Heavenly Awakening

Dear Friend,

Peace and all good!

At the “slow motion Mass” last Sunday, the commentary began by reminding us that when we gather for our Sunday liturgy, time and space are changed: our past and our future converge; we are in the communion of saints; the distance dividing us from Jerusalem, Calvary, the upper room, and even from the moment of our death, disappears. This experience is summed up in the trademark phrase of Catholic theology: “real presence.”

Along these same lines, the commentary goes on to point out that when we hear the Gospel proclaimed at Mass, the characters who appear become present to us, along with Jesus. What happens to them with Jesus can happen - and does happen - to us.  

At the session after the Mass in the Bonaventure Room, my friend Anthony spoke up with a question: What is heaven like?  What if Father Virgil came back and I asked him this, what would he say?

The question clearly delighted Dr. Ford, who was leading the session over video. He directed us all to C.S. Lewis’s great essay “The Weight of Glory” and offered to lead a session on this topic during the Easter season. Great idea!

For myself, though, I’ve been wondering the last few days whether the man born blind in this Sunday’s gospel might have something to teach me about heaven. He was given sight, which he never had before. Through Jesus, what was familiar to him he now experienced in a fuller and completely new way. Maybe heaven is heavenly awakening, as Paul writes to the Ephesians: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” Can this “heaven” happen to us even before we die? Like…every Sunday?  

Just my thoughts…

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm