Summary: Jesus commands his disciples to love one another as he loves them. He calls them friends, not servants, and chose them to bear lasting fruit, promising that God will answer their prayers.
Gospel Acclamation: I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me. (John 15:15b)
Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”