IS IT NOT A FORETASTE OF PARADISE TO FIND ONESELF IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST

Posted on November 5, 2021 by franksantucci

In this beautiful reflection in his private journal, Eugene describes how he was caught up in the wonder of the presence of Jesus during his time of prayer before the Eucharist.  He writes about his desire to be united with Jesus at all times and to prepare himself for the permanent encounter at the moment of his death. His death was to occur 17 years later, but the fact that the Church was to canonize him was proof that he did indeed live these words for the rest of his life.

During my adoration before the Blessed Sacrament exposed, I was preoccupied with the thought that it was impossible to be better. Is it not a foretaste of paradise to find oneself in the presence of Jesus Christ, prostrate at his feet to adore him, to love him and to expect from his goodness the graces which are needed.

Going further into this thought, I came to a conclusion from it that had never presented itself to my spirit. It’s that, if in my last illness, I maintain my reasoning, I ought to obtain for myself the happiness of suffering the anguishes of death and of rendering my last breath in the presence of our divine Savior. It seems to me that this would be an infallible means of being absorbed only with him and that my heart would not cease for a single instant in being united to him who would embrace it by his presence and fortify it in the formidable moment of this passage from time to eternity.

It also seems to me that it would be impossible that this same Jesus Christ continuously invoked, gripped lovingly with a complete trust and in whose bosom, in a way, I would render my last breath, could send me away from his face at the very instant that I would have just left him on earth. I feel these things better than I express them.

Eugene de Mazenod’s Diary, 6 January 1844, EO XXI

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2 Responses to IS IT NOT A FORETASTE OF PARADISE TO FIND ONESELF IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:
    November 5, 2021 at 10:55

    I sit here this morning, so grateful that Eugene was canonized – not because it was proof of his holiness and goodness, but rather because he then became a gift to the Church, a gift to the whole world, to you and to me. Another of the small passports that we carry through life – except this kind is not limited to paper or smart phones.

    It seems to get more difficult to describe heaven and what that might look like as we go along, to try to wrap words around our experiences of God. And yet we KNOW them to be true and absolute. As we go along through life they become a part of us, ever deepening, ever foundational, growing the very core of our being. And though I use words of measuring, it is only because they are the only words that I have. And The Beloved hears my heart and draws me deeper into an embrace of presence and being.

    Like Eugene, I do not believe that God will turn me away as I move through death into new life; God will not hold a checklist and mark it off. It is then that I that I will see the new and everlasting face of God in all his glory. And it will not just be me, but all of us coming and being together as one.

    Like Eugene I “feel these things better than I express them.” As I have dared to sit and join with all of you as we come together and ‘be’ I have found myself singing the words of The Deer’s Cry, the words tumbling silently through me.

    “I arise today, through the strength of heaven…”

    Reply
  2. Mark Edwards says:
    November 5, 2021 at 21:34

    This passage from St Eugene was lived by him. I now understand better why he said 17 years later to those around him, ‘If I seem to be dying, wake me up. I want to know that I am going to God.’ (Or something like that).
    And this reminder of my final goal and it’s intimate internal link with my current prayer and life are needed by me now. (And probably always). Our world has a shallow eschatology that promotes flourishing in this world that St Eugene challenges in me.
    At Eugene, I want to be a saint as you are. Thank you for your example. Pray for me.

    Reply

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