Vor einiger Zeit habe ich mal bei ein paar Freunden "angeklopft" mit der Frage, ob sie Lust haben etwas darüber zu schreiben, was für sie der "Himmel auf Erden" bedeutet. Keine so leichte Aufgabe wie es scheint, denn ich habe insgesamt nur drei Antworten bekommen, die ich gerne mit euch teilen möchte:
Marguerite, eine Freundin aus Port Coquitlam in Kanada schrieb mir, nachdem sie das erste Mal wieder eine Messe besuchen durfte:
A piece of heaven on earth
After these few months of not attending Mass we attended St. Luke´s parish for the 8.30 am Mass.
I was so moved by Mass and receiving Communion that tears were brimming from my eyes, even after Mass. If I´d been alone I would have a big cry. It was just such a joy, almost intense happiness for those minutes after receiving. Perhaps I´d taken this for granted because we could attend Mass almost every day but now with the virus, no more except on tv. Now what joy and happiness in my heart. Even pent up joy of Confession last week, realizing what gift our Lord wants us to receive.
This was a piece of heaven, for sure.
von Geraldine, ebenfalls aus Port Coquitlam (beide sind in der Cursillo Freundschaftsgruppe):
As I sit in my back yard, beside St. Francis...in the quiet of this early and at last sunny day I talk to God, praising him and thanking Him for my hearing, as I listen to the creek running beside me, the hum of traffic in the distance, the drone of a plane overhead, the gentle tone of my wind chimes..
and I feel blessed.
I praise and thank Him for the gift of sight, as I see my plants grow and show their beautiful colours, for the little squirrel who has come to join my quiet time with the Lord, the humming
birds, as they fed,
and I feel blessed.
I praise and thank God for the gift of my taste buds, as I ate a delicious muffin and enjoyed my favourite cup of tea and I feel blessed.
I praise and thank God for the gift of touch, as I feel the gentle breeze, caress my skin to cool it down from the heat, for the loving kiss my husband gives me before he leaves for work
and I feel blessed.
I praise and thank God for the gift of smell, as I enjoy the faint hint of my roses in the air
and I feel blessed.
No, everyday is not like this, but I cherish the moments, the opportunities that God gives me to give to me a little glimpse of Heaven on earth, the appreciation and insight He gives me when I seek Him - even when I don´t.
The fact that he is my Father in heaven, and I am His child, that He loves me ...and wants to bless me with his goodness, that He is preparing me "in the darker days, to persist in prayer, to encourage me to use my gifts and talents to reach out to help my brothers and sisters in Christ....
and I feel blessed.
As my parish priest often says..."All this and Heaven too".
I can only imagine... and I feel blessed.
Realizing my Heaven on Earth, von Emmanuel, SVD, aus Ghana, er studiert Theologie in Kenia und hofft darauf, bald für sein Overseas Training nach Deutschland kommen zu können:
Heaven is not a far reaching adventure and so we can have a foretaste of the heavenly paradise even here on earth.
In Matthew 5:3 we read, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". Also, St. Paul tells us in Rom 14:17 that, "the kingdom of God is not food and drinks but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
This shows that we do not need to die before we can realize our heaven on earth. We can live a daily heavenly, saintly life and inherit the heavently blessings everyday provided we yearn and desire this righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The saints had the heavenly beatific vision while on earth and some died smiling.
Being poor in Spirit as said by Matthew is not a material poverty. It is not about living a life of wretchedness because we want to go to heaven. No! But it is a personal-spiritual poverty. Even generous to the poor, we choose to pray and learn the scriptures, we choose to live a life of humility and simplicity, we have respect for all persons and we are ready to help people and to serve the Lord at all times. This is why Matthew does not say blessed are the poor but he says, "blessed are the poor in spirit."
Realizing this heaven on earth comes with its own challenges and difficulties. However, we must endure to get to this vision. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us - Phil 4:13.
Whether we live or we die, we live and we die onto the Lord. Rom 14:8. Hence as we live well we live with God and when we die, we end our earthly pilgrimage and re-enter another life to live with God again.
Und wie stellst du dir den "Himmel auf Erden" vor? :)))