Homily on John 14:21-26: We will come to him and make our home with him.
Praise Be to Jesus Christ
There’s a little story that always stays with me. A poor village woman lived in a house that looked more like a cowshed. The roof leaked when it rained, the walls were crumbling, and the windows barely closed. One day, without warning, someone came to visit her. However, she did not know the person well. Embarrassed, she began to apologize: “Please excuse me… this house is not worthy of someone like you.” But the person simply smiled and said gently, “I did not come for your walls but for your heart.”
That, my dear brothers and sisters, is exactly what Jesus is telling us today in the Gospel: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Not a visit, not a short stop but a home. Jesus wants to stay with us, not just pass by. He wants to live in us. But the question is: do we let Him?
Sometimes we keep Him at the gate. We light a candle outside and say, “You stay there, Lord. This is enough.” Some allow Him into the front room, for Sunday morning prayers, maybe a rosary here and there but not into the kitchen, not into the bedroom, not into the messy parts of our lives. Others, let’s be honest, have locked the door from inside: no entry. And yet, the Lord doesn’t give up.
He says, “If you love me, keep my word,” that is the key. Loving Him does not mean loud prayers or big shows. It’s simple; it is about keeping His word, trying to live it in our own small way. I once heard about a holy woman. She did not preach or write books. She just lived her faith. People who met her said they felt peace. It was because she lived a life pleasing God obeying His words and God had made His home in her. Her face was calm and her voice was soft. Her hands were always ready to help. She did not speak about Jesus all the time but she carried Him in her heart.
When Moses spent time with God on the mountain, his face became so bright and people could not even look at him. That is what happens when someone gives space for God to live in them. If we want Jesus to live in our hearts, we have to clean it up a bit. A house with full of anger, gossip, jealousy and dirty thoughts may not be a place where God will feel at home.
Dear friends, do not wait for your life to be perfect before you invite Jesus in. That day may never come. Even that poor woman with the broken house had something more important than walls, she had a heart ready to welcome. That is all Jesus is looking for.
So let us open our hearts. Not just a part, but the whole house, even the corners we hide. It is because the Lord does not come to judge, but to stay.
Jesus, I open the door for you, come and stay with me O! Lord and never leave. Amen
