St. John's Gospel begins with a revelation that we are loved beyond our wildest expectations. Now, in today's Gospel he  tells  us  that  loving  Jesus  in  return  is  the  only  thing  needed  to  receive  and  understand  what  He  chooses  to reveal.  Those who love Him open their hearts, and all of their lives, to another kind of loving - a Sacred Love.  This love brings strength instead of power. The  Strength that will be needed to walk the pathways of Sacred Love in time.   
 
As Jesus prepares His disciples for His death and departure, He speaks directly to their breaking hearts. There is a
secret hidden in the heart of every death. Wherever there is loss there will be a gain! Even more, The Holy Spirit will take up residence in the heart of every disciple and help them to remember and make this teaching their own.  You might want to pause here to consider the beauty of this reveal.
 
Like every person who knows they are dying, Jesus wants to leave gifts for those who love Him.  But there is no
financial legacy in His will.  Instead He bequeaths the spiritual/mental enhancement that the revelation of His dying makes  possible.   And  so,  it  is  Peace  that  He  wants  to  leave  them.   But  not  just  any  old  peace.   He  calls  it  MY Peace.  This is very different from the absence of stress, distress and fear.  As Saint Paul wrote in his amazing letter to the Church in Rome, it is nothing less than the conviction that nothing can separate us from the Love which is our life.  The non-abandoning presence of God is everywhere.  On Calvary, the place of total loss, this Sacred Love is revealed as a protecting nearness which will not permit the final destruction of the Beloved.
 
Someone once said, "Where there's a will, there's a war".  Few of us have not witnessed, or heard stories of the trouble caused by the cash inheritance.  Inherited money can be dangerous.  What was intended to help can cause hurt and division.  Perhaps this is why in St. Luke's Gospel (Lk 12:13-14) Jesus refuses to divide a man from his brother over money.  This same theme is repeated again in St. John's Gospel, where relationships are valued  and  cherished  above  all  else.   This  is  why  Jesus'  bequest  to  His  disciples  is something that will not hurt them or tear them apart.  He leaves another gift - one that will be an active energy in keeping them in community.  He leaves Peace, the only gift which can guarantee them a future.  Peace does not divide people but restores them to one another.
 
If  someone  has  left  us  the  gift  of  money  in  their  will,  we  might  choose  to  spend  it.   Jesus  has  left  us  the  gift  of Peace.  This gift cannot be spent.  We can only remember it an act on it.  Jesus is very clear that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given so that we will not forget, but perhaps even more to teach us the ways of Peace.  We remember and we learn.
 
I heard a great story once of a man who left his family home in Ireland.  He was not the eldest brother and the farm
would never be his.  So, he went to America to seek his fortune.  He worked hard to make a comfortable life for his wife and three children.  He wrote to his brother every month 'with no news from this end' but always sent a cheque to help his family.  His brother Michael wrote back every month 'with no news from his end' but never mentioned the cheque.   When Tom reached the age of sixty-five a yearning to visit his home grew stronger in him.  He decided to go and take his granddaughter with him.  When he arrived back at the family home, there was tension in the air.  His brother expected a rich 'yank' and he expected to meet a wealthy landowner.  In each case, it wasn't true!
 
As the evening unfolded the two brothers found themselves alone in front of the big fire.  Michael went to the cupboard and  pulled  out  a  beautiful  homemade  crusty  loaf.   Tom  found  his  duty-free  bag  and  produced  a  good  Irish whiskey.  When his granddaughter woke in the morning, she found crumbs on the table and a half empty whiskey bottle.  But of Tom and Mick she saw nothing.  She went to the bank door as the sun climbed into the sky and in the field, she saw them both, having a smoke and inspecting the earth the way a parent checks a new-born.  They had stayed up all night.  When they saw her, the waved and walked stride by stride together back to the house.  As she waited, she knew that although she had not yet had to stay up all night to beat back the darkness with her love, when the time came, she would be able to do it.  She shouted to them, "Wow, you made it all the way to morning!"
 
Peace.  Is St. John right to say it is the only inheritance if any real value?

As Judas leaves to set in motion the events that will lead to the death of Jesus, there is no attempt to stop him.  Instead, he is invited to act with haste.  It is clear that Jesus understands His death as central to the purposes of God.  Jesus is so completely at one with this purpose than the departure of Judas is like an overture to His exclamation.
 
It is clear, step one, that Jesus sees His death as a glorification and as a revelation of what divine love will do to save those who are lost.  This revelation retells the truth about who Jesus really is: the One who is lifted up for all to see and who draws all people to Himself.  In this one action he will reveal the truth about God, as a self-giving flow of life and of love to his children in their most frightening moment - the moment of their death.  The twofold revelation of the Son of Man and of His Father strengthen each other.  Their unity expressed and celebrated as mutual glorification.  
 
It is also clear that the death of Jesus will change the bonds of Love which have grown between Him and His disciples.  But it isn't simply that it is His time and not theirs.  Rather, He is moving ahead of them, pioneering the way.  This is why St. Paul refers to Him as first-born from the dead. (Col.1:18-19)
 
Finally, Jesus sees His dying as the supreme expression of the Love He has been talking about from the beginning. As He lays down His life for His sheep (Jn.10:15) He creates a new Commandment.  The world of His disciples is rocked when they are lifted far outside their human inability to love God and their neighbour, into a first love that flows through the person of Jesus.  The new Commandment is an invitation to recognise and remember the Son of Man who joins us in our deepest fears and sustains us in our greatest losses.
 
This new beginning - God loving us without regret, without end and to breaking point - requires a huge shift in the imagination of every disciple.  Consider this insight from James Mackey,
 
"I simply will not feel my own life, my own self, as grace of gift of God, unless someone values me ... I may see, at first blush, this stands the whole logic of the reign of God on its head... The logic should surely read: first feel all life land existence as grace, and then feel inspired to be gracious to others. Not, first feel the grace of some human presence,
feel forgiven, accepted, served then begin to feel all life and existence as grace, and feel inspired to be gracious to others.  But it is really a universal human idiosyncrasy that is operative here, not a matter of logic... Most of us can only sense ourselves and our world valued and cherished by God when we feel valued and cherished by others".
(Jesus: The Man and the Myth [Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1970]170)
 
In  other  words,  we  come  to  know  and  love  Sacredness  through  our  humanity.   This  is  the  colossal  insight  of  the  New Commandment.  If disciples can keep faith with the memory of what Jesus has done.  If they can aspire to uphold and live a kind of loving that springs from the heart of God's Heart, the presence of Jesus will be eternally available to them.  And when other people witness and experience the disciples of Jesus upholding the primacy of Sacred Love in all things, they will be drawn to the well from which it springs.  Love will be the tip off that we are disciples of Jesus.
 
I imagine that every home is filled with loves reminders.  There might be photographs of people we have loved and lost.  There may be other objects which, worth next to nothing should they be presented at the antiques road show, hold immeasurable richness of the Love that we have grown and shared with others.  Some of us may even have a crucifix to remind us of the gift of that 'first love' which flows through Jesus.  Most of the time we may take their presence for granted.  But every now and again they call to us to pause and remember moments of joy and laughter or moments of prayer.
 
But the cross of Jesus should be a unique and priceless treasure in every disciples home.  We belong to a community and to a tradition which has carried the memory of Jesus through time and space so that we can touch it and make it our own.  This is the legacy of people who tried their best to live in the Love that does not fail.  When they stumbled and fell, they found their way to forgiveness and started again.  The community to which I belong has bridged the centuries from the time of Jesus so that He can speak to my own heart.
 
We have this gift and we also have the gift of Sacred Scripture.  Both are needed if we are to remember the love of Jesus and His Commandment that we should uphold the primacy of Love in all things and bring Love to bear on every violation of Love which we meet along the way.  Whenever two or three people are gathered by this truth, an indestructible community is formed.  We call this 'the church'.  But what I am beginning to see more clearly is this. Remembering the love of Jesus so that we can love one another takes a home and a heart big enough to hold the photographs of cherished family, friends and even pets, and allowing them to stand side by side with the cross

The Beloved Son of God is in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple.  This Temple, planned by King David and built by his son Solomon,  had seen many changes and additions over the years.  But it was only after the Syrians had built an altar to Zeus over the altar of holocausts, and offered Sacrifices to Zeus, that this feast day was set. Their 'desolating sacrilege' triggered the successful revolt led by Judas Maccabee, after which the Temple was rebuilt and re-dedicated to God.
 
It is the right setting and the right Feast for Jesus.  The new Temple is walking in the old Temple - in the portico of Solomon, on a feast of spiritual renewal.  The replacement has arrived. How will He be received?
 
Well, because of what happened on His previous visit with the money changers, Jesus is encircled by a nervous crowd.  They know that the Messiah has the right to restore and rebuild the Temple.  But Jesus does not seem to have the right credentials.  He is confusing them and they want plain talking. But when Jesus tries to illumine their minds the don't get it. And, as far as they are concerned, He is the problem. He will not play the game by their rules.  He will not give a direct answer to their questions.
 
On the other hand, Jesus thinks they are the problem.  He has spoken plainly about who He is and why He has come.  But they will not believe Him.  They are unable to hear the Word or read his actions as revelation.
 
But there are those who do hear his voice and understand that He is God's revelation of all that is Sacred.  To 'hear' Jesus voice means much more than attending  to  the  words  He  speaks.   The  hearer  must  have  the  wisdom  to discern who the speaker is.  Jesus invites insight into His identity with every word and action.  When His 'sheep' hear his voice they begin to see His unique relationship with God and they begin to speak of Him as Messiah, Son of God etc.
 
