In Loreto, Italy, there is a house that many believe was miraculously transported from the Holy Land. It is said to be the house where Mary said Yes to the angel Gabriel's invitation to bear Jesus Christ.
Pope Benedict XVI saw in this house many spiritual lessons, which he spoke about in a homily in 2012. He first reflected on how we are all "at home," wherever God dwells:
The idea of the Son of God dwelling in the “living house,” the temple who is Mary, leads us to another thought: we must recognize that where God dwells, all are “at home”; wherever Christ dwells, his brothers and sisters are no longer strangers. Mary, who is the Mother of Christ, is also our mother, and she open to us the door to her home, she helps us enter into the will of her Son. So it is faith which gives us a home in this world, which brings us together in one family and which makes all of us brothers and sisters.
Our final home
At the same time, while we are in one sense at home in this world, we are also "pilgrims," journeying towards our "final home," as Pope Benedict XVI explains:
So here in Loreto we find a house which lets us stay, or dwell, and which at the same time lets us continue, or journey, and reminds us that we are pilgrims, that we must always be on the way to another dwelling, towards our final home, the Eternal City, the dwelling place of God and the people he has redeemed (cf. Rev 21:3).
This is an important thought to dwell upon, recognizing the reality that this life is only temporary. We are not meant to make our final home on this earth.
Instead, we are called to use our time here as a preparation for our "final home," a home that will endure for all eternity.
