We shall make our home with him

Last weekend, I experienced a deep sense of community with fellow deacons at our spiritual retreat. We housed together and broke bread at table at the retreat house, overlooking the ocean. We listened attentively to the facilitator and shared vulnerably on the questions presented.

We were told that there is a profound difference between a community and a team. A team comes together to accomplish a task while a community comes together for relationship. A community such as ours come together for a relationship with God and each other.

This sense of community is succinctly captured in the words of this week’s Gospel John 14: 23-29 ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.’

This Gospel promise came alive for us during the retreat, as we experienced what it means for God to make His home among us. In our conversations, moments of silent prayer, and even the laughter shared over meals, we felt the presence of the Spirit binding us together—not as a group fulfilling roles, but as brothers dwelling in communion.

The retreat reminded me that our diaconal service must flow from this rootedness in relationship: with Christ, with one another, and with those we are called to serve. It is in this sacred space of mutual love and listening that God builds His dwelling—quietly, deeply, and enduringly.

But our community is not an end in itself; rather, it is a beginning—a source of strength and purpose that calls us to mission. Just as we were nourished and renewed by our time together, we are now sent forth to build and nurture other communities rooted in love, prayer, and service.

I believe we are all called into community with God and each other. Our biological family is called to be a community. One in which we share on sacred scripture and seek intimacy. It requires patience, vulnerability, forgiveness, and self-giving love with each other. It challenges us to listen with open hearts, to speak with honesty and kindness, and to remain present even when it is uncomfortable or inconvenient.

It is through these efforts that we are shaped and formed into the Body of Christ. In community, we come to know God more deeply, ourselves and our mission, as we allow God to make His home with us.