I Will Not Leave You Orphaned

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will 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. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them. John 14: 15-21

These sweet words of Jesus speak directly to our hearts, for he knows our deepest fears, our deepest challenges, our loneliness and our areas of vulnerability.  Through these trying times, these many seasons of our lives, he promises “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you”

What immeasurable love the Father has for us; a love freely given and undeserved.

 Father Richard Rohr, O.F.M. says it perfectly when he says, “God doesn’t love us because we are good, God loves us because God is good.”1  His love is a gift of pure grace poured out and overflowing for all of  us.  And he asks so little of us in return. He just wants us to love him and to share our love for him to a world that neither sees him nor knows him, to a world that has lost its way. 

True love cannot be kept to itself, it must be shared in order to grow. Our love of God must be the same.It must be shared with others, it must shine so brightly that it illuminates the way for others.

Lord, let our love for you burn so brightly that it might lead others to your goodness. Let our voices join in with the Psalmist, inviting others to, “Taste, and see, the goodness of the Lord “(Psalm 34:8). 

"Dear children, the Father has not left you to yourselves. Immeasurable is His love, the love that is bringing me to you, to help you to come to know Him, so that, through my Son, all of you can call Him 'Father' with the fullness of heart; that you can be one people in God's family. However, my children, do not forget that you are not in this world only for yourselves, and that I am not calling you here only for your sake. Those who follow my Son think of the brother in Christ as of their very selves and they do not know selfishness. That is why I desire that you be the light of my Son, that to all those who have not come to know the Father - to all those who wander in the darkness of sin, despair, pain and loneliness - you may illuminate the way and that, with your life, you may show them the love of God. I am with you. If you open your hearts, I will lead you. Again I am calling you: pray for your shepherds. Thank you." BVM, Medjugorge,11/02/2011

1Fr. Richard Rohr