From The Bishop

The Sixth Sunday of Easter focuses on friendship. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us, “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” Jesus reminds us that the foundation of true friendship is love, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” We know that this is precisely what Jesus did for us on the cross. The Second Reading reminds us of this fact, “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loves us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” The Gospel also speaks about expectations. Jesus says: “If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love”, and, “I give you these commands so that you may love one another.” To be obedient and to love our neighbour is what God expects of us. This becomes our act of love for God. Jesus reminds us that when we keep God’s commandments we will experience true joy. This joy will then motivate us to love and serve others and in doing so we will bear much fruit. All this is possible because God wants to be so near to us. As the old Christian hymn states, “What a friend we have in Jesus”!