An Empty Heart Is Not a Safe Heart

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says something that can sound strange at first. He speaks about an unclean spirit leaving a person, wandering, and then coming back. And when it returns, it finds the house “swept and put in order.” The problem is not that the house is dirty. The problem is that the house is empty. And maybe that is the uncomfortable truth for us today: it is not enough to remove what is wrong; we have to be filled with what is right.

A lot of us approach the spiritual life like cleaning a room. We say, “I need to stop this sin. I need to get rid of this bad habit. I need to avoid this temptation.” And of course, that matters. But Christianity is not just about becoming less sinful. It is about becoming more full of Christ. If all we do is remove anger, but never learn mercy, the heart stays empty. If we stop gossiping, but never learn how to speak encouragement, the heart stays empty. If we avoid sin, but do not pray, do not love, do not serve, then sooner or later the old things start knocking on the door again.

Jesus also says, “Whoever is not with me is against me.” That sounds very direct, because it is. There really is no neutral ground in the spiritual life. We are always giving our hearts to something. If Christ is not at the centre, something else will take His place: ego, resentment, comfort, fear, approval, success, distraction. The human heart does not remain vacant for long. So maybe the real question today is not simply, “What do I need to stop?” but, “What am I allowing to fill me?”

And that is where the Gospel becomes deeply hopeful. Jesus does not just come to clean the house. He comes to live in it. He does not want to be a visitor in our lives, someone we speak to when things go wrong. He wants to dwell in us. He wants to shape our thoughts, our reactions, our relationships, our choices. Holiness is not an empty life. It is a life so filled with Christ that there is less and less room for anything that pulls us away from Him.

So perhaps today we can make one very simple examination of conscience: What have I removed from my life, but never replaced with grace? Maybe I gave up one habit, but never built a habit of prayer. Maybe I walked away from one unhealthy relationship, but never allowed God to heal the wound it left behind. Maybe I stopped doing something wrong, but never started doing the good. Jesus is not asking us merely to be swept clean. He is asking us to be filled.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, do not only remove what is sinful in me. Fill the empty places with Your presence. Where there is anger, give me mercy. Where there is fear, give me trust. Where there is emptiness, make Your home in me. Stay at the centre of my heart, so that my life may belong completely to You. Amen.

– Homily by Rev. Fr. Patrick Agbeko