Dear Friends,
By the time this email is published, I will have left Spain and a lovely community behind to begin a new mission in the United States. This marks the tenth move in twenty-seven years of consecrated life. In every transition, my mother´s parting and consoling words surface….
My family was blessed to live in an idyllic log cabin on a parcel of land where a stream flowed gently, the crackling of the fire place warmed the cold white winters and the variety of wild flowers delighted the senses in the springtime. The surrounding peaks of the Rocky Mountains created a majestic setting. During one of my final visits with my mother, before she passed away from cancer, she told me an unforgettable tale.
The previous owner of the log cabin returned to visit. She missed the memories and the beauty of the place. The lady asked my mother, “Have you ever lived in a place you just knew was home?” My mother replied from the heart, sincerely and spontaneously, “I have lived in many beautiful places in my life. But I know that my true home is heaven.”
Only a heart steeped in faith and an eschatological vision of time and eternity could answer in this way. She did not hold onto nostalgia for temporal lodgings. She longed for the consummation of an eternal home. Yet, she still lived in the daily fight to be obedient to the Spirit, suffer in faith, and give herself fully to the other in humble charity. She experienced the tension of a living faith, hope and love, a sign of our eternal God at home in her, yet summoning her to a final resting place.
The end of November marks two grand feast days: the liturgical feast of Christ the King and the secular feast of Thanksgiving. Let us unite the temporal and eternal in a spirit of loving gratitude. In faith we know Christ has conquered sin and death. He reigns supreme. In hope, we long for Christ’s ultimate conquest over our lives to become reality. But only in Christ-like love through an authentic gift of self-to one another with the aid of His Spirit, do we possess the key to transition from this temporal life into eternity.
Thank you Jesus for coming to dwell among us, for conquering sin and death, and sustaining us in our earthly pilgrimage. Send us the fullness of Your Spirit. Grant us faith to make our home in You, hope as we await the final consummation, and love so our hearts may become Your permanent dwelling.
Your Friend in Christ,
Jennifer Ristine
Jennifer lives in the formation center for the consecrated women of Regnum Christi in Madrid, Spain, and is the author of “Mary Magdalene, Insights from Ancient Magdala” and “Nine Days with Mary Magdalene.”
