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A Word From Our Associate . . .
Loving Heaven
One of the prayers at mass this Advent season reads, "Father, may our communion teach us to love heaven." The goal of this prayer in some measure, puzzles me, because I feel like I know so little about heaven. Of course, I've never been there, and although my heart is definitely stirred by the prayer, longing to know deeply the experience of 'loving heaven,' I feel somewhat inadequate to speak about it.
With so many funerals over the past two weeks, fostering my considerations of eternal life, I could not help but return over and over again to this same question, even as where: "death is no more"; "crying and pain are no more"; "great rewards" are given; "myriads of angels surround the throne in festal gathering"; "the righteous shrine like the lamb, and the "Lamb of God" is the light of heaven. The "holy city Jerusalem," it says, is fortified by "walls adorned with jewels," possessing "twelve gates" and "twelve foundations," upon which, respectively, the "twelve tribes of Israel" and "twelve Apostles of the Lamb" are "inscribed." This "holy city Jerusalem" is filled with "the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal." Near the end of my last funeral homily, after quoting just such passages, I asked the congregation, "Wouldn't you love to go there?"
Admittedly, for most of my life, heaven was a place I considered only on an intellectual level, if at all. Most kids and young adults are dreaming about their future in this life, with goals and ambitions, wanting to succeed, and rightly so. And in general, society probably thinks less about heaven, because modern medicine has increased our health and life span. However, as a celibate priest, I feel like while one leg is firmly planted on earth, the other is already stepping out towards eternity. Yet I have so much to learn about it.
Cardinal Newman said, "Love of heave in the only way to heaven." I find this quote very inspiring, and so I pray fervently, that my heart could fall in love with heaven! And yous. I believe heaven is first and foremost a state of being-in-love: with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is the person who makes this possible. Therefore, to fall in love with Christ now, is to gain a foretaste of heavenly life. Hence the communion prayer, which speaks of one purpose of the Eucharist: to 'teach' and reveal to us what it means to 'love heaven.' What a blessed gift, which God provides, giving us a glimpse into eternity, the Eucharist: "bread from heaven." As we look towards the Secon Coming of Christ, may this Advent season also be for all of us, one of hoping for, and falling in 'love with heaven.
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