Newman on friendship

This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.

John 15:12

Thanks to Don Marco for posting a sermon by the Venerable John Henry Newman on friendship. Earlier on this week for a laugh, I had a look at 'advice for single people on surviving Valentine's day' (or something to that effect), which suggested telling our friends and family that we love them-decidedly one of the better suggestions. It reminded me that we need to thank God each day for the gift of good friends. Decidedly, I am somewhat biased in this matter, as I am always especially delighted to make friends with other Catholics, since our faith unites us in a way which non-Catholics rarely understand. This doesn't mean I value my non-Catholic friends less than my Catholic friends, it simply means that I am favourably inclined towards making friends with my brethren, this is one of the meanings of the phrase: 'charity begins at home'. We need to love one another above all because Our Blessed Lord has told us to. A priest once remarked to me 'Love isn't really talked about these days. And the world's take on the word love is divorced from its true meaning'. And on that note, I think it's time I re-read Deus Caritas Est.