“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. John 12
Through his risen, wounded body Jesus draws us into the Trinity
with God with one another. And for days to come we have Mass readings from John's Gospel like the one above. And Jesus goes on to say, “That
the love with which you loved me may be in them
and I in them.” We hear these words, and it seems we lose our bearings.
The language is exquisite but dizzyingly poetic, there is a kind of circularity. And that's the point, we are meant to lose our bearings. Still I want to say to Jesus, “Wait. Could you repeat that? What do you mean?” But it’s just the wrong question. Asking what it means would be beside the point - like standing at the Grand Canyon and saying, “Wait, I don’t get it, what does it mean?” Or asking a person who is doing an unexpected kindness for you, “Hey, what exactly do you mean by that?” Or interrupting someone who’s kissing you very tenderly, “Excuse me, what do you mean?” What Jesus is desperately trying to get across is that we are imbedded in God, as beloved as He is; we are in God; this relationship is ours. We must allow ourselves simply to trust Him and be there.
Photograph by Brother Brian. Meditation by one of the monks.
The language is exquisite but dizzyingly poetic, there is a kind of circularity. And that's the point, we are meant to lose our bearings. Still I want to say to Jesus, “Wait. Could you repeat that? What do you mean?” But it’s just the wrong question. Asking what it means would be beside the point - like standing at the Grand Canyon and saying, “Wait, I don’t get it, what does it mean?” Or asking a person who is doing an unexpected kindness for you, “Hey, what exactly do you mean by that?” Or interrupting someone who’s kissing you very tenderly, “Excuse me, what do you mean?” What Jesus is desperately trying to get across is that we are imbedded in God, as beloved as He is; we are in God; this relationship is ours. We must allow ourselves simply to trust Him and be there.
Photograph by Brother Brian. Meditation by one of the monks.
