A warm welcome to our friends close and far

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

(John 15:12-16)

For many of us, this will be the first full Holy Week and Easter in almost four years. We have missed the intimacy of being with each other in the presence of God. And yet we have also learned during this time to reach out and stay connected in ways we had not thought possible before.

One of things that strikes me, when I read about Fr. Wood and the founding of St John’s, is how connected he was to the Anglo-Catholic communities around the world. Letters were often going back and forth between Montreal and London, Boston, New York and Vermont. Fr. Wood was in contact with Alexander Heriot Mackonochie, Richard Meux Benson, Charles Grafton, Arthur Hall and many others. In some ways, the 19th century seems to have been better connected than we are today. They perhaps had to put more of an effort into letter writing to stay in touch with each other.

One thing that we constantly read about in the Gospels is Jesus’ relationship to the 12 and his other disciples. These relationships were not always without their difficulties and challenges. Jesus put a lot of effort into building up and teaching His followers, even if they did not always fully understand Him. Jesus’ ministry, particularly in the Gospel of John, can be seen as revolving around friendship. Jesus does not just talk the talk of friendship; he lives it out in His life and death. Indeed even in death, He does not desert His friends, even though they run and hide. This is perhaps the first and greatest miracle of the Resurrection, Jesus tells the Apostles that they too can now follow this commandment of love in their own lives and share it with others. It is in John that we read about the Good Shepherd laying down his life for the sheep, in contrast to the hireling who runs and hides.

This intimacy of friendship can also be seen in the ritual of footwashing. In doing this, Jesus offers himself wholly to his disciples, assuming the role of servant, in order to give a concrete shape to His love. Servants, not hosts or masters, wash the feet of guests, and by this gesture, Jesus makes the ultimate act of hospitality and friendship, encouraging his followers to do the same.

Friends are always important, not just to us as individuals, but to institutions as well. We can sometimes find ourselves in challenging and discouraging times, but with friends we can find the encouragement and strength to carry on.

Thank you for willing to be a Friend of St. John’s!