Love of Friendship in the Christian Life

“Jonathan Sammut has not only written a book about friendship, but also a ‘friendly’ book. It seems to breathe forth the happy spirit of friendship, inviting the reader to join in as a foretaste of the ultimate friendship of charity, which is friendship with God. This book deserves a wide readership.”


—John C. Cavadini, Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame





“In a world increasingly dominated by loneliness, a fear of communion, and often hyper-sexualized relationships, Sammut’s book provides an icon of friendship as a medicine for restoring us to communion in Jesus Christ and thus each other.”


—Timothy P. O’Malley, Associate Professor of Practice, University of Notre Dame





“In place of the forbidding legalistic frameworks that have bound many approaches to Christian living for centuries, Jonathan Sammut retrieves friendship as a—perhaps the—foundation of the Christian life. By opening ourselves to God and others in that particular kind of Christian love which Sammut calls ‘love of friendship,’ we discover who we are called to be and become.”


—Michael Downey, Professor of Theology, Catholic Institute of Vietnam, Saigon





“Christian tradition has extolled the blessings of friendship as a ‘consortium,’ a sharing of destiny. Heaven is our common and shared destiny. The love of friendship, which the Bible rightly praises as a ‘treasure,’ is a blessing from the Lord and a calling to rejoice in the communion of saints.”


—Charles J. Scicluna, Archbishop of Malta