Where do I feel most at home?

In an age where it is possible to travel to another country in under a day and where our communication with the world allows us to be instantly present to what is happening on the other side of the world, we often wonder where am I most at home? This ability to access the lives of many different people broadens our minds but does it enlarge our hearts? There can often be paradoxes which seem to confront us: we can travel to many parts of the world while at the same time making it more difficult for people from other countries to make a home with us. There is a feeling of connection and alienation which confuses us where we want to be hospitable but also we don't want to be taken advantage of. When we put out the welcome mat do we actually mean it?

This is the story which stays with us when we listen to the Gospel passage this weekend. When we hear the passage about Jesus asking us to make our home in Him. This can catch us unawares and we can give a theoretical response where we say both yes and no. We have a deep desire to allow Him to be at home with Him and for Him to be at home with us. Yet at the same time, we can develop a sense of resistance bred out of fear and ambiguity where we somehow doubt to take him on His Word.  How can he bring about a peace the world cannot give and how do we allow His life to become our own? We want to surrender everything and hold on to everything at the same time. We want Him to be the tenant but not the landlord!

This is the mystery of the Easter journey where he seeks to take up residence not by force but by desire. He wants us to discover how much value our lives have so that we can value the relationship that He has with God. When we discover this gift of life opened up for us we start to acknowledge that this homecoming allows us to surrender our lives to Him and receive our lives back for the good of the place where we live. We start to discover that our minds can be broadened and our hearts enlarged in our own space and time. We discover that our relationships make a difference and allow us to sit with the contradictions we find within us. By being at home with Christ we discover that God does not treat us like a doormat where he wipes His feet on our welcome sign and takes possession but rather allows us to discover how he deeply respects every human person and the whole of creation. He builds the kingdom by offering everything of Himself to us so that we can do the same in return. He desires to make His home in us but do we desire to make our home in Him?