Friday 9 November 2012

Two ingredients for a Hope cake

I was full of joy tonight after an evening of recollection. The priest spoke of Holy Souls, it being the month of November, the traditional month for this for Catholics (and, come to think of it, everyone else if you consider Remembrance Day). This was also my mum's birthday, the second since her passing away, and I had been to Holy Mass in remembrance of her.

But the priest spoke not so much of the suffering of Holy Souls, but of the fact of their being saved. They are happy, to be envied in so much as they are certain of their eternal reward. This is a great ingredient for Hope for those of us left to ponder - to foster the hope of heaven.
Now let me see. Where are we?
What does this 'eternal' idea mean? It's so hard to get this notion into our finite heads. One approach I got lately came from reading someone else's blog, which referred to this video.
Put aside, nay, sweep aside the possible feeling of anonymity, and the vast coldness of space. If you get the chance to follow Fr.Spitzer on YouTube you realise there must be God. And as we experience pleasure (a real miracle) and love (a real miracle) - just to start with - these facts suddenly give us something to contemplate when thinking of eternity as a gift from an incredibly powerful and loving God.

God is. God is Good. God is Goodness Itself. Our happiness will go on, and on, and on, and on in Eternity.

The second ingredient in this Hope cake is sleep. By Providence I read a blog post I wouldn't have agreed with normally but I found sympathy with. Or rather, it gave me sympathy. I had a short sleep after work today and it suddenly made the world seem a better place. It hadn't changed, I had. I was joyful.

The priest recommended that we see the Year of Faith that has been proclaimed in the Catholic Church as a Year of Joy. We could measure its success by how much joy we have. So, adding two and two...

We should make sure we do what we can to get sufficient sleep in this crazy world that doesn't like silence and contemplation and genuine rest, so that we can live the way we were meant to live. It won't change the world by itself, but it will change how we see it. And we should add to this some time every day to contemplate our heavenly destiny.

Each day is made to love. We awaken to love.
And maybe then, full of Hope, we can set about changing the world. Starting tomorrow, after a good night's sleep.

Happy Birthday Mum!
Pray for me and I for you and all your friends, that we may meet merrily in Heaven. (St.Thomas More to his daughter).

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