“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (Jn 14:23)
St Bernard gives a wonderful account of the layers of meaning in our gospel verse:
“Why, then, are you sorrowful, my soul, and why are you troubled within me? Are you trying to find a place for the Lord within yourself? Who among us can provide a fitting place for the Lord of glory, a place worthy of his majesty?... However, the Lord has only to anoint my soul with the oil of his mercy for me in my turn to be able to say: “I have run the way of your commandments because you have enlarged my heart.’ Then, perhaps, even if I cannot usher him into a large and richly furnished room in may heart where he may refresh himself with his disciples, I shall at least be able to offer him a place to lay his head.
It is necessary for a soul to grow and be enlarged until it is capable of containing God within itself. But the dimensions of a soul are in proportion to its love, as the apostle confirms when he urges the Corinthians to ‘widen their hearts in love.’ Although the soul, being spiritual, cannot be measured physically, grace confers on it what nature does not bestow. It expands spiritually as it makes progress toward human perfection, which is measured by nothing less than the full stature of Christ, and so it grows into a temple sacred to the Lord. Love, then, is the measure of the soul. Souls are large that love much, small that love little; while as for the soul that loves not at all, such a soul is itself nothing. ‘Without love,’ says St Paul, ‘I am nothing.’” (On the Song of Songs, 27)
We are all called to grow toward that full stature of Christ which will allow us to accommodate his majesty. This is to live out our human vocation, to the full, since Christ is the measure of who we are called to be. Bernard goes on to lay out what he means by expansion in terms of love. First love those who love you: “some love must be present in the give and take of social life.” This rather narrow love gives way to the open ranges of a love that embraces all comers without regard to bonds of blood or friendship or any personal gain. Finally, it reaches its furthest bounds by not refusing love – both affective and effective – even to one’s enemies, those who offend or even do harm.
Thankfully, we aren’t expected to be temples all at once. Our tradition gives us permission to start small – to make room for him to lay his head, or even just a space for the soles of his feet.