"God wants your friendship"

Due to the inexplicable bank holiday on Monday, I decided to go to Mass before meeting up with some friends from university. Usually on Monday I have a class which coincides with the Mass times of both the Cathedral in Edinburgh and St Patrick's (where the Shrine of the Venerable Margaret Sinclair is situated). On Monday I went to the latter church.

It was the feast of Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang and companions, the Korean martyrs and so the priest was vested in a magnificent yet classic Gothic vestment (ken, the one with the sort of Y-shaped cross on it). Anyway, this is all beside the point. For the homily, the priest mentioned the Pope's visit and in particular mentioned what the Pope had said in his address to young Catholics at Twickenham. What struck the priest was the Pope's extremely simple message "God wants your friendship". The priest went on to say what you usually do with a true friend - you tell him things, you talk to him a lot - both about serious matters but also about nonsense, you do things for him to demonstrate your love for him. The most perfect of friendships should therefore be our friendship with God, who said to his apostles "I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father" (Jn 15:15). Previously the Lord also says "A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends" (Jn:15:13). Thus those martyrs in Korea proved that they were friends of God by laying down their life for him.