“I have called you friends, for all that I have  heard from my Father I have made known to you“

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an excerpt from today’s reflection by Don Schwager:

What is the greatest act of love – of self-giving for the sake of another? Jesus defines friendship, the mutual bond of trust and affection between two or more people, as the willingness to give totally of oneself even to the point of dying for one’s friends. How is such love possible or even desireable? God made us in love for love. That is our reason for being, our purpose for living, and our goal in dying. God is love and everything he does flows from his love for us. He loved us so much, some might even mistakenly say too much, by giving us the best of all gifts, the offering of his beloved Son who gave his life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. God gave up his Son so that we might become his sons and daughters, his adopted children (Romans 8:14-17).

True love is costly. Those who truly love give the best they can offer and are willing to sacrifice everything they has for the beloved. God willingly paid the price for our redemption – the sacrifice of his only begotten Son. That’s the nature of true friendship and love – the willingness to give all for the beloved. True friends will lay down their lives for each other. Jesus tells us that he is our friend and he loves us whole-heartedly and unconditionally. He wants us to love one another just as he loves us, whole-heartedly and without reserve. His love fills our hearts and transforms our minds and frees us to give ourselves in loving service to others. If we open our hearts to his love and obey his command to love our neighbor, then we will bear much fruit in our lives, fruit that will last for eternity. Do you wish to be fruitful and to abound in the love of God?

“Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Prayer of Ignatius Loyola)

for the full reflection visit : Daily Reading and Meditation