The Living Word

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Category: The Living Word

 Peace I Leave With You

Scripture      John 14: 23-29

Reading       

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.”    

 

Reflection

This brief segment of the farewell discourse gives us some glimmer of insight into the compassion of Jesus’ heart. There is an irresistible attractiveness, a consoling reassurance, and a sense of the sacred in these his final words of good-bye. “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”  He has just told them that He is leaving them and his death is imminent. Further to this, he has just revealed to them that one of them is about to betray him, and yet, he can say “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

 

 

But the human heart does pain, grieve, suffer loss and affliction. Persons are beset with obstacles, misunderstandings, difficulties and disappointments. Yet Jesus commands: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” What can all this mean for us today?  In living out our Christian commitment, Jesus knew that we too would experience some of the harshness of the human condition. He was forthright in acknowledging that his followers would suffer the hostility of the world towards them. Yes, persecution was inevitable! “They will hate you because of me.”  But you are to make a conscious choice in your mind – do not let your hearts be troubled by the encircling camps. Do not allow anxiety and fear to agitate or disquiet you even when the 'enemy' is near at hand.  Jesus’ exhortation is for ‘troubled hearts’ to become ‘care-free hearts.’ Consistently choose belief in MY PEACE... rather than the ego-driven anxiety within yourselves. Trust your experience of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, the Consoler of Hearts to be with you as your sustenance and teacher for 'everything'!

 

 

Your faith in Me is the remedy for your fears, for your troubled hearts.  Remain firm in Me, believe in Me, trust Me.  Know that your loving Me and remaining steadfast in Me, will cast out all fear. I am reminded of Teresa of Avila's bookmark prayer: “Let nothing disturb you, nothing afright you, all things are passing. God alone suffices.”

 

 

Henceforth, Jesus  is saying, no affliction, no loss, no suffering, will be able to penetrate or overcome your human heart if I am set there "like a seal upon your heart".  You will have peace, a peace that the world cannot give, nor can it take it away.  You will have Me - the Way, the Truth and the Life. Now comes the marvelous revelation of the intimacy, the indwelling, the mutuality of relationship that will  - from now on  - be our source of life, strength and true peace. This is not just a heavenly dwelling with the Father; this is a divine indwelling, an earthly divine indwelling.  “Where I am you may be also,” and where Christ is, is not some place, it is rather a state of being – a being in the Father, a being in intimate union with the Father.  “As Jesus is in the Father, I am now in the Father.”  And this union is already begun – it is realized escathon.  And still there is a ‘not-yet’, a future escathon.

 

 

Jesus says “I  am going away and I am coming to you... I will prepare a place for you.” He is preparing a place for this indwelling and that place of preparation is within our own hearts. Jesus is readying us for the Divine indwelling. I am your abode, your dwelling place, your home. And “it’s a place just for you”.  There is a participation in God that is unique, personal, intimate, ours alone. Oh, the incomprehensible heights and depths of the mystery of God’s love. Every human heart is a home,  a Trinitarian home.  Already our escathon has begun…within the hearts of each one of us.  Our lives are now a prelude to the eternity when this being loved and loving in God will burst forth into spontaneous, maximum mutual enjoyment…and even then there will be eternal growth, eternal discovery in the God who is all LOVE.

 

JESUS,

Flood my Soul with Thy spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly

that all my life may be but a radiance of Thine.

Shine through me and be so in me that

every soul I come in contact with

may feel Thy presence in my soul.

Let them look up and see no long me

but only… JESUS

  - prayer of Cardinal Newman. 

 

 

Carrying Grace      Say often to others:  "Peace be with you."      

                                                                       

Comments  

#6 Betty Mellon 2010-05-11 17:22
As I read and reflected on this week's scripture passage, I was awestruck by the words, "My peace I give you." The profound words of Jesus touches the depth of my heart particularly with the current ongoing media reports of world situations which are crucial at this time. I am comforted and empowered with the words, "... Jesus is saying no affliction, no loss, no suffering will be able to penetrate or overcome your human heart if I am set there 'like a seal upon your heart.'" I will embrace Jesus within my heart as I tend to even the insignificant tasks of the day amidst all that awaits and extend love to all along the path.
#5 Mark Dickinson 2010-05-10 02:35
An excellent comment, emmanuella .. thank you. One sentence spoke to me deeply ... learning to recognize Jesus [it could be a full article in itself ... maybe Rosemary will cover this area one day]. So often, Jesus speaks to us in the words, actions, love of other peopler. But our sight is limited. We either fail to see or we look the other way. I believe it takes us a lifetime to realize how to recognize Jesus, where to look for Jesus and how to live as Jesus.
May we always learn to see the face of Jesus in the needs and the struggles and the anguish of others. Peace!
#4 arletteh 2010-05-09 17:24
(cont.)The Advocate will remind them of everything that Jesus said and did.They will learn more and more,that they are dwelling in Jesus and the Father,and that Jesus and the Father have made their home in them.The Advocate will call them more and more to "remember":"Pea ce I leave with you.My peace I give to you."It will be an incredible peace, unbelievable for it will overcome all obstacles, pain, terrors,enemies . "Peace be with you!"
#3 arletteh 2010-05-09 17:17
Jesus knows his disciples are in a very vulnerable "place",a "thin" place, a place and time of transition.He is going,under the most difficult of circumstances.H e knows their anxieties, insecurities;th eir lives are changing. Jesus' presence among them is changing.He will be back,as the Advocate,but they will have to learn to recognize him .Jesus gives them peace, but a different kind of peace than the peace that comes from the usual, human,perhaps superficial peace.It will be a peace that,more and more, will rise from within them.The peace Jesus gives will eventually eliminate the troubled heart that is disturbed by the failure of the ego's plans.
#2 Mark Dickinson 2010-05-08 14:33
... the eternity when this being loved and loving in God will burst forth into spontaneous, maximum mutual enjoyment…and even then there will be eternal growth, eternal discovery in the God who is all LOVE."
Peace be with you ... Thanks be to God!
#1 Mark Dickinson 2010-05-08 14:31
Once again, we see in this passage from Scripture ... the deep humanity of Jesus. He knows human suffering .. and, in his compassion as Teacher and Rabbi, he reminds his disciples (and us) that there is a way through, and beyond, suffering. Jesus achieved in his life a true Union with God .. the peace that he experienced, is an everpresent and everlasting peace rooted deeply in the spirit, the sacred essence, of God. Can we know this peace and presence in our own lives as well? ABSOLUTELY! As Rosemary so wonderfully presents, and explains:
"“Where I am you may be also,” and where Christ is, is not some place, it is rather a state of being – a being in the Father, a being in intimate union with the Father. “As Jesus is in the Father, I am now in the Father.” And this union is already begun – it is realized escathon. And still there is a ‘not-yet’, a future escathon .... Already our escathon has begun…within the hearts of each one of us. Our lives are now a prelude to the eternity when this being loved and loving in God will burst forth into spontaneous, maximum mutual enjoyment…and even then there will be eternal growth, eternal discovery in the God who is all LOVE."
Peace be with you .. [and] thanks be to God.

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