You are my friends if you do what I command you

14 MAY (Jn 15,9-17)

Friendship is the strongest bond, after the one of marriage, in which you become one flesh. In friendship we become one heart, one will, one spirit and one life. In friendship you live for one another. It is as if there were a mixture of heart and mind, a spiritual fusion; it is a true marriage of the soul. David sings his friendship with Jonathan with words revealing his supreme truth.

(By the time David finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan had become as fond of David as if his life depended on him; he loved him as he loved himself. Saul laid claim to David that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house. And Jonathan entered into a bond with David, because he loved him as himself. Jonathan divested himself of the mantle he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his military dress, and his sword, his bow and his belt. David then carried out successfully every mission on which Saul sent him. So Saul put him in charge of his soldiers, and this was agreeable to the whole army, even to Saul’s own officers.) (1Sam 18,1-5).

Then David chanted this elegy for Saul and his son Jonathan, which is recorded in the Book of Jashar to be taught to the Judahites. He sang: “Alas! the glory of Israel, Saul, slain upon your heights; how can the warriors have fallen! “Tell it not in Gath, herald it not in the streets of Ashkelon, Lest the Philistine maidens rejoice, lest the daughters of the strangers exult! Mountains of Gilboa, may there be neither dew nor rain upon you, nor upsurgings of the deeps! Upon you lie begrimed the warriors’ shields, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil. “From the blood of the slain, from the bodies of the valiant, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, or the sword of Saul return unstained. Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished, separated neither in life nor in death, swifter than eagles, stronger than lions! Women of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and in finery, who decked your attire with ornaments of gold. “How can the warriors have fallen – in the thick of the battle, slain upon your heights! “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother! most dear have you been to me; More precious have I held love for you than love for women. “How can the warriors have fallen, the weapons of war have perished!” (2Sam 1,19-27).

The friendship to the disciples on the part of Jesus puts on a new meaning. Jesus wants to live, work, act in them, with them, for them, until the end of the world. He wants them to be his heart, his soul, his spirit, his mind, his own body and his whole life. He want them to be his own soul and his mission of salvation and redemption to all of mankind. He gives them his whole life so that it lives entirely in them. They are the historical continuation of Jesus on our earth. This is the depth of friendship that Jesus now grants his disciples. For Jesus, this is the highest form of love. The gift of his friendship is the highest form of charity, because it is the highest gift that God can make to a man.

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 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.

In fact, there is a huge difference between the friendship that reigns in the world – including that of David for Jonathan – and that between Jesus and his disciples. Here we are on the supernatural level of charity and love. We are not in the gift of something, but of the whole being of Christ the Lord so that it lives is realized forever, bringing to fulfillment the mission of salvation. In this friendship, the disciple is made “another” Jesus, he is made Jesus. He is a gift of transformation by identification and similarity. We can say that it is in this friendship that one reaches the peak of the perfect image and likeness of man’s creation. Today, man reaches the top of his created truth. Today, Jesus Christ “create” us in Him according to the perfection of his divine and human truth.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us true friends of Jesus.