Remember: we are pilgrims; we will not be here forever, but we are just passing through. Therefore, focus on the destination. Listen for God’s voice calling out to you in the silence of your heart.
No Abiding City (republished by Cluny Media as part one of Returning to the Lord) by Bede Jarrett, O.P.
Why is life so difficult? We pray, plan, hope, and work hard, but we still find ourselves unhappy and wanting more. This sentiment is at the heart of No Abiding City, a series of Lenten sermons preached by the English Dominican Bede Jarrett at Our Lady of Victories in Kensington, England, in 1932. I read these sermons in a tired and previously used copy (the inside cover bears the names of several friars who have had this book in their possession over the decades), but the content is anything but worn out. The roughly 70 pages are packed with perennial wisdom that consoles and strengthens the anxious modern mind. Throughout the work there are three main themes: life is a pilgrimage; life has a destination; and Christ is the exemplar.
We are pilgrims. This is the resounding refrain of No Abiding City. Father Bede points out that the human heart is frequently overcome with busyness, yet is distressed when it is confronted by the monotony of daily life. We easily believe that our life is of no purpose, that we are insignificant and overlooked. Father Bede argues that this troubles us because we misunderstand life. We work hard to arrange our lives according to our plans, so that we can be content. But we were not made for this world; therefore we should not be content with it. We are too great for this earthly city that cannot hold all that God has planned for us. Though life seems unsatisfactory or disappointing, remember you are a pilgrim. Do not hate the road, says Fr. Bede, “it only does what a road is meant to do: It takes you home” (32).
Keeping the destination in mind while we travel will help us along the journey. So what is the destination? God! “We seek a city, whose maker and builder is God—a city that is God Himself” (7). Focusing on God does not mean that we busy ourselves with more actions that we think will please him. This will only lead us to be disappointed with our perceived lack of progress, or will lead us to the more dangerous conclusion that we have achieved saintly holiness by our own power. Rather, focusing on God means letting go of the focus on ourselves, and listening to God’s voice in the total silence of our hearts—the greatest prayer that the Church has ever taught, says Fr. Bede. In this silence we let go of desperate self-measurement. Moreover, this silence makes us realize that everything we do is a result of divine action. Anything we do that is good is a result of God’s own goodness, not ours. This happens by grace, by which God gives us a share in his life, which we hope to enjoy fully at our heavenly destination.
As with all journeys, there are difficulties to be faced in the pilgrimage of life. By faith, we know that the destination is well worth the suffering and inconvenience of the journey. On this journey, we have a companion and guide: Jesus Christ. His earthly pilgrimage mirrors our own. Christ’s life was one of suffering: “His life began in a ruined stable; it ended, lonely, desolate on a cross” (68). Father Bede reminds us that Christ knew he was a pilgrim and was aware of a certain worldly discomfort, alluding to Christ’s own words in the Gospel: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt 8:20). By his life Christ goes before us to light our path. He himself is the way. He did this out of great love for us, so that our sufferings and trials would not be pointless but would keep us moving towards him who is our Life.
In the sermons that make up No Abiding City, Fr. Bede refreshes our perspective on life. The whole of our lives, the work we do and the trials we endure, are but part of a journey. Everybody faces many of the same difficulties. Nobody’s life is perfect, yet we spend lots of time and effort trying to arrange things to our hearts’ content and feel anxious when we do not get the happiness we expect. Remember: we are pilgrims; we will not be here forever, but we are just passing through. Therefore, focus on the destination. Listen for God’s voice calling out to you in the silence of your heart. The journey is frequently difficult, but well worth it. Look to Christ who has already blazed the trail by his own suffering and death. He travels with us so that we might see him “in his unveiled beauty in the abiding city where he is light and happiness and endless home” (74).
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Republished with gracious permission from Dominicana (August 2025).
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