I have called you 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.” (JN 15: 15)

We are chosen by Jesus and we are called His “friends.” His friends know everything about His Father, “because He has told us everything He has heard from His Father.” The most significant element of being friends with Jesus is His life offered for our lives: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” The cost of our friendship goes far, far beyond our imagination, and His love and friendship bring us back to the Father. We are chosen to be His children.

“I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me.” (Gospel Acclamation)