"I will not now call you servants…but My friends" (John 15:15)

"Love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12)

"Whatever we do, we do for the glory of God, and whomever we love, we love in and for the Supreme Love" - St. John of the Cross (Doctor of the Church)

"Creatures? One can go to God through them, or rather, find God in them, and there be alone with God" -Archbishop Luis Martinez

"I was one day thinking whether it was a lack of detachment in me to take pleasure in the company of those who had the care of my soul, and to have an affection for them, and to comfort myself with those whom I see to be very great servants of God. Our Lord said to me, ‘It is not a virtue in a sick man to abstain from thanking and loving the physician who seems to restore him to health when he is in danger of death. What should I have done without these persons? The conversation of good people was never hurtful…" - St. Teresa of Avila (Doctor of the Church)

"The more man appreciates the fact that between himself and God there exists a true friendship, the better he understands the nature of the love God has for him and the nature of the love he should have for God. Since it is in accordance with the nature of the human intellect to arrive at a knowledge of things less known through the medium of things better known, it appears that the best means of acquiring a greater appreciation of man’s friendship with God would be to examine it in the light of the friendship which he has for his fellowman. A comparison of this kind must not be considered as an attempt to humanize God by reducing Him to the level of a human friend, but rather as an attempt to divinize man by a consideration of the great dignity to which friendship with God elevates him." -Fr. Paul Conner, O.P.

The Old Testament delights us with the story of the friendship of David and Jonathan. "Jonathan loved David as his own soul". Our Lord Himself called the Apostles His Friends and He meant His particular friends because, "all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you". And it is quite evident that He loved St. John and St. Mary Magdalen with a special affection. This encouraged the Saints – even the most detached of them – to seek out kindred souls in order to give them their confidence and friendship. Well regulated affections are no bar to holiness. They were really following the divine law and the example of Jesus Christ – "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you", He said.

St. Francis de Sales said, "there is not a man who has a heart more tender and more open to friendship than mine or who feels more keenly than I do the pain of separation from those I love".

When St. Francis of Assisi was dying, St. Clare also was very ill. "The Lady Clare, fearing she would die before him, wept most bitterly and would not be comforted, for she thought that she would not see her Comfortor and Master before her departure".

We are told of St. Philip Neri that friendship was one of the few innocent joys of life that he permitted himself.

There are the friendships of Jordan of Saxony and Diana D’Andalo. Jordan’s tenderness for Diana, Diana’s affection for Jordan, is one of those rare flowers which Christian holiness alone can cause to grow from the depths of the human heart. Jordan’s constant theme in his letters to Diana was that Diana’s eyes "should be ever towards the Lord". The essential and principal thing for Jordan was the love of God. The love of God came first for both of them, and it is their shared love of God which bound them so closely together.

St. Catherine of Siena (Doctor of the Church) and Blessed Raymond of Capua – In her Dialogues of Divine Providence, human friendship is given very positive temporal and eternal values. In Ch. 41, Catherine learns that we do not lose our human friendships in eternal life. They share in a special way of happiness of "those whom they have loved more tenderly here below". Through this love here below, friends grow in grace and virtue, and provoke each other to honor and glorify the heavenly Father.

To have a Saint for a friend is to have a friend indeed. For example, there are the friendships of:

St. Jerome and St. Paula,

St. Augustine and St. Melania,

St. Bernard and the Dutchess of Lorraine,

St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare,

St. Vincent de Paul and Madame Gondi,

St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Francis de Chantal,

St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila,

Blessed Theophane Vernard and St. Therese,

And unfortunately, as humans are quick to judge, some of the friendships of the Saints were misunderstood. Saint Don Bosco was looked upon by some as a madman. St. Teresa of Avila and St. Catherine of Siena were accused of being bad women (they are both Doctors of the Church).

Look at the love Mary Magdalen had for our Lord, and how she was misunderstood:

The supper at Bethany was a beautiful get-together for Jesus and the Apostles. The company was composed of friends and loved ones and grateful ones, who had received much from Jesus. All were in a delightful frame of mind and in a happy mood, until Mary Magdalen took the costly spikenard and poured it on the Head and Feet of Jesus. Every eye was upon her in amazement. She had taken them all unawares. There was a deathlike silence. For those who truly loved Jesus, it was a scene of joy and beauty – an exquisite, delicate act of pure love. Tears welled up in their eyes and ran down their cheeks. But for those who loved the world, like Judas, for those without a true spiritual sense of values, it was all a foolish, childish act of an immature girl, an unnecessary waste. Quickly, Judas calculated how much the spikenard would bring in the market place. A great sum. And it was being wasted, he thought, the sentimental girl was pouring out every drop of it! This hypocrisy of Judas sickened St. John, who was seated next to our Lord. (Judas’ hypocrisy was worse than his avarice).

But if affection is unrequited it is never thereby wasted. There is no such thing as wasted affection. "The real reward of love is found in loving". Love is its own reward!

"Brotherly love – it is commanded by our Lord, and the fulfillment of this alone is sufficient for eternal salvation" – St. John

"In our neighbor, we must direct our attention to the good, and not to the evil" - St. Jane Francis de Chantal

He who loveth God, loves also his brother.

Virtue of love = love of God, love of neighbor.

"Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to the least of my brethren, you did it to me". - Our Lord

"If you wish to know how much a person loves God, see how much he loves his neighbor" – St. Catherine of Genoa

"If you are desirous of practicing the virtue of charity, strive in the first place to reject every rash judgement, every distrust, and unfounded suspicion of your neighbor".

"Charity thinketh no evil" - St. Paul