The Heart God Calls Home

 

Readings 021026  

There is a truth running quietly through Scripture today—
a truth as old as Solomon’s temple
and as new as the breath you’re taking right now.

God does not seek a building.
God seeks a heart.

Solomon knew it.
He stood before the altar, hands lifted to heaven,
and dared to ask the question every believer eventually asks:
“Can it be that God dwells on earth?”
The heavens cannot contain Him—
yet He chooses to draw near.
Not because the temple is impressive,
but because the people are beloved.

And as the story unfolds,
Jesus steps into the scene
and makes the truth unmistakable:
God’s dwelling is not in the ritual,
but in the heart turned toward Him.

The Pharisees had clean hands but cluttered hearts.
They honored God with their lips
but kept Him at a distance inside.
Jesus wasn’t rejecting tradition—
He was rescuing it.
He was reminding them, and us,
that God is not moved by the shine of our actions
if our hearts remain untouched.

And this is where the message lands in our lives.
We abandon prayer when life gets hard.
We pull away from church
when the results aren’t quick or clear.
We drift toward whatever is easier, louder, faster—
whatever promises comfort without conversion.

But God does not dwell in the quick fix.
God dwells in the heart that stays.
The heart that listens.
The heart that bends.
The heart that keeps showing up
even when the feelings fade
and the answers are slow.

Holiness isn’t about performing perfectly.
It’s about returning faithfully.

God is not waiting for a flawless temple.
He is waiting for an honest heart—
a heart that says,
“Lord, I am here.
I am listening.
I am yours.”

Because the most beautiful dwelling place God desires
is not made of stone or gold—
it is made of you.

Prayer

Lord, make my heart Your home.
Clear what keeps me distant from You.
Teach me to stay when life grows heavy
and to listen when Your voice is soft.
Turn my wandering back to Your mercy
and steady me when I drift toward easier paths.
I offer not perfection, but a willing heart.
Be in me, dwell in me, and make me Yours.

Amen

When God Stands Right in Front of Us

Readings 020926 

God desires to dwell with His people—
and He does.
Not far away.
Not hidden.
In Jesus Christ, God draws near.
God chooses to be with us.

I learned that again this week.

After the storm, I went to check on my investment property.
Ice had taken down limbs everywhere—so many that I needed a chainsaw just to reach the door.
Somewhere in all that cutting and dragging,
my glasses slipped off my head.
Gone.

I looked and looked.
I came back the next day.
And the next.
My wife came twice.
We retraced every step, every cut, every pile of limbs.
Still nothing.

Sunday, after bringing the Blessed Sacrament to the Veterans Home,
we stopped by one last time.
Standing where we had stood so many days before, I finally said,
“We’re just not going to find them.
Tomorrow I’ll get a new pair.”

We turned toward the truck—
and before I could take a step,
there they were.
My glasses.
Right in front of me,
as if a light had been shining on them the whole time.

And I thought:
isn’t that how it is with God?

In the Gospel, when Jesus steps off the boat at Gennesaret,
the people recognize Him immediately.
They run to Him.
They bring the sick.
They reach for even the tassel of His cloak.
And all who touched Him were healed.

They saw Him.
They knew He was near.

But so often, I search everywhere
except the place He actually is.
Yet still—He stands right in front of me,
waiting for the moment my eyes finally open.

God is not distant.
God is here.
And when we turn, even slightly,
He lets Himself be found.

Prayer

Lord, You dwell so near,
closer than the storms that scatter our days.
Open my eyes to the places I overlook You,
the moments where grace stands right in front of me.

When I search in all the wrong places,
shine Your quiet light upon the way.
Heal what is hidden, steady what is shaken,
and draw me close enough to touch the hem of Your mercy.

Let me recognize You, Lord—
and be found by You again.

Amen