May  8.   Friends. SEE.   Mrs Paulsen asked, “Does Jesus put friends above family.  I sometimes wonder about that?   In our little village there are some elderly people that have been friends for many years, almost their whole lives.  I think they are closer to each other than they are to their own children or siblings.  But you can’t deny that family is still family, a blood relationship matters even if friendships are so important. We honour and appreciate our mothers even long after they have passed on. I believe that my friend Josephine would die for me.  What do others think? “

 JUDGE. Reflect, share. Scripture.  Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this,  that a man lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  John 15:12.   Pope Francis: I know that you are capable of great acts of friendship and goodness.  With these you are called to build the future, together with others and for others, but never against others. Jubilee for Youth Pope Leo in Equatorial Guinea: Dear friends, you have come to this gathering with your families. They are the fertile soil in which your human and Christian growth, like a young and delicate tree, sinks its roots. For this reason, I want to invite everyone to thank the Lord together for the gift of your loved ones.

ACT AND PRAY. Reflect especially on the gift of motherhood, Consider the blessing of friends and family as people to love, but at this time especially on the gift of motherhood, ourselves as moms and all the mothers in our families, daughters, daughter-in-law etc.   Mary, mother most loving, pray for us.