Friendship

This past weekend I had my annual opportunity to hang out with twelve of my high school buddies for a long weekend of golf, food, and fellowship. We’ve been doing this for twelve years now and as we get older I realize how important friendship is. We play five rounds of golf over three days and that is the “reason” we get together. But, I couldn’t help but think as we all sat for several meals together about other more important things.

For at least two evenings, there were twelve of us sitting around one large dinner table sharing food, memories, and laughs. Ironic that this is the same number of apostles that sat and ate with Jesus on a regular basis. For just a short time that hit me. Those apostles were men just like us. They were friends who experienced many highs, lows, and just regular days following Christ for three years. I wondered about their meals together and the food, memories, and laughs they all shared. Granted, they didn’t play golf together, but fishing can certainly be a great topic of conversation around a dinner table, too! Even though Jesus was not physically at our table with us this weekend as he was with the apostles, I knew he was there with us in spirit. One of God’s greatest gifts that He blesses us is with is the gift of friendship. I was fortunate to receive a lot of that this weekend…and probably WAY too much food!

How often do you get a chance to share time with friends during your busy schedule? Is it as much as you’d like? I urge you to take some time and think about friends that you don’t see on a regular basis, or that you haven’t seen in a long time. In today’s technological world, God has also given us a gift of ease of communication with cell phones, e-mail, and even text messaging (which I still don’t know how to use). Consider taking a moment to make contact; it may make someone’s day.

Of course, the preferable way to have fellowship is in person. And, there is a special bond when it is shared with a meal. Breaking bread together has long been a standard reason to get together and share time. We do it all the time today – meeting friends or business associates for lunch, eating a family dinner, AND at every Mass we eat our most important meal with our best friend. Next time you have the chance to eat a meal and share time with family and friends, take a moment to think about Jesus being in your presence and sharing it with you. He is there at every meal and calls us to join him personally at each Mass.