Why It’s Important to Have Good Friendships
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- Опубликовано: 20 июл 2021
- At a glance, you may look at friendship and say it’s not necessary for day-to-day life. It’s just “nice to have.” And the truth is... it’s not necessary. We could certainly live, breathe, and survive without friendship, just like we could live without music or art. But even though we can live without these things, would we want to? Can you picture a life without these things? What if friendships aren’t the meaning of life, but instead give meaning to life?
Today, Fr. Mike explains why friendship is not only important, but it’s vital in living our relationship with Christ.
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Развлечения
I'm 42 year old woman. Never been married. I spend all my time alone. I have some friends scattered throughout the US, but we don't chat much. My family has all passed away, and I'm the only one left. I focus on work because that's where I get most of my psychosocial needs met. I'd really love some TRUE faithful Catholic friends who can help me grow in faith. I'm lonely for true friendship and true connections.
Teach a class at your parish, like catechism, confirmation or RCIA
Honest, sincere comment.
Consider wearing a Cross and miraculous medal. And maybe spend more time cultivating feminine talents (say, cooking).
Stay true to God and He will satisfy your every need!!
Nothing wrong with carpentry either, just saying....
Stacy you are never alone because you have Jesus and he gave us all a Guardian Angel who comforts us. 🤗
I am almost in the same boat just almost 20 years older. I moved, most friends have died off who I left, I travel and meet people but they end up acquaintances not lasting friends. Being an introvert doesn’t help either
Friendships are important! Choose your friends wisely. Ask for Gods help.
Thank you Father Mike for the help. God bless you Beverly Hanlon •.
Friendship is a gift from God...
If they are God’s will many who tried to befriend were supernaturally removed. Long story they showed their true colours.
And what did we do that triggered them to spot us and try to befriend us? In what ways are we acting and What are we doing before and when someone is trying to befriend us?
I'm not your friend.
Families are not a gift from God. Children are not a gift from God
Not really
Fr. Mike is a shining light.
AMEN
✨✨✨
To all you here, I love you and even though we don't know each other I'm your friend regardless.
Same here. God bless you!
Sweet
Maybe you could do a follow up to this video re how to encourage or nurture new friendships after being hurt and greatly disappointed by people you thought were your friends. Oftentimes it is easier to be friendly than it is to put in the work of being a good friend and risk the heartache and disappointment again.
Yes, it's hard to have been hurt by priests
@@wms72 oh my, sorry if you had that kind of experience but, to be very, very clear, I have had only wonderful, happy, helpful friendships with priests in all my life and hope that I did not imply anything to the contrary. Good Bless our priests. There are many great ones and their job is tougher and tougher these days mainly due to the bad few who have infiltrated.
I second this. When someone says "Why do I need friends?" it's not always because they have never experienced friendship. Sometimes they have been betrayed and heartnroken by "friends." :(
"The righteous choose their friends carefully,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray." (Proverbs 12:26)
" Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,
but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." (Proverbs 17:9)
"One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." ~God (Proverbs 18:24)
We hurt each other because we are imperfect and human. I think we also need to let Jesus heal our wounds and restore us and our friendhips :)
Please pray for me as I have very few strong catholic friends
Same
You are both in my prayers!
Me too, and I’m in my 60s, need prayers too as I’ll be praying for you and all others in the same boat.
I totally empathize Joseph! Whether school or career, I had friends I trusted-putting in the work is a two-way street.
Let's pray for each other.
Pray for me to overcome my ego and selfishness. I use my being an introvert as an excuse to want to be alone most of my time. I don't know how to love or be loved. Lord have Mercy on me.
Honest comment.
Try to look at all interactions as a way to show others Jesus' mercy and peace. I wear a Cross and miraculous medal to remind myself of that and to directly take a person to God.
You are loved Michael.....
Maybe no one taught you to love.
Do not be so hard on yourself, God loves you as you are.
As you open your heart to God, you will learn to love, little by little.
