Sep 20 Wed
The joy of heaven.
In the Sermon of the Beatitudes, the Lord said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This mourning that brings us eternal comfort has nothing to do with the troubles of this world. No one is made blessed by lamenting about these.
The sighs and tears of the saints have another cause. They felt sorrow (they mourned) their own sins and the sins of others. They did not weep for the actions of divine justice, but at the sins committed by human malice. It is the one who commits sin who should be pitied, not the one who suffers it. What an evil man does, brings him punishment, while what a good man puts up with leads him up into glory.
Then the Lord added “Blessed are the meek, for they shall have the earth for their inheritance.” To the meek and gentle, to the lowly and unassuming, to all who are prepared to suffer injury – to these the earth is promised. This is not a small inheritance; here, “the earth” refers to a dwelling-place in heaven: in fact, you must understand it as meaning that only the meek will enter the kingdom of heaven.
This “earth” that is promised to the meek, is the group or communion of all the saints. Since they had been humble, their humility will raise them up, and clothe them in the glory of immortality, united at last with the Spirit of unity. Then the outer, material body will follow the inner soul at last, in a peaceful and secure possession.
The meek will possess this inheritance in everlasting peace, and their possession will never grow less. Our present perishable nature must obey God, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. Thus, what was a danger to the soul, and painful to bear, in heaven becomes a reward.
Meanwhile, we have the Eucharist, an anticipation of heaven. This is truly the bread for the children of God. Jesus offers himself as our food. And the same Jesus is waiting to receive us in heaven as his guests, his co-heirs and his friends. Those who are nourished by Christ will die the earthly death of time, but they will live eternally, because Christ is life everlasting.
Eternal happiness begins now for the Christian who is comforted with the definitive manna of the Eucharist. The old life must go away forever. Let us leave everything behind us so that everything will be new, our hearts, our words, and our actions.
This is the Good News. News, because it speaks to us of a deep love which we never could have dreamed of. Good, because there is nothing better than uniting ourselves to God, the greatest Good of all. It is Good News, because the Eucharist, in an inexplicable way, gives us a foretaste of heaven, where we will enjoy also the company of Mary, our Mother.
Image by Catarino Veneziano (14th century)
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