May 12, 2023 — Friday, Fifth Week of Easter — I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me — Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John (Jn 15: 12-17)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”