Friendship with Jesus (Mk 8: 34-9, 1)
God and the world. Friendship with God and friendship with the world. Let us see to what friendship God invites us. Yes, He invites us! He does not order, He does not force: If whoever wishes to come after me...Friendship with God is the highest good which never has to refer to coercion, violence, extortion or manipulation. God does not have to do this. The good that he offers to you and me has such power and strength that it is enough on its own. This Good do does not need to compromise with evil, do not need special ways to deal with me or approach me. God is sincere and open. He says straight. He speaks both: of his providence over me and the price to be paid for following Him.
Friendship with Jesus is choosing the way of life that our Lord lived: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” What does it mean to deny ourselves? Does it mean to cross ourselves out? No. It means realizing that in each of us there is an inconsistency, a division: it is easy for us to desire good, but to do it and to be faithful to it is not so simple. There is someone holy in me and someone who resembles an evil. To deny myself is to first realize this truth, that I could succumb to the whispers of evil, that I could fall, or that I could choose the dark. The list of sins goes on. But it also means taking responsibility for it. In what sense? Not to say: since this is what I am, I will be fine anyway. It is to acknowledge responsibility for the wrong that we commit and to stop succumbing to the temptation that nothing can be changed. Love is always rising from falls ...
Friendship with Jesus ultimately leads to regaining our soul, and bold witness to Jesus: I am no longer ashamed of him because I know how much he has done for me. He gave himself: his life, his health, his heart. He is on my side, and he has not withdrawn this totalgift to me so that I can live even when he has been threatened with death. He has remained faithful to me. And he counts very much on this faithfulness on my part. However, when I fall, he does not turn away, but patiently lifts me up, dusts off and encourages me to start over ...
Until Tomorrow
fr. george