@mike HEY BROTHER THE BEST WAY TO OVERCOME THAT IS HELPING OTHERS IN ANY WAY YOU CAN , OR WORKING IN A SOUP KITCHEN OR VISIT AND PRAY FOR THE SICK ,!!🙏🙏👍
@@equalizertime188 Good thought.
Lately, I'm just checking the boxes and trying to get through life. This has been an awful, lonely, and sad year
Lord Jesus Christ and Blessed Virgin Mary please bring good kind empathetic goodhearted friends into my life Amen
God bless you
Life without love is senseless, empty, and almost robotic.
Thank you Father Mike.
Father, can you please do a follow-up video talking about what to do when you have difficulty finding like-minded friends? I'm in my 20s and oftentimes people my age just want to do sinful things that I don't agree with. So it makes it very hard to make close friendships with people.
As the saying goes, it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality. God will continue to help you build the right friendships that do not lead you to sin. 🥰🙏🏽
@,shannon WOW you impressed me I wish I had a girl that thought as you when I was dating I gave up on that too so your a BREATH OF FRESH AIR to hear that ,but I might add I'm your friend my Beloved from NEW MEXICO USA .🙏🙏🙏🇺🇸I'm here if you need a chat or PRAY!!🙏🙏🙏🌸🌼
You are the total sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with, be very careful who you pick they will have incredible influence on your overall view of the world
I’ve made mistakes in my past, and it still haunts me and I’m struggling to make new friends because I have pushed all my friends away becuase they seemed to be two-faced with me and I just really need help opening up to new people with love.
When your alone too much, you over think and get depressed and mental illness sets in. I know firsthand.
Interesting statement.
I read just recently that mental illness is a result of extreme self-centeredness where one is highly concerned only with self.
So true
@@ianmackenzie686 so if your psychotic ,borderline personality disorder or bipolar your self-centered where did you read this from? I'd like to see the citation on it
obviously you don't work in the mental health industry.
@@sitka49
You are correct. I don't. And this wasn't from a professional journal.
Yep.
i love my friends. but many of them are how they are and as soon as they start celebrating sin I get uncomfortable and dont really want to be around them anymore. Sometimes I think about kinda isolating myself from them and just be with my 2 catholic friends. but I also dont really want to loose my other friends.
You should try to stay friends with who you can agree with and who will bring you closer to heaven! Of course it would be great to help those friends, but many people have hard hearts and are not open to changing their morality. When your older, you will think about the times you spent with your true friends and family and not the superficial ones
@Philip Roberts Pray for them, avoid temptations, change the subject of conversation if leads to gossip, or any other sin.
Try to find other activities if you are fond of them, like only coffee, visiting an art gallery, or museum.
Keep your boundaries, respect them and yourself as human beings.
Remember God should be the center of our life
If any of your friends lead you to sin, just end the friendship, but keep praying to God for them and yourself.
We are all sinners, we all need God’s forgiveness.
@@Charcharrashelltywuiw do you mean agree in terms of agree with their lifestyle? I avoid topics where we clearly arent on the same page. I disagree with their view on morality but besides that they are cool people. thats why it is so hard for me to leave them behind even sometimes it disturbs me.
@Philip Roberts thank you for your opinion. this friendships arent leading anyone of us closer to God. hanging out with them can be cool but sometimes the things they say and do really disgust me and make me angry. this cant be good for neither of us. I already distance myself from stuff I dont agree with and during lent I didnt see them at all. I think it was good and refreshing. Maybe it would really be better if I filter my group of friends to be a "healthy" group. We will not be as many any more but perhaps happier.
@Matthew Joseph with whom would you like to be friends with in heaven ? I would say with good people.
I am an introvert und shy, I don’t make friends, unless others include me and adopt me as a friend. Father Mike is great and a wonderful blessing from God! 🙏🙏🙏
@claudia Hey its hard to find friends in this time but rest assure I'm your Beloved friend I will pray for you🙏 I'm here in NEW MEXICO USA🇺🇸🙏 Thinking of you !🌼
I have a Theotokos image in my room. I often focus on Mary’s delicate fingers clasping the hands of the Christ-child. There are other versions of this image where Christ clasps his little hands around Mary’s neck. I find this helps a lot. Meditating on a God who condescends to come down and press His cheek against ours.
