THE BEAUTY OF HEAVENLY LIFE

TUESDAY, Second Week of Eastertide

Reflection from friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Acts 4:32-37; Ps 93:1-2,5; Jn 3:7-15

Theme: The Beauty of Heavenly Life

The prospect of living the heavenly life on earth sounds too beautiful and exotic to be true. But that was the enchantment of the first Christian Community that formed around the apostles and first disciples of the Lord. The presence of the heavenly kingdom within and among them flowed from their encounters with the Risen Lord and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them. It was a result of their understanding of the teaching of the Lord during his ministry, and it was a true conception of the mystery of the heavenly kingdom now present among them. It unfolded from a deep understanding and practice of the teachings of our Lord, reinforced by his post-resurrection appearances and discourses. Faith in the Risen Lord admits one into the heavenly kingdom here and now. The teaching on the abiding presence of the kingdom is present in the discussion between our Lord and Nicodemus in the gospel passage. “Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.” In essence, the Lord explained to Nicodemus that the kingdom of heaven is a spiritual reality; to enter, one must live a spiritual life. No one possesses spiritual life unless he receives it from the Father of spirits. This is what ‘being born of the Spirit’ or ‘born from above’ means. Since God the Father is the only one who gives the Spirit, spiritual life comes from him alone. In addition, the Spirit is given only to one who believes the word of God; that is, one must believe in the humanity and the divinity of the Eternal Word as the embodiment of the Father’s Will. Because these two are contents of faith in the Risen Lord, confession of faith in the resurrection is enough for baptism. It follows then that baptism is an entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Following from this logical presentation of the teaching of our Lord, reinforced by his resurrection and his post-resurrection appearances and discourses, it follows that faith gives us access to the heavenly kingdom and the spiritual life therein. This conviction formed the basis of the teaching and life of the early Apostolic Church. A good understanding of the spiritual Commonwealth of Christianity bonds believers into a heavenly communion. As our Lord explained in the gospel, the spiritual life of the faith community is controlled from heaven and not by the individual faithful or the community. This was the great ideal of the earliest Christians. “The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.” What would make a member hold back material goods when the more valuable spiritual goods are common? The problem of our faith communities today, if they are worth the name, is traceable to a lack of understanding of the value of our spiritual goods. Because we do not know the value of our spiritual goods, we fail to give up the material goods for the spiritual goods of the community. Unlike the early Christian community that was spiritually driven or controlled from above, most of our communities are driven by material ends. We see less of heaven within and among us because we have no firm faith in the spiritual things; we exercise little or no faith in the Risen Lord.  

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, grace to firmly believe in the resurrection of your Son, that we may convincingly proclaim the power of the risen Lord and his heavenly kingdom among us.

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