“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” (John 14:18) – A personal reflection on our Office reading.

Originally published: April 22, 2025

Today’s Gospel is one of promise spoken in the language of love. Jesus, aware of what lies ahead, assures his disciples that although he is going, he will not leave them abandoned. He offers the presence of the Advocate—the Holy Spirit—to dwell within them, to be their comforter, counselor, and companion through all things.
And so, this Word meets me here,
in the sacred hush between the breath of a father still with us and the whisper of eternity calling his name.

It finds me tending to a mother, whose mind is no longer a place of rest,
whose pain seems beyond my reach to soothe.
It finds me traveling back and forth across bridges, between hospital rooms and memories, between the roles of daughter, priest, caregiver, and child again.
And Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

Not the peace of a world with easy answers,
but the peace that sits beside us in the waiting room, the peace that anoints the forehead of the dying, the peace that pours like oil over the wounds we cannot heal.
Even in the ache, the questions, the helplessness,
Jesus does not leave us orphaned.
He abides.

He sends the Advocate to whisper strength into our weariness,
to remind us that love, 
true, Spirit-filled love
does not vanish in death or confusion or illness.
It remains. 
It transforms. 
It carries us.

This Gospel does not deny sorrow.
It promises companionship within it.

And so I walk this path as slowly and reverently as I can, lighting candles with every act of care, offering prayers between each whispered goodbye,
believing that even now,
especially now,
God is here.