There was a sick man, Lazarus
from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Marta.
With regard to 'love of
friendship, in antiquity we have of its kind in Damon and Pythias, in Orestes
and Pylades, but the best examples presented in the Holy Scriptures is the
friendship of David and Jonathan: friendship that tore those sublime complaints
to the prophet after the unfortunate death of Jonathan: o Mount Gilboa, let
neither rain nor dew fall upon you, because in you has been broken the shield
of the strong, and Jonathan as a young lion has fallen! An even more telling
example of the love of friendship is what is presented to us in S. Peter and
Paul, of which the Church tells that they lived united.
However, all this love is nothing else but
that love which is narrow and limited, because man’s heart is restricted and
limited. They are but passing loves, because every creature on this earth is
just passing by, which in the words of Job, dries quickly like grass. Besides,
they are also volatile and uncertain human love is fickle, unable to put in it any
just confidence to the biblical expression: Cursed is the one who puts his
trust in man. But do you want to know where you can find love in its supreme
and infinite level? Look beyond that Most Sacred Heart! Do you see the flames
around it? Do you see the gaping wound? The blood that bathes it? The thorns
which pierce, the light that it shines forth?
Jesus loves us with the love of a friend. He
said it himself to his apostles: I have called you friends. He said to all
those who keep His commandments. During his mortal life he well demonstrated how
he was a friend to all. And since the worth of a true friendship is known
through sufferings, that was precisely the friendship of Jesus. He was always
with the afflicted, the poor. When one day they told him that Lazarus had died,
Jesus replied: Our friend Lazarus is asleep. And to show that friendship was
alive in his heart, he wept.
(Vol 10 ch. 39 file 1822)
Nike Sneakers Store | Nike nike air max paris 1 patch 2017 , Sneakers , Ietp STORE
