https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103024.cfm
A doorway to heaven
After a Confirmation, our cook made one of the finest dinners for our Bishop, Gregory Parkes. Mind you, all her meals are exceptionally delicious. But for the Bishop, she went all out, and he even took pictures of the table before we ate.
Jesus speaks about reclining at a table in the kingdom of God. I would get famished if I had to wait until heaven to eat that meal. So what does Jesus do? He invites us to his dinner every day of our lives. Our Lord Jesus is our doorway to heaven.
We come to sit at Jesus’s feet to listen to his Word. We hear His Word with human ears as we listen to the influence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in us is our guarantee that God’s Word, Jesus, will reach its fulfillment in us.
His Word transforms us and our way of life, just as the words “Consecration” transform bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus. The very substance of bread and wine changes into the whole of Christ—body, soul, humanity, and divinity.
Holy Communion is our doorway to heaven. We know that even the tiniest particle of the Consecrated Host is the whole Christ. So, too, the most insignificant detail of our human life becomes a door for the world to encounter heaven.
Jesus told St. Faustina that when we celebrate Mass, He never leaves heaven. So my heart and yours, full of love for Him, becomes a little heaven.
The Gospel Challenge:
The transformation of bread, wine, and ourselves continues when we leave the Church after Mass, and we become His doorway to heaven for everyone. Far from being sentimental, the challenge is when we have to give of ourselves beyond our means in mercy, in the generosity of our time and talent, and our treasure, too.
How will your behavior change to be a doorway to heaven for everyone you meet?
Love Your Neighbor!
Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C.
