
DWELLING PLACES
May 10, 2020: A Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year A
John 14:1-12
DWELLING PLACES
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. (Jn 14:1-2)
Jesus, how comforting it is to hear you remind us time after time: do not be afraid, do not live in fear, little flock, fear not. And today you remind us again to rest our concerns and fears in your heart. You even reveal how we may do this: believe in me as you believe in the Father. Believe in God, believe also in me. Our very being is your dwelling place. You have made us creatures of the earth who bear infinity within. To believe in you is to yield our inmost depths to you, the Way. You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you, says Augustine. What is this rest? It is the rest of trust, of faith, of letting go into you. To believe in you is so much more than an intellectual assent. It is the way of yielding to you, which we could call belief, as we journey through each day. We learn the truth of your presence in all things and we find life through the Spirit who transforms us into your care, your love, your service of every person and all that exists. We are given only little ways, but they are anything but small when filled with love.
We who long for you to show us the Father, see him gazing back at us in another person. Your incarnation, Jesus, has sanctified creation and made it your dwelling. We see your face, the face of the Father, in the sister with whom we live, in the myriad ways you transform us into channels of your mercy and forgiveness, peace and care. We long for the dwelling place you are preparing for us, the space special to each one. Jesus, show us the Father. Help us to let go into the transformation that you are preparing for us. The dwelling place upon whose door you knock and enter to eat the bread of union.
Jesus may the Father who dwells in you do his works in us also. Take us with you as each day you return to the Father through us and in us to the dwelling place you prepare from the moments of our lives and which your mercy transforms into glory.