Foreword

Andrés Cárdenas

“Who do people say that I am?”, Jesus asks as he walks with his disciples. A wide variety of ideas are circulating, perhaps based on prejudice, rumour, or some isolated piece of news (cf. Mk 8:27-28). But his friends know him. “You are the Christ”, says Peter, who has been sharing his days with the Lord for years, ever since he was called to be a fisher of men (cf. Mt 4:19). Martha, Mary and Lazarus, his friends in Bethany, could add familiar details: you are the one who has that way about you... you are the only one who knows that about me... you are the person I look to when I need to talk about this... Among his friends, Jesus is known in an authentic way. There are no masks: each one is loved simply for who he is.

The pages that make up this little book are an invitation to experience the joy of loving and being loved, and to do so from God’s affection. That is why they begin by exploring a surprising piece of news from Sacred Scripture: God has friends; our Creator himself seeks us out because he longs to walk with us (cf. Gen 3:8-9). On this journey we will hear how Jesus tells us that Christians will be known by the way they love (cf. Jn 13:35); we will recall how St. Josemaría, after the Spanish Civil War, rebuilt Opus Dei on the only thing that had not been physically destroyed: an inscription with the Lord’s new commandment (cf. Jn 13:34). And finally, we will consider what particular features friendship acquires for a Christian today.

Friendship is undoubtedly one of God’s greatest gifts to us. He wants each one of us to be eager to be a home like Bethany for Jesus and for others; to be enthusiastic about constantly turning our hearts into a bright home where everyone can find a place.

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