St. John’s Gospel begins with a revelation that we are loved beyond our wildest expectations. Now, in today’s Gospel he tells us that loving Jesus in return is the only thing needed to receive and understand what He chooses to reveal. Those who love Him open their hearts, and all of their lives, to another kind of loving – a Sacred Love. This love brings strength instead of power. The Strength that will be needed to walk the pathways of Sacred Love in time.
As Jesus prepares His disciples for His death and departure, He speaks directly to their breaking hearts. There is a secret hidden in the heart of every death. Wherever there is loss there will be a gain! Even more, The Holy Spirit will take up residence in the heart of every disciple and help them to remember and make this teaching their own. You might want to pause here to consider the beauty of this reveal. Like every person who knows they are dying, Jesus wants to leave gifts for those who love Him. But there is no financial legacy in His will. Instead, He bequeaths the spiritual/mental enhancement that the revelation of His dying makes possible.
And so, it is Peace that He wants to leave them. But not just any old peace. He calls it MY Peace. This is very different from the absence of stress, distress and fear. As Saint Paul wrote in his amazing letter to the Church in Rome, it is nothing less than the conviction that nothing can separate us from the Love which is our life. The non-abandoning presence of God is everywhere. On Calvary, the place of total loss, this Sacred Love is revealed as a protecting nearness which will not permit the final destruction of the Beloved.
Someone once said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a war”. Few of us have not witnessed, or heard stories of the trouble caused by the cash inheritance. Inherited money can be dangerous. What was intended to help can cause hurt and division. Perhaps this is why in St. Luke’s Gospel (Lk 12:13-14) Jesus refuses to divide a man from his brother over money. This same theme is repeated again in St. John’s Gospel, where relationships are valued and cherished above all else. This is why Jesus’ bequest to His disciples is something that will not hurt them or tear them apart.
He leaves another gift – one that will be an active energy in keeping them in community. He leaves Peace, the only gift which can guarantee them a future. Peace does not divide people but restores them to one another. If someone has left us the gift of money in their will, we might choose to spend it. Jesus has left us the gift of Peace. This gift cannot be spent. We can only remember it an act on it. Jesus is very clear that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given so that we will not forget, but perhaps even more, to teach us the ways of Peace. We remember and we learn.
I heard a great story once of a man who left his family home in Ireland. He was not the eldest brother and the farm would never be his. So, he went to America to seek his fortune. He worked hard to make a comfortable life for his wife and three children. He wrote to his brother every month ‘with no news from this end’ but always sent a cheque to help his family. His brother Michael wrote back every month ‘with no news from his end’ but never mentioned the cheque.
When Tom reached the age of sixty-five a yearning to visit his home grew stronger in him. He decided to go and take his granddaughter with him. When he arrived back at the family home, there was tension in the air. His brother expected a rich ‘yank’ and he expected to meet a wealthy landowner. In each case, it wasn’t true!
As the evening unfolded the two brothers found themselves alone in front of the big fire. Michael went to the cupboard and pulled out a beautiful homemade crusty loaf. Tom found his duty-free bag and produced a good Irish whiskey. When his granddaughter woke in the morning, she found crumbs on the table and a half empty whiskey bottle. But of Tom and Mick she saw nothing. She went to the back door as the sun climbed into the sky, and in the field, she saw them both, having a smoke and inspecting the earth the way a parent checks a new-born. They had stayed up all night. When they saw her, they waved and walked stride by stride together back to the house. As she waited, she knew that although she had not yet had to stay up all night to beat back the darkness with her love, when the time came, she would be able to do it. She shouted to them, “Wow, you made it all the way to morning!”
Peace. Is St. John right to say it is the only inheritance of any real value?
