Many a time we’ve been warned of a strange person who is always trailing us or does anything that makes us suspicious. We are aware that there are people who lack a genuine concern for us. They often dig into our documents when we are away or scroll our social media posts with a purely ill intention. Theirs is the joy when we suffer. Theirs is the sorrow and envy when we rejoice. Neither do they show it on their face nor does it take long for us to discover. As soon as we discover the risk we’ve put ourselves into, we take all measures necessary. We move house at night, delete our social media accounts, take no chances, act weird, among others. After all that, we call these kind of people all sorts of names; fake friends, stalkers, among others.
We also have a bunch of people whom we surround ourselves with. We call them our friends. We trust them with all our issues. We confide in them all our plans. We comment, like, share and subscribe to their posts. We try to look like them. We eventually get some or all of their habits into our personality. We pass all the online best friend tests for them. In a word, we love them.
In the Gospel of St. John, Jesus says to us,
“You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know the master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.”
Jesus is willing to be our friend. He has not kept anything from us. He has no hidden intentions when He seeks us out. He suffers and rejoices with us. He does not laugh with ‘other friends’ about our miseries.
We become Christ’s friends when we are willing to learn from Him, To know more about him. To obey Him. We become Christ’s friends when we bring more people to Him. Becoming Christ’s friends get us struggling to be like Christ. The big question on our part is; why do we follow Christ? Do we persecute Him online? Do we laugh at those struggling day after day to imitate Him? Do we try to learn from the scriptures and the tradition of the church, or do we use them as theories to criticize?
My prayer for each one of us is “that you may seek Christ, that you may find Christ, and that you may love Christ. ” (St. Josemaria Escriva)