One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.
A common conversation starter is the question, “What is your favorite movie?” Lots of films run through my head when that question is posed to me. One answer that I often give is not necessarily an obvious or even well-known one. I regard “City Slickers,” a film starring Billy Crystal and the late Jack Palance, as a favorite because when it was released in June of 1991, I was in a transitional moment in my life. I had graduated college a year earlier and was about to enter the Seminary, and the movie articulated an essential question for me.
In the film, an unhappy city dweller named Mitch had reached middle age and felt something was absent in his life. As a result, he and his friends decide to go on a real cattle drive in a search for what was missing. On the cattle drive, Mitch encounters Curly, a real life, crusty old cowboy. Knowing of Mitch’s search for meaning, Curly gives the following advice:
Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is? [holds up one finger] This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that, and the rest don’t mean anything.
Mitch: But what is the “one thing?”
Curly: [smiles] That’s what you have to find out.
I won’t go any further in telling the story of the movie. I encourage you to watch it yourself. This dialogue between Curly and Mitch is what makes the film a favorite.
What is the one thing that makes you happy? In our Christian context, happiness is not a feeling but an experience. It is the experience of being immersed in God. When Jesus offers the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, he is offering a path to happiness. The Beatitudes teach that the Christian life is about detaching oneself from sin, seeking the good and, as much as possible in this life, immersing oneself in the Kingdom of God.
And so, the psalmist speaks for us today. “ONE THING I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” When I was ordained a priest, I chose these words for the prayer card that I distributed as I offered my first blessings. I have kept this passage as a personal motto and have referred to it many times in my own prayer, particularly in difficult moments. What is the one thing I want? What is the one thing that will bring me the peace, joy and consolation that I seek? It is the knowledge that I am living in God’s house, in God’s presence and in his love here and now, and at the end of my earthly life will have the opportunity to live eternally in Him.
To live in the house of the Lord is not necessarily about being in a physical structure but literally living within God. Saint Augustine of Hippo famously states, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” Our hearts are restless, and the most important response to that restlessness is to take a few quiet moments to dwell within God. When we stick to that “one thing,” the rest, Curly says, don’t mean anything.
TO BE IN GOD’S HOUSE – THE CHURCH – Six years ago, the words of the psalmist took on a new context when for over three months we could not go to church because of the quarantine precautions of the Coronavirus pandemic. We long to be in God’s house, our churches, celebrating Holy Mass and the other sacraments. When we returned, I observed a newfound reverence among the faithful. Being deprived of the opportunity to be in God’s house was painful and we realized that we had taken for granted the opportunity to be in a sacred dwelling place.
Now six years later, I see the need to examine our respect for “God’s House.” Palm Sunday, Easter and these weeks of First Communion celebrations, with many visitors, magnify the loss of appreciation and respect for sacred space. But it is not just the occasional visitor who needs to be challenged; it begins with each of us. When we come into God’s house, it is not the moment to engage in lengthy conversation with others. Every other part of our lives is noisy – the privileged time in church should not be. Children will be noisy, and we expect that from them. Older children and adults, however, owe it to each other to recognize the need for sacred silence. Let us help each other to enter God’s house with reverent silence, resist the temptation to talk and instead prepare ourselves to encounter Him at Holy Mass.
Peace!
