Remain

“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.
“I have told you this so that
my joy might be in you and

your joy might be complete.” John 15

Early in the Gospel of John the first disciples ask Jesus, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Jesus responds, “Come and you will see.” The disciples follow Jesus and see where he is staying, and they stay with him that day. The disciples, all of us, are invited to stay with Jesus always, in all things.

The key word is the Greek μένω (menó) meaning to stay, abide, remain. This same word recurs here in these latter sections of the Gospel of John, as Jesus tells us, “Remain in my love.” We might translate it: “Stay with me; stay in my love. Let it console you, empower you. Abide in this love, allow it to transform you, so that you love as you have been loved.”

Photo of the Abbey breezeway and cellarer's building by Brother Brian.