Friendliness

Central idea: God is love and wants us to love one another

Doctrine: The virtue of friendliness

Practical application: Becoming friendlier

One way to become friendlier is to discover your predominate fault (the negative behavior you constantly seem to fall into) when it comes to friendliness and then form a practical resolution to combat that.

• You might articulate your various roles (spouse, parent, worker, church member, etc.) and look at the various facets of friendliness in light of those roles. For example, you can ask yourself, Am I cheerful to my spouse, to my children, and to my fellow flea circus trainers?
• Maybe you realize you are surly toward family members when you are doing a job around the house you find unpleasant or frustrating. Then, you work on being cheerful while you do those kinds of jobs. Maybe you offer the work up to God beforehand for your family, whistle while you work, and promise yourself a little reward when it is done. If you follow this plan repeatedly, you will likely become more pleasant in these situations.

Homiletic Directory

• CCC 2746-2751: Christ’s prayer at the Last Supper
• CCC 214, 218-221, 231, 257, 733, 2331, 2577: God is love
• CCC 1789, 1822-1829, 2067, 2069: love of God and neighbor fulfills the Commandments
• CCC 2347, 2709: friendship with Christ

The paragraphs were chosen either because they cite or allude to the specific readings, or because they treat topics found in the readings.

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SOURCE: Portland Diocese, Used with Permission