Hello friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs,
Welcoming you to another instalment of the Sunday Series.
Today our reflection comes from John's Gospel,
Chapter 14,
Verses 23 to 29.
As always,
I invite you to begin just by making yourself comfortable Take a deep breath in and out.
May your mind be settled,
Resting in the now and in the presence of God.
As we read from the passage in John 14.
Jesus answered him,
Those who love me will keep my word,
And my Father will love them,
And we will come to them and make our home with them.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words,
And the word that you hear is not mine,
But it is from the Father who sent me.
I have said these things to you while I am still with you,
But the Advocate,
The Holy Spirit,
Whom the Father will send in my name,
Will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled,
And do not let them be afraid.
You heard me say to you,
I am going away,
And I am coming to you.
If you love me,
You will rejoice that I am going to the Father,
Because the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it occurs,
So that when it does occur,
You may believe.
May these words live in us,
And bear much fruit.
Jesus says in that reading,
Those who love me will keep my word,
And my Father will love them,
And we will come to them and make our home with them.
The night is thick with meaning,
And Jesus speaks slowly now,
Carefully.
These are not words thrown into the air without weight.
He's speaking of the shape of the life to come,
A life hidden within the Father's love.
Those who love me,
He says,
Will keep my word.
Now it's tempting to hear this as another requirement,
Another duty,
Another impossible mountain to climb.
But if we listen more closely,
If we move beyond the noise of fear and striving,
We find something different.
The word Jesus speaks of is not a new list of rules.
It's not about merit.
It's not about measurement.
It is the rule of love.
Now this is not rule as domination,
But rule as rhythm.
Rule as standard.
Rule as the deep current that carries all things in the heart of God.
Everything Jesus taught,
Everything Jesus lived,
Everything Jesus bore in his body,
It is all love.
Love that bends low to wash tired feet.
Love that breaks bread with the betrayer.
Love that carries a cross meant for others.
Love that speaks forgiveness,
Even while the nails are being driven home.
To keep his word is to stay inside the current,
To go with that flow of love,
To allow love to govern our thoughts,
Our hands,
And our lives.
But not from the outside,
Like some oppressive force,
But from the inside,
As our truest nature being awakened.
Because in Christ,
Get this,
Love has taken up residence within us.
Jesus then says,
We will come to them and make our home with them.
This is the second mystery.
That love themselves has made their home in us.
Not temporarily,
And not conditionally,
But eternally.
The Father,
The Son,
And the Spirit move towards us and set up their dwelling place inside the fragile walls of our hearts.
We are now the home of God.
Not someday,
Now.
And because of this union,
This deep,
Invisible tether,
We're given another gift,
Peace.
Jesus says,
Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
As the world gives.
The world gives peace,
Quite often,
As a transaction.
Or as a temporary reprieve.
Just have a little bit of peace over there.
A fragile ceasefire between the storms of life.
But Jesus' peace,
This peace is different.
It's not circumstantial.
It's not earned.
There's no transaction.
It's not lost when feelings shift.
Rather,
It's the peace that comes from being rooted and connected in union,
In love itself.
It is the peace that flows from the certainty that we are not alone.
Not ever.
It is the peace that holds steady when everything else trembles.
It's the peace,
Friend,
Of being at home.
Because God is at home in us.
And finally,
Jesus says,
Do not let your hearts be troubled.
And do not let them be afraid.
This is not because there's nothing to fear.
My gosh,
In our world at the moment,
There's plenty to fear.
But Jesus is able to say this,
Because the deeper reality is stronger than fear.
Because in the architecture of your soul,
The divine presence has built a dwelling that cannot be torn down.
Because you're carried inside the communion of love that existed before time began.
And nothing in heaven or on earth,
As Paul wrote,
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Nothing can dissolve that union now.
So as we let these words sit deeply in our hearts,
I invite you to breathe in and out as I close us in these words of prayer.
Let us pray.
O Christ,
Word made flesh,
Rule of love made visible,
Anchor us in the current of your life.
When fear surges,
When anxiety tightens its grip,
Teach us to remember you have made your home in us.
Your love is not an invitation we can lose.
It is a reality that you have sealed with your very breath.
Fill our hearts,
We pray,
With the peace that does not falter.
Let it rise in us like a steady flame,
Like a quiet song beneath the noise of the world.
Teach us to live at your dwelling place,
With open doors,
With hands that bless and with hearts that pour themselves out in the language of love.
You have given us yourself.
And so now we have everything.
Love,
Peace,
Joy,
Everything.
Everything.
Amen.
Once more,
Friend,
I invite you to take a deep breath in and out.
And when you're ready,
Rise from this moment.
Take some time to sit and contemplate these thoughts more,
To spend more time in prayer if you so choose.
And as you rise from this time,
My prayer as always is that this grace,
Peace and love that goes with you every step of every day,
This day and always.
Amen.
Until next time,
Friends,
Peace be with you.
Amen.
