João 14
Bernard of Clairvaux
João 14:9
The bride has no doubt that if he will reveal himself to anybody, it will be to her. Therefore, she dares to ask for this kiss, actually for that Spirit in whom both the Father and the Son will reveal themselves to her. For it is not possible that one of these could be known without the other. That is why Christ said: "To have seen me is to have seen the Father;" and John in his turn: "No one who has the Father can deny the Son, and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well." From these declarations it is clearly evident that the Father cannot be known apart from the Son, nor the Son apart from the Father. — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8
João 14:10
Listen if you will know what the kiss of the mouth is: "The Father and I are one;" and again: "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." This is a kiss from mouth to mouth, beyond the claim of any creature. It is a kiss of love and of peace, but of the love which is beyond all knowledge and that peace which is so much greater than we can understand. The truth is that the things that no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, were revealed to Paul by God through his Spirit, that is, through him who is the kiss of his mouth. That the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son signifies the kiss of the mouth. — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8
João 14:15
But that this rather pertains to actual charity seems to appear most especially from this: that when the Lord had said, "Love your enemies," he at once adds concerning works: "Do good to those who hate you" (Lk 6:27). Likewise Scripture: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink" (Rom 12:20). And here you have what concerns act, not affection. But hear likewise the Lord commanding also concerning love of himself: "If you love me," he says, "keep my words" (Jn 14:15). And here too we are sent to works by the enjoined observance of commandments. But he would have warned about works superfluously, if love had already been in the affection. — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 50
João 14:23
So great is the condescension of the Word, so great the benevolence of the Father of the Word toward a well-disposed and well-ordered soul (which is itself the gift of the Father and the work of the Word), that the soul which they have preceded and prepared for themselves with such a blessing, they deign also to honor with their presence, and in such a way that they not only come to it, but also make their abode with it. For it does not suffice to show themselves, unless they also grant free access to themselves. What is it for the Word to come to a soul? To instruct it in wisdom. What is it for the Father to come? To dispose it to the love of wisdom, so that it can say: "I have become a lover of her beauty." To love is the Father's nature: and therefore the coming of the Father is proved from the love that has been poured in. What would instruction do without love? It would puff up. What would love do without instruction? It would go astray. If I should feel that understanding is being opened to me, so that I understand the Scriptures, or the word of wisdom as it were bubbling up from within, or the light poured in from above revealing mysteries, or indeed a certain most ample bosom of heaven being unfolded to me, and richer showers of meditations flowing in upon my mind from on high: I do not doubt that the Bridegroom is present. For these are the riches of the Word, and from his fullness we receive these things. But if at the same time there shall have poured itself in a certain humble yet rich devotion of intimate sprinkling, so that the love of recognized truth begets in me a certain necessary hatred of vanity and contempt for it, lest perhaps either knowledge puff up, or the frequency of visitations exalt me: then I feel assuredly that I am being dealt with in a fatherly manner, and I do not doubt that the Father is present. But if I shall have persevered in always responding, as far as it is in me, to this condescension with worthy affections and acts, and the grace of God with me shall not have been empty: then both the Father who nourishes and the Word who instructs shall make their abode with me also. — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69
João 14:28
When the disciples were sad at the departure of their Master just before his ascension, after they had heard him talk about this subject, they heard him say: "If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father." How can he say this? Didn't they love him when his departure made them so sad? In a way they loved him, and in another way they did not. Their love was more tender than prudent, it was sensual but not reasonable; they loved with the whole heart but not with the whole soul. What they loved was not for their own welfare, and so he said to them: "It is good for you that I am going," correcting not their feelings but their foresight. — Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20