We all have heard of the saying that “there is no place like home”. Most of us have experienced being away from home on varying occasions, for different reasons. It could be a weekend vacation for a domestic tourist. A three-year service contract for an OFW. Or simply just a long day in school or at work. Regardless of where we are or how long we need to stay where we are, there is often an inevitable feeling of wanting to go back home.

Imagine yourself enjoying the most expensive and luxurious place in the whole world. The richness of such experience could entrap you to hold on to it for as long as you can but sooner or later, you can bet that you will surely miss home. It is no different for the poor man on the street who lives in a dilapidated shanty with hardly anything comfortable in it. At the end of the day, that is where he feels the warmth of home.

Beyond the literal sense of a physical home with its four walls and corners. there is an even better “home” which is unlike any other place we have been to. Unfortunately, it is a place which a lot of people may not yet have visited, much less discovered because they are constantly seeking, wandering, and searching outside themselves for things that they can literally see, touch, and experience.

Our real home is where our heart is, and our real heart is where we invite the Lord to dwell in. Sometimes, we are quick to forget that “For your heart will always be where your riches are. (Matthew 6:21)” . Our enormous desire for material things that are here today and gone tomorrow often distracts us from the overflowing richness of God’s grace and mercy for those who sincerely love him. It does not take an extraordinary genius to know that our real home and lasting treasure is with God, now, in this present moment of our life. We need not wait to return to Him at the end of our life because He is already with us today. In Him we find a sanctuary of peace amidst the chaos and worries of life. He is our refuge on stormy days, a safe haven where we will never be judged or condemned. He is our shelter where we can find comfort and rest for our weary spirit and broken body. This message is beautifully expressed in one of St. Augustine’s greatest spiritual confessions, “Our heart is restless until it rests in you.”