23 March 2019
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
Beggars for Heaven is an award-winning book written by Jean-Luc Barré. It was the first biography of the French philosopher Jacques Maritain and his wife Raïssa. It is not at first entirely clear why the book is titled Beggars for Heaven. However, a letter from Jacques Maritain to Dom Paul Delatte, the abbot of Saint – Pierre de Solesmes, can help us understand the title of the book:
“May God keep me from attempting any explanations and justifications for myself. But let me tell you that before God and to the degree that I know the motives of my actions, and in this case, I think I know what they are, I am not conscious of having sinned against the virtue of obedience in this affair. I certainly cannot believe myself justified because of this, I know very well, because it is God who is my judge. But in this case, there is only one thing I can do: ask Him who alone can look into consciences, to forgive in me the faults I am not conscious of and in whatever measure He finds me guilty. And I wish with all my heart that what has been no more than a long misunderstanding may prove to be cruel only to myself…”
If purgatory is a place where misguided love, resentment, jealousy, envy, and greed are purified, then heaven is place where the divine graces have erased sadness, envy, and misguided love. Heaven is a place where we can unite with the perfect love of God. The Gospel today is the story of prodigal Son and it is a perfect depiction of heaven. The perfect love of the father is manifest in his embrace of his son who returns home after he was lost in the wilderness of lust and sin. The prodigal Son is aware that he had abandoned heaven by his own choice. He says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven before you.” This statement signifies that heaven is a the loving relationships with God and that this wayward son has broken the loving relationship with God.
We have five more weeks of our Lenten journey. During this sacred time, reflect on being a beggar for heaven. Ask for the grace to receive God’s perfect love in the beatific vision.