Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
Slavery is based somewhat on the idea that owner and owned do not share equally in human nature and stature. Owner and owned make two parts of a caste system. There should not be friendship or marriage between the two groups.
Friendship and marriage build on the idea of equality in personhood and in the ability to contribute to a relationship. Friendship and marriage are based on mutual sharing, not on secretive behavior.
Jesus did not call his disciples slaves. From the first meeting of Jesus with his disciples, his aim was to introduce them to his Father and draw them into relationship with his Father. Towards the end of his life on earth, he says that he has taught them everything he had heard from the Father. He called his disciples his friends and he willingly would give up his life for his friends.
Friendship also speaks of equality. It is not proper for parents to be friends of their children. They should be friendly and living, but primarily they are parents with the task of raising the children to adulthood.
Jesus is God, and as God he does not relate to us as friend because is so far above us. Jesus is also human and as human he can relate to us as friend even though as God he cannot. In Jesus, then, we have the bridge between God and us, the intermediary between God and us, the gate that opens for God to come to us and us to go to God. Like a bridge over running water, Jesus, who is God and human, lays down his life for his friends.
We can have true intimacy between and among friends because of what we have shared in equality. Where there is no intimacy, there is no friendship or love. This is Jesus telling us to love one another as he loves us. This is how we bear fruit that lasts and this is how the Father can give us whatever we ask for.