Home At Last

(552 words, 3 minutes read time.)

? A Past Meditation ?
Written in the past and newly restored.

What does the word home awaken within your heart?

What does your eternal Home bring to mind?

The thought fills me with peace because, in Purgatory or in Heaven, there is security.

No more risk of falling away from the Lord.

Our union with Him will be forever secure.

On this earthly pilgrimage, there is still the battle against sin and the awareness of my own weakness. Yet Jesus continually calls us to trust Him, and so each day becomes an invitation to choose trust over fear.

What does your eternal Home stir within your heart?

Reflecting on seeing some of my dear loved ones again one day has often brought me to tears.

I remember delighting in their goodness.

Their smiles.

The way they laughed.

How they were there for me in life-changing ways.

The quiet heart-to-heart conversations.

How they knew my heart before I even spoke.

How they stood beside me when I needed them most.

The place they hold within my heart can never be erased.

Their loving gaze.

Their embrace.

That feeling of being completely safe.

These were little foretastes of Heaven—

yet they always ended too soon.

Time together was fragile.

Temporary.

The pain of their absence reminds us that love is eternal and that the bonds of friendship were made to last forever.

How I long to see them again, to enjoy their presence in a joy that will never end.

No more alternating between sorrow and happiness.

No more wishing time would slow down.

No more waiting for another reunion.

Love and presence will never again be separated.

This fills my heart with joy.

The sorrow we feel when those we love approach—or enter—their eternal reward reveals how deeply they live within our hearts.

Through their love, the Lord has allowed us to glimpse something of His own Divine Heart.

Every soul awaiting us in eternity draws our hearts a little closer to Jesus and reminds us that this world is passing away, but love remains forever.

Love is stronger than death.

The love we have received from others prepares us for the fullness of love that God Himself longs to give us.

The embrace of Jesus will surpass every earthly joy, every friendship, every love we have ever known.

My heart is lifted whenever I ponder what is still to come.

How good it is to reflect often upon our true Home.

Such longing (and tribulations) gradually detaches our hearts from passing things and draws us ever more closely to our one Love—the Lord.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away.”

(Rev 21:4 USCCB)

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

What comes to mind when you think of your eternal Home?

Has the love of someone dear ever awakened within you a deeper longing for Heaven?

How is the Lord inviting you to place your hope more fully in the promise of eternal life?

Share your thoughts in the comments—I would love to hear what “Home at Last” means to you.