Remaining in His Love

Visited the Irish Da the other day.  He read from sections of Gospel of John, chapters 13-17.  I took notes.  Excitement increased with each verse, as we made connection with what Jesus is asking of us, bequeathing to us, for us.  As the Da exclaimed, I have read these chapters at least a thousand times in my life [12 years in seminary, 63 years a priest], and I'm just now understanding!  This is IT.

Yes, it is.  He got another translation and read some of the verses.  The words used thus far are remain, dwell and live.  I will check other Bible translations and editions, but we gravitated to Jesus' words: Remain in my love.  There is so much unveiled once we began connecting with the fact that Jesus is explaining how to have union with Him.  The Da kept exclaiming:  This is about UNION in Christ!

Yes, it is.  And more.  Jesus tells who are HIS--those who believe in Him, remain in His love, obey His commands: the Body of Christ.  He does state the condition: if you obey the Father's commands.  What are they?  Love God and love others.  Jesus also says that if you dwell [remain] in me and my word dwells [remains] in you.... He's talking about Himself as the Word, and as the Word of God, the Gospel message.  

He explains how we will have His joy in full measure, those of us who put our faith in Him, remain in His love.  He says that if we love Him we will obey His commands.  The Spirit will be in us and we will see Him, and He is in the Father and the Father in Him, and we in Him and in the Father [the Trinity here!].  He says if we do not remain in Him but are separated, we will have no power to do anything.  

There is much more, but we see the truth of what Jesus is giving us.  The Da illuminated with excitement.  This is so simple!  This is union!  Why haven't I seen it before?  Love is the key--remain in His love.  

So I said yes, it is simple, and maybe the only reason we were meant to meet one another over 15 years ago was for this very moment, to understand that Jesus wants us to remain in His love, and He makes it very possible to do so.  All we must do is desire to remain in His love, and to practice it.  

The Da brought out a clipping, something he read recently but had cut out the title and author.  But whoever it was wrote about the spiritual journey and the need for perseverance...and to aim for holiness.  Yes.  Why not?

 

The Da then exclaimed: God loves us!  He wants us so that He can love us!  He needs to love us!  And He wants our love, too!

Writing about a conversation is bland compared to two people grasping something so luminous and life-altering, yet so simple that even now it pales...other than exuberation in our telling Jesus we want to remain in His love always and that we will jump right in and practice remaining in His love.

This is a critical conversion whether or not we feel anything.  This is faith, to make the leap, begin now in the present moment to remain in His love.  I shared with the Da about the previous four days of daily Mass, and how already my total life, inside and out, was being transformed by grasping and practicing remaining in His love.  

Especially at Mass, I have learned that Jesus wants us to be receptive to His love and remain in His love.  When other thoughts come  to mind, they, too, must either be able to remain in His love or leave the mind.  

But what is more, I discovered that Jesus can and does transfigure  thoughts into His love!  Insights are given when we remain in His love.  The Blessed Virgin Mary remains in His love, and she instructs from within His love.  All of His Body who remain in His love, are with me and me with them, and all with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit when we remain in His love.  

Remaining in His love becomes actualized.  We learn that we may remain in His love in confession, in the Eucharist, in any sacrament, in His Word.  We may remain in His love while sleeping, eating, writing, worshiping, working, driving, praying, playing, conversing. 

I have written to my spiritual director whose divinely simple suggestion six days ago has transformed and transfigured my existence, empowering every present moment to remain in His love.  With each Mass since, the reality that I remain in His love sings silently in my soul.  Remain in My love....  Remain in My love....  Remain in My love.... 

Not only the Da and the Spiritual Director, also "Ruth" who visited from a distance, and now you who may be reading this, know that we must practice remaining in His love.  How?  Simply repeat that we will remain in His love, or even in the stillness of deep within, the words begin to breathe: Remain in My love!  Every now and then stop what we are doing, and say aloud or silently: O Jesus, I remain in Your love!

Two days ago I had an encounter with a holy person who says things that seem insensitive, makes slights, and runs hot or cold, off and on.  I was distressed, and I did not like this. It disrupted the flow of remaining in Christ's love.  

I then cried aloud, Jesus, I am not remaining in Your love!  Help me remain in Your love!  I finally had to lie down and silently ponder:  Remain in My love.  Soon, surprisingly, an insight came.  I am convinced it is from the Virgin Mary who remains eternally in His love.  I was shown that the person cannot help the behavior, does not even see it, but suffers from it all the same.  

There is something within to be healed, and I was given immense understanding and compassion. Faith, hope and love: there may be healing for the person, if I remain in Christ's love.  And can be healing for myself, if I remain in His love.  

So I remain in His love, and the person remains here with me,  as I remain in His love.  In fact, thoughts of any person or situation that previously caused distraction or disruption that now knock at the door of my mind, are brought in to the heart of love, by love, because it is in Jesus' love I remain.

The next effort is to begin finding all verses in which Jesus explains about remaining in His love.  This will help us all immensely.  We can learn these and let Jesus' words remind us, train us, grace us to embrace His desire to unite with each of us.  He is knocking at the door of our hearts, ever whispering, ever wooing the invitation: Remain in My love.