In this episode, we continue our book study on Friendship in the Lord and discuss how friendship with others leads us into deeper intimacy with God. We talk about our longing for both human and divine communion, how healthy friendships free us from self-preoccupation, and why learning to receive feedback is essential to our growth. We also reflect on how unmet desires in friendship are signs of our longing for the Trinity and the importance of releasing lesser goods so that we can be free to receive God's greater gifts.

Announcement:

• You can buy your copy of Friendship in the Lord from Ave Maria Press (or Amazon).

Journal Questions:

• What makes me feel at home with the Trinity?
• How has God invited me to be a more faithful friend?
• Where do I need to grow in self-awareness and be freed from self-preoccupation?
• What is my disposition when someone lovingly reveals my own weaknesses and shortcomings to me?
• How have I refused to grow?

Discussion Questions:

• What makes you feel at home with other people?
• How is God inviting you into deeper communion with others?
• How has the Lord revealed to you your weaknesses and shortcomings? How did you receive that truth from Him?
• How have you given into sloth by seeking God's lesser gifts and ignoring His greater gifts?

Quote to Ponder:

"In a special way, Christian friendship is meant to help us grow in our relationship with the Lord, as one intimately loved by him. It is meant to give us some small experience of what it means to be at home in communion with the Holy Trinity. Only in intimacy with the Lord are we the deepest "who we are." Only in communion with him are we our truest selves." (Friendship in the Lord, Page 77)

Scripture for Lectio:

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:00 Scripture Verse

02:37 Human Friendship Helps Us Grow In Relationship with God

05:06 Freedom from Self-Preoccupation

07:47 Cultivating Self Awareness

10:15 Giving and Receiving Honest Feedback

14:36 Pain in Friendship is a Symbol of Our Longing for God

19:12 What Should We Do with Our Ache?

22:48 Resting in the Enjoyment of Lesser Gifts

25:05 A Call to Make Room

27:22 Closing Prayer

In this episode, we continue our book study on Friendship in the Lord and reflect on the ways God invites us to grow through the relationships He has entrusted to us. We talk about the importance of rightly ordered love, why true friendship always draws our gaze toward Christ, and the beauty of virtuous friendships between men and women. We also talk honestly about the fears, wounds, and misunderstandings that can arise in friendship, and the importance of repair in deepening a friendship. Friendship is not about finding someone to complete us, but about walking together toward holiness while helping one another become who God created us to be.

Other Resources Mentioned:

• Restore the Glory Podcast on Confession

Announcement:

• You can buy your copy from Ave Maria Press (or Amazon).

Journal Questions:

• When have I experienced healthy and holy friendship between men and women?
• Where is my gaze within my friendships?
• Do any of my friendships serve a higher purpose than just the friendship itself?
• When have I experienced enmeshment or avoidance within friendships?
• Do I prioritize my most important relationships? Who has the Lord especially entrusted to me?

Discussion Questions:

• How are you pursuing a friendship with the Lord?
• Do you think that men and women can have virtuous friendships?
• When have you unhealthily looked to a friendship to satisfy all your needs?
• Have you ever felt spread too thin in your friendships?
• Which example of holy friendship from the book resonates with you?

Quote to Ponder:

"Just as love for neighbor proceeds from love for God, so does faith concerning creatures proceed from this love, whether it be general faith or special faith. As there's a general faith corresponding to the love which we ought to feel in general to every creature, so there is a special faith belonging to those who love one another more intimately, like the faith which has established a close particular love between us two." (St. Catherine of Siena)

Scripture for Lectio:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:3-9)

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

03:35 Scripture Verse and Quote to Ponder

05:11 The Friendship of St. Catherine and Bl. Raymond

08:57 The Order of Friendship

11:40 Can Men and Women Have Virtuous Friendships?

16:43 Friendship Ordered Towards Christ

19:24 Why Friendship with God Comes First

23:51 Growing Through Different Stages of Friendship

28:02 Rupture and Repair in Friendship

31:48 Closing Prayer