Sunday Readings: Acts 8.5-8,14-17; 1 Peter 3.15-18; John 14.15-21
Jesus spoke to his disciples. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”
In Sunday’s gospel Jesus speaks to his disciples’ most primal fear. Call it separation, call it abandonment, call it aloneness. Jesus wants his disciples to know that while death will end his earthly life, it cannot and will not end their relationship.
Thanks to the pervasive power of God’s love, there is nowhere his friends can go where God is not, and nowhere they can go where the Spirit it not, or where Christ is not. The hour of Jesus’ death approaches, but his friends will not be orphans.
In fact, through their relationship with him, they will participate in Jesus’ relationship with God—“I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” His Spirit will abide with them and prompt them to live as Jesus lived, to embody his words and continue his deeds.
When have you experienced that Jesus has not left you orphaned?
Keeping Faith Today 