Fr Paul reads from John’s Gospel (15: 12-17) in which Jesus tells his disciples, ‘A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends’.

Today’s reading says Fr Paul, adds more dimensions to the love shared by Jesus and his Father; and the love shared by Jesus and his disciples.  The first of these is that it is a love of friendship not of subservience.  The second aspect is that Christ lays down his life for his friends. Christ laying down his life it was not only through obedience to his Father, but it was also an expression of his boundless love for his friends.  The third aspect is the openness of this friendship.  True friendship means there is an openness, a trust. We can have no secrets from Christ and he, in his turn, reveals all to us.

Mindful of these dimensions of love, Fr Paul says we might ask ourselves, ‘Do I live out this commandment of Jesus to love?’