To  hear  Jesus  voice  is  to  share  his  consciousness.   Now  they  know  themselves  as  Jesus  knows them.  Believing in Jesus' name means they can now believe in their own.(Jn 1:12-13). Knowing who Jesus is means that I now know who I am - a beloved daughter or son of God.  His identity and our identity are interwoven eternally.  The revelation of who Jesus is, and who we are, will continue in ways we do not yet understand.  But one taste is enough to know that more is to come.  From Him we receive eternal life, death can never destroy us and those who seek to snatch us out of Jesus' hand are thwarted.
 
They wanted plain talking and they got it, but they cannot accept it.  If we discern that Jesus is the very presence of God and know that we are children of God who are safe because of the eternal life He pours into us, we will not be surprised when He declares "The Father and I are One."  This declaration strengthens us to find our own voice.  When we start out we may be unsure.  But as our trust in Him grows, the miracles happen.
 
Here is a wonderful story from Jewish spirituality which is worth reflection.
 
When Rabbi Zusya grew old and knew that his time on earth was nearing a close, his students gathered around him. One of them asked him if he was afraid of dying.
'I am afraid of what God will ask me', the Rabbi said.
"What will he ask you?"
'He will not ask me, Zusya, why were you not like Moses? He will ask me , Zusya, why were you not Zusya?'

Jesus has returned to the Sea of Galilee, where He had made miracles with loaves and fishes.  Now He is about to do the same, only this time, His disciples will fully understand what is being revealed.  He has been shaping them over time, to be the kind of disciples who catch people.  But the 'catch' live in the depths which, so far, they have not been able to see. Drawing fish from these depths, suggests a new awareness has arrived, and with it, a new day and the new dawn.
 
The focus in today's Gospel is St. Peter.  His horror at the idea that Jesus should wash his feet (Jn.13:1-38) his triple denial (Jn.13:36) and bitter tears, reveal a man who wants to be close to Jesus but does not yet understand  Him.   The  ability  to  follow  Jesus  depends  entirely  on  receiving  and  understanding  the  foot washing.  Peter has to plug his beautiful ego into something even more beautiful.  It is not his calling to lay down his life to save Jesus, but to be receptive to the gift, and draw strength from the source of all life. (Jn.1:3). And Jesus trusts that Peter will find the way.  There is an 'afterwards' that Jesus is looking forward to - a Morning of enlightenment where Peter will see that his unplugged ego will not bring him to the place where he will understand and follow. Only after the dark night of emptiness has run its course  will Peter find Jesus waiting on the other shore, offering the Kingdom of God for breakfast.
 
The Risen Jesus does what the earthly Jesus does.  He invites His disciples to sit and eat a 'breakfast' - symbol of this new dawn.  Whatever is on the menu, it is Jesus Himself who is the nourishment.  Disciples must eat and ingest the Love that holds out the bread and the fish.  This is the third appearance of the Risen One.  As such, it marks an end to one thing and the beginning of another.  In this new era, whenever Jesus' disciples gather for a community meal they will feed on a Love which will fill their famished souls.  And now that Peter has allowed Jesus to feed him, he understands and knows what he must do.  Peter will say to the One who knows all things, "You know that I love you". Only now that he has made the connection does he have the strength to feed Jesus disciples and to give his life for them.  Peter's following will be faithful and complete to the end. (Jn.13.1)
 
The  Gospel  story  ends  with  the  instruction  'Follow Me'.  Disciples  will only catch fish when the have made the journey from the charcoal fire of the night, where ego can only deny  and  betray  the  truth,  to  the  charcoal  fire  of  the  new dawn.  Only those who allow Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, to  teach  and  feed  them  will  be  effective  in  making  new disciples of the Kingdom.  It depends totally on the conversion which constantly seeks to mirror that teaching and actions of the Christ.
 
Margaret Wheatley offers this Sacred model for modern times:
 
"Many writers have offered new images of effective leaders.  Each of them is trying to co-create imagery for the  new  relationships  that  are  required,  the  new  sensitivities  needed  to  honour  and  elicit  worker contributions.  Here is a very partial list of the new metaphors to describe leaders: gardeners, midwives, stewards, servants, missionaries, facilitators, conveners.  Although each takes a slightly different approach, they all name a new position for leaders, a stance that relies on new relationships with their network of employees, stakeholders and communities.  No one can hope to lead any organisation by standing outside or ignoring the web of relationships through which all the work is accomplished.  Leaders are being called to step forward as helpmates, supported by our willingness to have them lead us.  Is this a fad? Or is it the web of life insisting that leadership join in with appropriate humility".
 
(Leadership  and  the  New  Science:Discovering  Order  in  a  Chaotic  World  [San  Francisco:Berrett-Koehler
Publishers,1999]165)