An earthly heaven

 

  Raphael

“In order that our exile might be more endurable, that we might enjoy already on earth the inebriating perfume of the purity of paradise, that we might begin even in this place of trial to taste the happiness to be found in the possession of God, to satisfy His love and be our consolation, He created an earthly heaven:  the Eucharist.

It is a veiled heaven, because we still are walking in the obscurities of faith; a transient heaven, like a flash of lightning in the night, or like the echo of a far off harmony; yet even so, a true heaven.

There, hidden beneath the white appearances of the Sacred Host, Jesus is truly and personally present, the lovely Child of Bethlehem, the humble Carpenter of Nazareth, the gentle Wonder-Worker of Galilee, the Victim of Calvary. There is Jesus, the Man-God, in whom is the fullness of the Godhead, because He is the Word of God, and with the Word are always the Father and the Holy Spirit.

What more shall we possess in heaven? The manner of the possession will be different, but its object is essentially the same. The Eucharist is the essence of heaven on earth. "

- from The Holy Eucharist, by Jose Guadalupe Trevino

 

 MEMORIAL DAY - May 30 

Eternal gratitude for the millions of generous, courageous, self-

sacrificing and heroic acts of service - seen and unseen.

May all the souls of the faithful departed

through the mercy of God rest in peace. AMEN