Friday, Fifth Week of Easter

The Acts of the Apostles and the letters of Paul suggest that the ministry of encouragement was central to the life of the early church. It is evident in today’s first reading. In the city of Antioch, pagans had responded to the preaching of the gospel, and this community became a mixed church of Jewish believers and former pagan believers. Some Jewish Christians wanted to impose Jewish food laws and the Jewish rite of circumcision on those who came to Jesus from a pagan background. However, Paul and Barnabas were strongly opposed to such an imposition. Their influence led to a compromise solution which, according to our reading, was expressed in a letter from the church in Jerusalem to the church in Antioch that delighted the whole community there and gave them great encouragement. One expression of Christian friendship is to encourage what is best in each other. In the gospel reading, Jesus addresses his disciples, and all of us, as his friends, ‘I call you friends’. He expresses his friendship for us in ways that encourage what is best in us. Firstly, he declares that he has made known to us everything he learnt from God his Father. He has shared with us the most important relationship in his life, and has drawn us into that relationship. Secondly, he went on to lay down his very life for us. He emptied himself for us, so that we could receive from his fullness. He made himself poor for us, so that we could be enriched with his loving presence. What could be more encouraging than the ways Jesus has expressed his friendship for us. He remains with us as risen Lord to keep encouraging us, always putting fresh heart into us, and he calls on us to do the same for one another.