Servants vs friends
ACTS 15:22-31; PSALM 57; JOHN 15:12-17
Love one another as I have loved you. This is not a burden or an impossible task, but an invitation to the fullness of love and life in Jesus. Again, Jesus says “I do not call you servants any longer … but friends.” The Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets were addressed as ‘servants of God’ but in this new dispensation, Jesus calls us his friends. Friends are closer than servants; friends are freer than servants. A servant does not know
his master’s business; but as friends, Jesus has made known to us everything he learnt from the Father. Therefore, Jesus invites us to a deeper relationship with him.
In the first reading, Paul and Barnabas listened to the Holy Spirit. To listen to the Holy Spirit means to hear and obey. It means, to keep his commandments. Relationship with the Divine is sustained by obedience. In the conveyed by Paul and Barnabas we asked “to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right.” Let us keep God’s commandment and deepen our relationship with him.
LET US PRAY
Father, protect and save us with your perpetual power. Help us to love and keep your commandments. Guide our minds by your holy inspiration. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
