Psalm Reflection: The Third Sunday of Easter - Cycle B

“Lord, let your face shine on us.” - Psalms 4

Endless waterslides.

Karaoke.

Escape rooms.

Unlimited iced tea.

Being able to fly.

That is what I think my version of Heaven would be like. However, my version might be a nightmare for you, so it is a good thing I did not design the afterlife. In reality, Heaven will satisfy and surpass any concept of joy, love and beauty we can currently comprehend.

Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness. - CCC 1024

When the Last Day comes and the Final Judgment occurs, our bodies will be resurrected and reunited with our souls in a glorified form. We will be able to do things we were not able to do before, because we will be completely restored and liberated from the effects of sin and death.

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. - 1 Corinthians 15:52

Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us that our heavenly bodies will have four qualities we see demonstrated by Christ during His transfiguration and resurrection:

1. Impassibility: We will be immortal and incorruptible, no longer affected by suffering. 

2. Subtlety: We will no longer be obstructed by material obstacles.

3. Agility: We will be able to move freely, unbound by the laws of time, space and matter.

4. Clarity: We will shine. 

- Summa Theologiae, Supplementum Tertiæ Partis, 82-85.

It is this final quality, “clarity,” that calls to mind the words of this Sunday’s Psalm: “Lord, let your face shine on us.”

In praying these words, we are not only asking for a glimpse of God’s divine presence and abundance in our lives, we are also asking for a glimpse of the hope that has been promised to us. We are being invited to joyfully anticipate the glory of Heaven than was won for us by Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins and in His rising from the dead to conquer death itself.

The Easter season is longer than Lent, Advent and Christmas, because we are a resurrection people, an Easter people, and we need to be constantly reminded of the glory of the Resurrection and the promises it brings, because without it all we believe is in vain:

if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. - 1 Corinthians 15:17

If the Resurrection did not happen then none of this matters. 

If it truly did happen, then nothing matters more.

It should change absolutely everything about how we live our lives and what we hope for.

The Resurrection shows us God’s faithfulness to His promises to defeat sin and death. It is a glimpse of the glory that awaits us in eternal life.

Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55

Lord, let your face shine on us, so we would be constantly reminded of the hope that awaits us in Heaven, and live every day in pursuit of that hope!

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, April 14th, 2024, which is The Third Sunday of Easter - Cycle B: Psalms 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9.