Jesus goes out of the synagogue, where he had healed the demoniac, and into the house of Simon and Andrew, where he heals Simon’s mother-in-law. I’ve seen the ruins of that house, in Capernaum. It’s not quite next door to the synagogue, but it’s only two or three doors away. Simon Peter and his family didn’t have far to walk when they wanted to go to the synagogue. The archaeologists have discovered that the building identified as Peter’s house began life as a private dwelling, but was later converted into a church. That’s what we might expect. The early Christians, we read in the Acts of the Apostles, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath like other Jewish people, but on Sundays would meet in their own houses for the breaking of the bread, or as it came to be called, the Mass.

So on Saturday Peter and Andrew and Peter’s wife and mother-in-law, and the other members of their household, would walk the few paces up the hill to the synagogue; but on the Sunday, they would stay at home, where they would be joined by the other inhabitants of Capernaum who were followers of Christ, and Peter would break bread for them on his dining-room table. As time went on, the Christian community split away or was expelled from the Jewish community, and the house-church would become their sole place of worship. The same state of affairs would be found in thousands of towns all over the Roman Empire. The earliest Christian churches were private houses which gradually ceased to be dwelling-places and became instead, places of worship. But for a long time, perhaps a hundred years, they would have served both purposes, and nobody would have seen any contradiction.

I wonder if your house is a church? It is of course primarily a dwelling-place. But Peter and Andrew, and thousands of other early Christians, would have taken it for granted that it should also be a place of worship. And I also think it should be a place of worship. Every one of us ought to say our prayers in our own house, both our personal prayers and, if possible, our family prayers. I wonder how many of us say grace before meals in our houses, or a family rosary, or bedtime prayers with the children, or some part of the daily office?

I wonder how many of us have a crucifix in the house, or an icon or holy picture? These things do impart a certain tone to a house. They are noticed by visitors; and so much the better. Do we have a Christmas crib set, both for our own devotion and for the benefit of family and friends who may profit from being reminded of the true meaning of Christmas? Do we have at least one Bible in the house - not just an ancient and tiny thing we were given at our Confirmation, but a large, modern, readable Bible that we do often read?

We could even think of something a bit more ambitious. There are around town a number of prayer-groups and Bible-study groups, meeting in people’s houses. So far as I know, only one of them meets in a Catholic house, that is to say our Friday Fellowship. We could have more such groups. When our Bishop visited our parish, he said we ought to have more such groups. They need not involve large numbers of people. Two or three is a perfectly adequate number for a prayer group. You might invite a friend or two to your house, at whatever time was convenient. You might devise a format that suited you: perhaps a reading from the Bible, followed by a discussion of the passage, what it means to you, how it touches on your concerns. Then you might finish with prayer.

All these things help to ensure that our houses are not only dwelling-places, but also places of worship, house-churches; and if that is what they are, I think it greatly strengthens the wider Church. It brings our religion out of our parish church and into our homes, into our daily lives. And it introduces our Faith to the many people who often come into our houses, but would never think of coming into our Church.