Jesus on the Nest

Learning to build the heavenly homestead

John 14:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.”

            One of my favorite lines from a movie is also a very peculiar one that contains a powerful lesson. Have you seen the Christmas classic called, “It’s a Wonderful Life”? Toward the beginning of the movie, George and Mary Bailey are recently married. George comes home from a long day at the building and loan and collapses in bed with Mary. George asks her: “Why did you ever marry a guy like me?” Mary casually answers, “Because I want my baby to look like you.” And it takes George a moment to catch on – he’s kind of slow like most men – that she’s pregnant, and he stutteringly says, “Mary, are you on the nest??” That phrase, “Are you on the nest” was an arcane way to refer to pregnancy, but it also reveals the first instinct of all parents, namely, to “build a nest,” to provide and protect, to nourish and nurture your children. By the way, this is why women love to shop for things for the home, and why men love to hunt for deer and ducks. Pregnancy puts both a man and a woman, each in their own way, “on the nest.”

          In the gospel today we see that Jesus is not immune from this instinct either. Therefore, our Lord says, “I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that were I am you also may be.” In other words, Jesus is “on the nest.” In another place Jesus makes this more explicit, saying, “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wing, and you were not willing (Mt. 23:37). You see, Jesus takes a natural instinct and raises it to a noble Christian virtue. Being “on the nest” is not just what birds and Baileys do, it’s also what God does.

          My friends, let me invite you to think again about this notion of being “on the nest.” But today, instead of building a bigger house, or bagging bigger game, think about “the nest” you’re preparing in heaven. And the best way to build that heavenly nest is to care for the poor. When we help earthquake victims in Ecuador, when we drop a dollar in the poor box, when we pray for the success of the Hope Campus for the Homeless, we are “on the nest” constructing our heavenly homestead. In other words, we need to elevate our natural instinct and raise it all the way to heaven, so it becomes a noble Christian virtue.

          The final blessing at a wedding Mass contains this reminder for the newlyweds: “May you be witnesses in the world to God’s charity, so that the afflicted and the needy who have known your kindness may one day receive you thankfully into the eternal dwelling of God.” That is, the best way to be “on the nest” is to take care of the poor. We should be able to ask every Christian like George Bailey asked Mary: “Are you on the nest??”

          Praised be Jesus Christ!