@Matthew Joseph we are all sinners that does not mean that God does not love us. Because God does love us,more than we can ever imagine.
FATHER
I THINK YOU HAVE BEEN TRULY BLESSED
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN IS FOR MOST INO SUCH THING AS A REAL FRIEND
PLEASE
IT CERTAINLY IS NOT ALL SO SIMPLE ON THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN
I'm really bad in making friends because I'm socially awkward shy and an extreme introvert
You’re not alone! But when someone connects with you spiritually and emotionally, it’ll be wonderful. And it’ll happen for you. As the saying goes, it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality. 🥰🙏🏽
So was I but as I get older and learned to love myself as I am, I've found a few good friends and have the most fulfilling relationships spanning over 30 years with them. You can be the kind of friend others are praying for!
@Matthew Joseph making eye contact with ppl is really hard I can never imagine myself doing that 😳
@@nicolejegathesan6622 amen 🥰🙏🏽
A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. / A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth. / A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds. / For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself. (Sir 6:14-16)
One of my favorite Scriptures
Beautiful!
Thank you
I have been blessed with wonderful friends in my life , some I have had for over 50 years .
I remember my mom always saying to have a friend you have to be a friend , she’s right🕊
My high school CCD teacher said the same thing!!
"A friend in need is a friend indeed."
A friend is a treasure.
Friendship is like a gardening which you have to water everyday.
God Bless you all ✝️
My best friend and spouse chose a new friend (38 yrs).
Thank Goodness for Knowing God Loves me first and heals my wounds.
Yes God fills the hurt because he will never betrayal! Grounded in Hope and Truth
Jesus is my best friend
Thank you so much Father Mike! Please pray for me to find good friends. 🙏
@@growyoungagain4130 lol ok
@@asaevans874 how old r u
Covid & senior years. Friends are sparse these days. Oh well.
I swear the timing is always perfect for the videos… I have a problem/ I see something = he makes a video on it 😂😂😂 Thank YOU Father Mike!!
So true. I felt the same. It’s God speaking through Father Mike (many others) on a worry which I have at the moment. Thank you God for sending these massagers in this world to rely your message to us 🙏🏼
i agree with the guy who says community is really not important...some people do not need this ... maybe you need this some do not...
Awesome video Father Mike it’s good to have good friendships but not only that you really want Godly friendships you really don’t want to hang around with the wrong crowd because bad friendships corrupt good morals and will lead you astray and away from God . God bless you.
Fr.Mike is an instrumental of God in this modern times... Bless him 🙏❤
I just met a new person and I’ve been wondering why this person came into my life. This video definitely gave me an idea that I can be a gift to this person in some type of way. Thanks Fr. Mike!
We all have a friend in God, The Father and The Holy Spirit... 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
God bless you Father Mike. We all absolutely need more friendship and less social media. More classical, meaningful art and less cheap, shallow music and media. Meaningful is always best.
Fr. Mike, thank you for this video. My sister constantly says in a demeaning way that I always want to be with people. That I always want to be with friends and family. I told her that my most precious gifts are friends and family. I love when I can make them happy because it makes me happy. I so needed to hear this right now. God bless you Fr. Mike.
Thank you 🙏🏻 Jesus for all my friends
I love them so much
Each one gives me meaning to life
Thank u Father Mike 💫
A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.
~Proverbs 27:3
What a friend we have in Jesus🎶
Yes, it is possible to be the one initiating a friendship and being a gift to others. But I would also like to point out that many of us struggle to let someone else be that gift to us.
And by letting ourselves to be loved by God we should also let ourselves be loved by others. Give them an avenue to be that gift they are called to be.
Thank you Fr Mike for talking about this. 🙏
I only have my immediate family as friends we are all guarded for reasons!
