling gases and dust of which it was formed, and that rotation has never ceased.

With today’s gospel in mind we might ask ourselves, what does love do then after all? Love puts us in harmony with God. Since God’s very being is love, we share God’s life when we love others. There is the difficulty of how to identify true love. St. Augustine can help us here. He once preached, “What does love look like? It has hands to help others. It has feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men and women. That is what love looks like.”

Homilette for Friday, May 15, 2009

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

There is no inherent contradiction in being both Christ’s slaves and his friends. A slave can win the confidence of his or her master to be treated as a friend or even as a relative. Bishop Edward Braxton once wrote an article about a slave in Georgia who labored for a Catholic family. There was such mutual love between slave and masters that the woman chose to stay with the family after Emancipation and was eventually buried in the family plot.

Being slaves to Christ means that we follow him unreservedly. If he tells us – as he does – that it is a sin to divorce one person in order to marry another, then we do not divorce, at least in the sense that the Church interprets the word. In calling his disciples “friends” Jesus underscores his confidence in us. He trusts us implicitly to listen to his words and to carry out his will.

The two terms – slaves and friends – should be seen as complimenting one another. At times we may have difficulty following what Jesus says. It is hard, for example, for the family of a murder victim to pray for the perpetrator of the crime. Yet it does so out of faithfulness to its master. Most of the time, however, we can reflect on and appreciate the wisdom of Jesus, our friend, as when he invites us to eat his flesh in the Eucharist.