The White House

Longing for the place Jesus has prepared for us

05/17/2019

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." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

I would like to share something very personal and very private with you, a word about where I live, that is, the white house across the street. I live in the White House! Catholics like to call the clergy house a rectory, Protestants prefer parsonage, but you also hear “vicarage,” or “priory,” and even “manse” if you’re in Scotland, meaning mansion. One priest who recently visited the I.C. rectory exclaimed, “Man, you guys live in a palace!” I wondered if his comment said as much about where he lived as where we live. Some of you old-timers will recall that the rectory also housed the church offices. Even today when people make an appointment to come see me, they go to the rectory and wonder, “Where are you, Fr. John?”

As wonderful and comfortable the I.C. rectory is, however, I try not to get too attached to living there. A couple of years ago, I moved into one of the bedrooms upstairs, and left the larger downstairs bedroom for guests. That room was originally the pastor’s quarters. That bedroom has a living room with a fireplace, a separate bedroom, and a shower so spacious you can walk around in it. I feel those quarters are more fitting for guests, like when the bishop stays overnight. Priests are also transferred frequently, so getting attached to our rectory can be an occupational hazard. We have to move out of the palace eventually. School children also remind us not to revel in our rectories. One student saw me coming out of the sacristy before Mass, and then going back in after Mass. He asked very curious: “Do you have a bed in there?” If we did, maybe Fr. Stephen wouldn’t be late for Mass. The parishioners of I.C. church have made the rectory extremely comfortable for us clergy, but we know one day we will leave this luxurious home. For me, hopefully that will be feet first.

In John 14, Jesus shares a personal word about where he lives, a passage often quoted in funerals. He says: “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?” Notice Jesus says two things. First, his home in heaven will truly be a “palace,” a manse like in Scotland, with many rooms, and maybe each one with its own fireplace and a shower you could walk around in. But secondly, Jesus also adds he is preparing a place for us. In other words, we, too – clergy as well as Christians – should not get too attached to our earthly homes. In Matthew 8:20, a scribe runs up to Jesus and promises to follow him anywhere. Our Lord replied: “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” That is, if you want to follow me, don’t expect to live in an earthly palace, but hope rather for a heavenly one.

My friends, how attached are you to your earthly home? My parents love their home in Little Rock, and never want to leave it. They worked very hard and paid off their mortgage. They know where every little item is in their home, and the house feels like an extension of their bodies. It would be traumatic for them to leave one day. But they will leave. Msgr. John O’Donnell’s one wish was to return to St. John’s Manor, the residence in Little Rock for retired priests. But because St. John’s did not have twenty-four hour nursing care that he required, he had to stay at Parkway Village. John O’Donnell wanted to go back to St. John’s Manor, but Jesus had prepared a much better manor for him in heaven. Most of our lives we spend building an earthly home to raise our children and hand on as our heritage. The American dream is to own your own home and be the master of your own mansion, with a fireplace in every room and a shower you can dance around in. But sooner or later, we will leave that home.

In the story of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was given ruby slippers that she could click three times and return home. She repeated the words: “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” When we repeat those words, what “home” do we mean? Some school children think by “home” I mean the church sacristy.

Praised be Jesus Christ!