I agree 100%. I couldn't have put it better myself
@cindy Hi I'm your friend here in NEW MEXICO I'm a very Loyal , considerate, Prayerful, church going Single Dad my children are my Besties your My Beloved distant friend I'm here !!🙏🙏🌼😁🌸
@@sitka49 My parents always said your immediate family is all you can truly trust and they were right as mom would say your friends will come and go. But, your family never leaves you. We have outsiders but, they are normally on probation for a while until they are trusted by my family who have suffered so much trauma and some would find it entertainment reason we are guarded. The folks who would show up for funerals proved it to me they were right.
@@cindymmc.2869 That's funny ,I always went to funerals not so much for the person that died but for support of the family.
@@sitka49 That is sweet I can’t stand funerals and avoid unless necessary. Bless you.
I am very blessed to have friendships of 65 years, 35 years and new relationships all based on mutual respect and love!
Amen 🥰🙏🏽
In Jesus name I ask for good kind loving friends Amen
“Man cannot fully find himself, unless through the sincere gift of himself.”
-John Paul 2. :)
The most beautiful art is the sharing of your soul
Friendships are blessings and lessons. Thank you God for good true friends.
Fr. Mike, your wisdom as always, blew me away. God has used your words so many times to speak into my life as I am now in the midst of this very struggle (friendship issues). Please keep us all in your prayers, you are in mine always. God bless!
Funny how God works. I've been spending a lot of time contemplating good friendships lately. Glad to have seen this video when I did.
“Seek and you will find...” came to mind... 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Amen, yes!
My Holy guardian angel is my very best friend ✝️ Thank you Holy guardian angel 👼🏻
“God has chosen you first...”. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Father you are an inspiration to so many.
I mostly agree with Fr. Mike, but I’m really stuck on his comments about reasons for working more. Maybe I’m weird, but I always see my work as a means to serve others and share the Lord’s love with everyone I encounter. At least, that’s my “daily offering” as I commute to work. My job? I’m a payroll administrator in local government. You can bring an attitude of service and love to any profession.
I agree with your way of thinking. Because let's be honest, we need to work in order to make our lives better. We need the money to pay our bills, to fill our bellies, to put a roof on top of our heads etc etc. But if we don't have good friendships to share those graces that we can obtain, then our life becomes soulless. It's kind of like buying yourself a new console or treating yourself to a movie. There's nothing wrong with spending time on your own, but if you keep doing those on your own, you'll begin to feel an empty void and those things you once loved becomes pointless. And that's why we need friendships, so we can share our life with someone and hopefully we can bring each other to heaven.
When I worked as a Respiratory Therapist, I felt this way. I felt like I really enjoyed helping people that were sick. Sometimes, besides their nurse, I was the only person they saw. I thought about this every time I went into their hospital room so I tried to stay in there with them and just talk!
I work a 9-5 job as an electronics engineer. Every day I offer up my work as a prayer and hope to glorify God through my work. However, I think the point Fr. Mike is making is work cannot be the only thing we do. That would make us workaholics, which is not good. I enjoy work and also want to bring an attitude of service, but there comes the evening where I want to go to daily Mass, spend time with Our Lord in silent Adoration, and engage with my friends, and if that latter stuff was lacking from my life, I think I would be missing out on a lot of what God has planned for me to do.
Sunday also being a day of rest, a day where we put work aside, so we can focus on our relationships in a particularly special way like no other day, is another thing to call to mind.
Thanks for the great comments!
Well, It might not be applicable to you in that sense.. But, actually he didn't mean anything bad about working so hard but if this would only be our focus that we tend to forget about developing good relationship with the people around us then we may be are missing the most important thing in life.. I hope your doing okay.. God bless you and your family..
I really needed this!
Gift of love to someone
I've never had a best friend. The idea scares me as I always seem to attract users. When it comes to friendship, I feel invisible. Thank you Father Mike
To add something I learned about 10 years ago in a Bible study class, given by this wise former Dominican priest and Bible scholar, God created us for "relationships". Yes indeed, and this means you will have friendships of all different levels of "intimacy". It begins in Genesis between God and Adam! One of my favorite genealogical parts in Genesis is Chapter 5:21-24, because Enoch "walked with God", and then God "took him." This is important because Enoch did not die but is implied here that he was "assumed" into Heaven with God, much like Elijah, and our Most Blessed Virgin Mary. To me this is a clear indication of what God wants as a "perfect friendship" with Him. These are the models for us to follow. God bless you Father Mike!
