Adoration Service
Friendship - "Let's Be Friends"
Introduction:
Dear brothers, today we shall reflect on the theme of
"Friendship". The greatest happiness we can experience is to know
that we are loved for ourselves, just as we are, with all our faults and
oddities. When someone is our friend, we
feel completely at home with him; we know we haven't got to pretend to be
someone else - we can just be ourselves.
To have friends is a great gift and happiness; and conversely, to be
without friends can be a very great suffering.
Why do some people seem to have no friends? There are all sorts of reasons: may be
because they're bullies, or desperately shy, or they don't think much of
themselves, or they're always showing off, or because they are
untrustworthy. That's what could be on
their side. On our side, it could well
be because we're impatient, or unsympathetic, or prejudiced, or selfish, or
insensitive, and so on. It takes two
people to create/develop a friendship.
In friendship the two persons both give and receive, and, by their
sharing with each other, come to appreciate each other more and more.
During this adoration service, let us reflect on our own style of being friends.
Leader: The one obstacle to friendship is selfishness, that is, bothering more about ourselves than others. Let us then ask forgiveness from the Lord for our own shortcomings in this regard.
Reader: For our
selfishness and insensitivity to the needs of others. Lord have mercy. R/
For our possessiveness, our want of understanding and
our prejudices. Christ have mercy. R/
For our blindness in failing to see Christ as the friend at the center of our life. Lord have mercy. R/
Gospel Reading: Jn; 15: 9-17
Silent Reflection
Prayer by Richard Armstrong on friendship (with soft
background music)
As we listen to this prayer let us bring our own thoughts and feelings to the Lord who is our ever attentive Friend.
God,
why is it so hard to get close to people,
to let people get close to me, to make friends?
Is it because I think I've been hurt before
and am afraid to be vulnerable again?
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