The Fifth Friday of Easter

This is my commandment: love one another as I love 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 no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.

Being friends and followers of Christ can be challenging, especially when Jesus asks us to love one another as he loves us. He knows, loves, and serves us perfectly. That is a tall and impossible task for us. However, he does not expect us to be perfect. That is why he gave us the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide us. He gave us the Church and its sacraments to sustain and nurture us. We all will fall and fail from time to time, but part of being friends with Christ is knowing that he will always be there to pick us off the ground, dust us off, and never abandon us when we need him. By choosing to love God and others to the best of our abilities, we free ourselves from our selfish inclinations and are better able to overcome our temptations and avoid sins. Of course, loving God requires more than just lip service. It also requires us to risk ourselves, to go out into the vineyard of souls, and help with the harvest. We are asked to bear fruit that will remain and we do this best when we love our families, friends, neighbors, and even enemies. This fruit can be big or small. It matters not to God. The only thing He sees is the love behind our thoughts, words, and works.

Have we been following Jesus’ commandment to love one another as he loves us? Are we willing to lay down our lives for our friends? Do we ground our every decision in love so that no matter how great or small our actions might be, they are filled with love?

O Lord, grant us the grace to love one another as you love us.

Amen.