“What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in prayer!”
Fr. Rohr’s theme for daily meditation this week past was friendship. We have been taught to focus on our relationship with Jesus as a friendship. Indeed, a relationship with Jesus brings us the benefits of friendship - companionship, comfort, pleasure, strength, encouragement, hope.
The only problems with this metaphor is that friendship implies a relationship of mutuality. In friendship, there is give and take. We cannot have a friend without being a friend. We understand clearly what we gain in our friendship with Jesus. What we sometimes fail to consider is what we give.
How can we give something to Jesus, who, in perfection, has no need. Jesus told us very clearly how we give back to him in our mutual relationship. In Matthew 25:14-46, Jesus says that familiar line we love to quote, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sister of mine, you have done it for me.’” (vs 37-40).
Jesus tells us clearly that to be his friend, we must be the friend of the friendless, to the ‘least of these.’ My challenge to myself this week is to find a way to offer friendship to Jesus.
In closing, I offer this Blessing of Friendship from Fr. Rohr.
A Friendship Blessing May you be blessed with good friends. May you learn to be a good friend to yourself. May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness. May this change you. May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you. May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging. May you treasure your friends. May you be good to them and may you be there for them; may they bring you all the blessings, challenges, truth, and light that you need for your journey. May you never be isolated. May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara. (Celtic for soul friend) |
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