Friday October 10th: Emptiness is not holiness

We must fill the space with Christ. Prayer, scripture, acts of charity, the sacraments: these are the furnishings of a soul where God is at home.

Luke 11:15–26

In today’s Gospel Jesus warns us about a danger we rarely consider. It is not enough to cast out evil; it is not enough to sweep the house of our hearts clean. If we leave that house empty, it becomes an invitation for the very thing we thought we had escaped. Emptiness is not holiness.

When we remove sin from our lives, we must not stop there. We must fill the space with Christ. Prayer, scripture, acts of charity, the sacraments, these are the furnishings of a soul where God is at home. Without them, we risk being overcome again by temptation, perhaps worse than before.

Think of a garden. If you clear the weeds but plant nothing, the weeds return quickly, often stronger. But when the soil is filled with good fruit, there is no room for what destroys.

Let us ask the Lord, then, not only to cleanse us, but to dwell within us, so our hearts remain full, guarded, and alive in Him.