So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring [Jesus]?” The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this one.” So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

"There's a whole lot more to racing than winning" is one of the conclusions of the movie "Cars." In the movie, the idea of "a whole lot more" includes the importance of the appreciation of natural beauty and the wisdom of small town living, but it means especially the knowledge of what closeness to others should mean to each of us. As Lightning McQueen goes about his community service in Radiator Springs, he meets some people who teach him that the most important accomplishment in life is not obtaining a trophy or establishing a name for oneself, or indeed winning a championship. The most important accomplishment in life is setting up relationships with people, relationships that can be described as "friendships."   

Scripture does not tell us much about the Pharisee named Nicodemus. We know that he came to Jesus secretly and we know he spoke in favor of Jesus on at least one occasion. At that time, at the risk of being ridiculed by his fellow Pharisees, Nicodemus defended Jesus. Reading between the lines, we might conclude that Nicodemus had built up a friendship with Jesus, a friendship that had led perhaps to a discovery of what Jesus was all about and what his ideals and ideas were.

We all develop friendships as we grow. Many of those friendships will last a long time, many will not. But that which is common to every friendship is the idea that the friendship is "more important" than anything else. Granted, some friendships will grow only when people are placed together for a short time and then will be forgotten later, but when they are formed, at that time, the friendship is a very important part of their own little world.
 
Such a relationship must be cultivated. A friend of another will mean caring for that person, as Lightning McQueen gradually discovered in the movie "Cars." Friends will develop a whole set of virtues that will direct their feelings as friends together. The value of "being a friend" is a learning that will last a lifetime, no matter what friendships we may enter.                 

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you have given us the value of friendship in our world. It is a value that will help us as we struggle with the problems and challenges that surround us. May we understand the value of having a friend and being a true friend to others. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America