God dwells in a garden, on a mountain, in a tent of meeting, in a Holy Temple, through the Incarnation - in the flesh of his Son, and finally he has taken up his dwelling place in the hearts of believers, those who keep his commandments of love. John tells us in his letter to the Church, “Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.” (1Jn 4,15f) Even though in difficult times, in the time of our suffering, we may experience the absence of God, he is never far from us. He is always with us and within us, dwelling in our hearts as love.
From the beginning, God has created us to be his dwelling place. In creation, God formed the human person from the clay of the earth and breathed his Spirit of life into him. God wanted to dwell at the very center of our human being. He created us for union with him. He gave us a Law so that we might be holy as he is holy and he promises to write that law upon our hearts. When we turn away from him, he goes to great lengths to restore us again to his presence and through the prophets he speaks to our hearts. When our hearts are closed and become as stone, God promises to give us a new heart that can contain his merciful and loving presence. In prayer, God wants us to raise our minds and our hearts to heaven and he wants our hearts to find our true treasure there. St. Paul reminds us in Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you…for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” (1Cor 3,16f)
The prayer of Jesus to the Father at the Last Supper, the first Eucharist, is for our oneness with the Father. Jesus implores the Father in prayer: “And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world…I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” (Jn 17,22-26)
In the gospel of John, Jesus gives his apostles a beautiful promise to which they can look forward. He tells them: “I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.” (Jn 14,18ff) This is a beautiful mystery of indwelling that Jesus reveals to his disciples. The Father is always with the Son, dwelling within him, and he can do nothing without the Father’s help. Every word that he says, every work that he accomplishes is actually the Father at work in him. Jesus is never alone for the Father is always with him. Earlier, Jesus reveals to his disciples: “The Father and I are one.” (Jn 10,30) This mystery of the indwelling presence of God is a gift that Jesus offers to share with those who believe in him and who follow in the way of his commandments of love.
The indwelling of God is a supernatural gift that is given to believers in baptism through sanctifying grace. God wants all of his children to have a share in his divine and supernatural life. The life that he gives to us is not just a natural life of abundance on this earth but it is an eternal life that begins in us and prepares for us an eternal life of glory with God forever in heaven. Jesus has promised that he will come to us and that through his Holy Spirit he will dwell always within us as our Advocate with the Father. Jesus says to his apostles: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you.” (Jn 14,16f) Jesus not only will come to us but he also wants to stay with us and to be with us and in us always. When Jesus comes to be with us, he comes to stay. He is not just passing by and making a visit. Sanctifying grace is an habitual grace that persists within us and aids us in our striving to be holy and to live in union with God. It is the gift of the Spirit that is again breathed into us so that we might live in the newness of life. “My being thirsts for God, the living God.”
St. Peter is his letter to the Church exhorts us: “Beloved: Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear.” (1Pt 3,15f) The reason for our hope is that Jesus Christ dwells within us, in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit of Love and Truth and he is with us always as he promised. The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. He orders our interior life to cooperate with God’s graces and be sanctified. With the Lord dwelling in our hearts we do not need to fear the virus of sin. Death will not touch us for the gift and grace of God is eternal life in his glorious presence.
Perhaps we have not taken seriously or have been unaware of this great mystery of faith and life that is the indwelling of God. We really do “look for love in all the wrong places.” As the psalmist said, the world will daily ask us that question, “Where is your God?” We have to be able to respond with the certainty of faith that God is with us, dwelling in our hearts. We need to draw upon that divine power within and pray for one another and love one another as Jesus has loved us. Every morning we need to enter into our hearts and find God waiting there for us, to bless us, strengthen us and sanctify us in his love and presence. We need to affirm in faith each day: “God you are with me, you are within me and you are working through me. Take all that I have and all that I am and conform it to your divine and holy will that I may always be united to you in love.” Amen!