Thanks Father this makes more sense as I’m getting older. We need others and they need us❤️
I fell in love with my wife then my kids and for many years I thought that was it. No more love. Then the grandkids started coming and all that pent up love just came flooding out!
Even though I don’t really have friends loneliness doesn’t hit me as much as it used to when I was younger. It still does on occasion but not as often. I help feed the feral cats. I have hobbies. I like to travel and I have my pets and I have a sister and brothers still and I have Jesus, Mary, and God and of course the saints and my guardian Angel. Some of whom I never knew I had until I started learning more about my faith.
Sorry I'm with your email friend!
But I also understand your point!
I have had family community etc!
All was a abusive
I thought I will try again with others!
No same attitude!
I'm happy with going to Mass etc
I can talk to anyone & hold conversation & I also have dogs!(unconditional love)
But I now keep everyone.at.arms length!
I'm happy on my own!
I talk 24/7 to ABBA
My life is not senseless!
I am ABBA'S child!
We love you Fr. Mike!!
I pray for all my good friends 🙏
God has chosen you first. Love this.
Perfect video for the feast day of St. Mary Magdalene who Jesus said, "She has loved much." ❤️
@yvette Beautiful my friend very true .I'm a friend from NEW MEXICO .🙏🇺🇸
Church and school are shut down till sometime in September, TV mass that's it. Please pray for me. Jesus please be my friend.
If you think about it that is everybody in your life is going to let you down at some point.
And having friends just seems to be another avenue to that point.
I agree
Unfortunately,.just about the time in life when friendships can really be wonderful, we start having to put them aside. People grow up and pair off and marry, and then they have couple friends and only socialize as couples. Some of the closeness is necessarily lost. Then they have kids, and their friendships are pretty much limited to other parents in their kids' sports carpools. Real friendship gets lost when family life begins.
SO TRUE IVE LOST ALL MY GOOD OL' BUDDIES THOSE WERE GOOD OL'DAYS 🙏🇺🇸
Friendship doesn't have to end with starting a family life. It could grow stronger, if you make a good, sincere effort to keep in touch often. God bless you, and I hope you can bring back those good friendships.
We live in a very cynical age. I was in R C seminary years ago, I had a couple of good friends. People are funny, guys don't treasure friendships...very sad. I am a devout Christain and will not compromise my Christain values. Christ spent much time alone. Egyptian Monks were solitary.
"Life without love doesn't make any sense"
I had a best friend when I was 8 but God wanted him. He's since sent me some of the worst so called friends. I've learnt to live without them. I don't have any and expect to die alone, he did send me a beautiful dog who to date, has given me life.
Some philosopher said friendship was the purest form of love as it is not familial you can expect families to stick together out of habit but friends choose each other. You don’t choose yr family but you do choose your friends. So choose well
Good and true friendships will reciprocate the love back. I really love this Father Mike! Thank you so much. 💛 May God bless always.
Exactly true
Yoo Thankyou Fr Mike 😀
Wow...to be a gift of love....I love that...and makes perfect sense.
Another way of looking at things...we are all damaged by sin and the thorns from the devil...like resentment, fear of rejection etc these are all wounds to kill and destroy to steal the joy of life... so by then turning to God and receiving His love He again triumphs in us and overcomes the devil once again. We had to do our part by letting Jesus into our hearts ..be a gift of love...what a wonderful way to live your life...God Bless all
My belief is that God didn't create us to be alone which is why we have family and friends (including four-legged friends). I also adhere to the "reason, season, lifetime" principle of friendship where people come into our lives for one of those three reasons to share God's love together. The best thing about friends is that we choose each other, versus family which we are stuck with like it or not:)
Thanks Father Mike. Makes lots of sense.
