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But this life here is part of eternal
life, and sufferings form part of this life.
Hands and legs and eyes are useless for
the fetus in the womb, they are meant
for a life outside the womb. Even so
are our sufferings now difficult to
understand fully; but our eternal life is
activated by this life. “Not those who
say Lord, Lord, but those who do the
you orphans; I will come back to you.”
(Jn 14:3,18,28). His prayer will surely
be fulfilled: “Father, I want them to be
with me to see my glory” (Jn 17:24).
The Groom is here
For the believer, heaven has
already begun. “Earth is crammed with
heaven, and every common bush afire
with God, but only he who sees takes
in Mary and the Saints and Martyrs.
We can meet him in our services to our
needy brothers and sisters, as also in our
struggle for justice to them. Above all,
we are called to safeguard and nurture
our Hope - our Mission it is! - even
in difficult and hopeless situations like
slavery to sexual and substance abuse,
insolence and destruction of life.
The Groom, who is here
already, will surely come
one day as the judge.
The Groom will
gather all that
is good ‘from
East and West’.
will of my Father” will have it. (Mt
7:21); At the Last Judgment acts of
compassion will win eternal life. The
Groom will give this supreme gift as a
reward to those who fulfil his mission.
In order to be able to do so,
the Groom has provided for us his
Spirit (Jn 14:16,26;15:26;16:8,13) to
activate us. He will return to us in “a
little while” (Jn 16:16-24). Meanwhile
we have to be ‘watchful and pray’ (Mk
14:38), “fast and feast” (Mk 2:19); we
are “trimmed and pruned” (Jn 15:2).
This is his promise: “I will not leave
off his shoes; the others sit around it
and pluck blackberries” (Elizabeth B.
Browning). The Groom is already here.
“Have you not heard his silent steps?
He comes, comes, ever comes....”
(Rabindranath Tagore). We can meet
the groom in Nature, the lilies of the
field and the birds of the air; in the
discoveries and applications of sciencespace
travel, god–particle, the genetic
code and the marvels of medicinecompleting
Ps 8.
We can also meet the Groom in
the Church, in the Bible, the Eucharist,
The Groom will come
The Groom, who is here already,
will surely come one day as the judge.
The Groom will gather all that is good
‘from East and West’. He will gather
with him (Mt 12:30) all that God
created and still finds good (Gen 1).
We will be gathered with angels - all
of us who are blessed with the love of
God - “people of every tribe, language,
tribe, nation and race”. (Rev 5: 9).
“If people should tell you, look
he is out in the desert, don’t go there.
Look, he is hiding here, don’t believe
JIVAN: News and Views of Jesuits in India NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 7