Vulnerability moment my friends, I am super overwhelmed with my life these days. I feel as though I constantly have a million things to do. My planner is filled minute by minute in my day and I’ve been left exhausted. I’ve found myself daydreaming of the sweet day of eternal life in Heaven. My friends and I joke about all the ice-cream and Chick-fil-A Jesus will provide there, here’s hoping. We giggle as we dream of a place where calories don’t exist. It sounds silly, but today’s Mass readings made me recall that memory. Our First Reading doesn’t remind us of the Heavenly banquet of waffle fries, but of our gentle God who guides us. He guides us away from hurt, & from danger. He says we shall not hunger or thirst, but be filled. He comforts his people and shows mercy to us. He’s compared to the tender love of a mother who can never forget her child. We are reminded in the Gospel as Jesus tells us, “Whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.”
In the hecticness of my own life, I forget to live out that joy of Heaven now. Yup, you heard it right. I can be way more joyful than I currently have been. I get overwhelmed with my to do list and tend to huff and puff about it. I can’t wait till Heaven where I can just be perfectly filled with complete joy, grace, and goodness. Plus I won’t have an annoying to do list of chores and work! I can’t wait to be completely embraced in the beatific vision with no more worries. Which yes, is true & so so good. I genuinely believe that we as humans experience this ache for Heaven. Sometimes that ache can be pretty painful, and I’ve been feeling that lately. But as I read these readings, I automatically thought about this longing and the goodness Heaven will be. As soon as that thought arose, I felt the Holy Spirit say, “I’m the same here and now.”
Yes, you and I ache for Heaven. I swear I could write a novel on what that means to me and the days I’ve felt it deeply. As Christians, it’s our goal. Heaven is the end of the race, the victory, the moment we long to hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”. But there is freedom in knowing that God wants to fill my heart here and now. There’s freedom in the fact that He is the same here and now. He’s the same God to us here on earth as when we are completely united to Him in Heaven. He still wants what is good for us. He still desires to guide, protect, and comfort us. He will not make us hunger or thirst, but fill our hearts with His love here and now. Don’t get me wrong, Heaven is the end goal. It’s the goal that we should be striving for always. Jesus just reminded me today that sometimes my planner is filled with too many goals. And Jesus is not just something to check off the to-do list. Our faith should not just be goals to check off and accomplish, but a relationship of love. Today He wanted to tell me that sometimes I need to slow down and receive. Maybe He wishes to tell you that too. He desires us to slow down and receive here and now on this side of Heaven. The beautiful truth is that He is the same God here and now as He is in Heaven. That has brought my heart freedom today, I hope it brings you a sense of freedom too.
Briana is a Catholic youth minister at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish in Cleveland, OH. She is also a nanny and district manager at Arbonne. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH and is excited to use these skills to bring her students closer to Christ and His Church. “My soul has been refined and I can raise my head like a flower after a storm.” -St. Therese
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