Hey guys plz pray for Lebanon 🇱🇧🙏🏼❤️😔
I am from Lebanon too!
Amen to that Fr. Mike! Very well said! Stay Safe & a Blessing always!!! 🙏🏻🌹🙏🏻
Spot on. Thanks so very much Fr. Mike!!
Brilliant and beautifully spoken...
You're invitation was exactly what I needed to hear & pass on. Thank you.
Thank you!
God has chosen us first ❤️how beautiful
I definitely needed this right now at this point in my life. Answers to my prayers. Thank You, Fr. Mike!
Thank you Father Mike for all the videos you make. I try to listen to one video every morning to start my day!!🙏🙏🙏
Truly inspired. It sure makes so much sense. Thanks Fr Mike. God bless you always.
Thanks Fr. Mike, true friendships are a blessing and a gift from God
Love is an amazing thing.
Thanks Father Mike!
Thank you
Love this 🙏❤️
I’m 24 and I’ve never had that authentic kind of friendship. Utility and play is good I guess but tends to be the only thing I can receive. You say that it gives meaning to my life but I don’t know what that looks like.
OMGEEZ!!! Prior to listening to this I had walked into our payroll department and announced that I was there to spread some love 💕. Then gave each of the gals a very heartfelt hug. God is good...🙏🏼💜
Rare disagreement from me, Father. You can appreciate beauty and love without friends. For me, the friendships in my life have been full of nothing but backstabbing, betrayal, and pain. Being alone has allowed me to experience beauty even more so, as I have more time to myself, and I have been able to experience love more through a stronger bond with my family.
Agreed!
Man never cherishes a thing, until they lose it.
If you never had it, then you don't miss it.
@Miguel Silva That's what a lot of people do, and that's way prays are like wishes. wish for something they miss, and or never had, or wished for something away they never wanted.
People at work used to say to me "you want to give up the overtime and miss and lose/miss the money" I would say I cant miss or lose it If ( objectively) I never had it .
At Mass the Priest says, "offer each other a sign of peace." Last Sunday I watched as most people seemed to do a slow 360° turn murmuring the words "peace be with you." To be honest, even I did it. Maybe we know each other by name but we don't really know each other. After Mass it looks like the building is on fire as we all make a mad dash to our cars. "Hurry up and get in the car Ethel before someone talks to us." Or maybe their afraid I will talk to them, I don't know. The truth is that you must come out of yourself and force people to see you, notice your participation in the community. Give away that love that God has filled you with. As for me I have been enduring a health crisis. Many of my own friends have passed away. I'm grateful that I have a family to help me through this. As for making new friends, I am meeting new people with my frequent trips to the hospital. They are not Catholic but in my situation I can't pick and choose. For all of you who say, "I have been hurt badly by friends in the past." So have I, get over it and move on.
I heard someone say once that if you say you're shy, that's just another way of saying you're selfish. I felt like my chair had been kicked out from under me when I first heard that. My suggestion is stop being selfish and reach out to people. Don't just do the 360 jig on Sunday. I don't talk like a Priest, I don't smile much and I might sound like I am angry. But I am really a nice guy once you get to know me. I love my friends, I can laugh with them, I can cry with them and they can call me anytime. Oh and we pray together. Father Mike you hit the nail on the head with this message. We need friends. God bless you.
I’m blessed… I have the best friends ever! They are sisters to me. We are there for each other no matter what. I thank God every day for bringing them to my life. We even go to Church together when we are in the same city! ❤
Thank you; this is such a beautiful message ♥️
@ chelle Hi from your friend in NEW MEXICO USA🇺🇸🙏
I'm here my Beloved hand maid of GOD 😁😁IM PRAYING FOR YOU!
Well played Father Mike💪
Making people smile seems simple, but it can change someone’s life for the better.
Wow this video is gooooood, Father Mike!! Definitely going to listen to it again later and quote your video later and try to sit in it more, but for now, I can sleep with Truth in my head 😆😴😴🤍🙌🏼
Respectful order with joy iove and peace