During these forty days between Easter and the Ascension of the Lord, the Church invites us to keep our eyes fixed on Heaven, our definitive Homeland, to which the Lord calls us. This invitation becomes more pressing as the day approaches when Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father.
The Lord had promised his disciples that after a little while he would be with them forever. *A little while longer and the world will see me no more, but you will see me...*¹ The Lord has fulfilled his promise during these days in which he remains with his own, but this presence will not end when he ascends with his glorious Body to the Father; for through his Passion and Death he has prepared a place for us in the Father's house, where there are many mansions.² I will come again, he tells them, *and will take you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also.*³
The Apostles, who had been saddened by the prediction of Peter's denials, are comforted by the hope of Heaven. The "return" to which Jesus refers includes his second coming at the end of the world⁴ and the encounter with each soul when it separates from the body. Our death will be just that: the encounter with Christ, whom we have sought to serve throughout our lives. He will lead us to the fullness of glory, to the encounter with his heavenly Father, who is also our Father. There, in Heaven, where a place has been prepared for us, Jesus Christ awaits us—the same Jesus whom we keep present and speak to in our prayer, and with whom we have conversed so many times.
From habitual intimacy with Jesus Christ, the desire to meet Him is born. Faith smooths many of the rough edges of death. Love for the Lord completely changes the meaning of that final moment that will come for everyone. «Those who love each other seek to see each other. Lovers have eyes only for their love. Is it not logical that it should be so? The human heart feels these imperatives. I would be lying if I denied that I am moved so much by the yearning to contemplate the face of Jesus Christ. Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram: I will seek, Lord, your face.»⁵
The thought of Heaven will help us to live with detachment from material goods and to overcome difficult circumstances. It is very pleasing to God that we foster this theological hope, which is united to faith and love, and on many occasions, we will have a special need for it. «In the hour of temptation, think of the Love that awaits you in heaven: foster the virtue of hope, which is not a lack of generosity.»⁶ Also in moments when pain and tribulation intensify, when fidelity or perseverance in work or the apostolate becomes difficult. The reward is very great! And it is just around the corner, in a not-so-distant time.
Meditation on Heaven, toward which we are journeying, should spur us to be more generous in our daily struggle, «because the hope of the reward comforts the soul to perform good works.»⁷
The thought of that definitive encounter of love, to which we are called, will help us to be vigilant in great things and small, doing them perfectly, as if they were the last things we do before going to the Father.
HCD