Mother Julian
I delighted in no other heaven than Jesus,
who shall be my bliss when I come there.
And this has ever been a comfort to me:
that I chose Jesus for my heaven,
by His grace, in all this time
of suffering and sorrow.
And that had been a learning for me
that I should evermore do so,
choosing only Jesus for my heaven
in well and in woe.
(Julian, Chapter XIX)
When Julian tells us “I chose Jesus for my heaven,” she reminds us that Heaven is not a metaphor, not a theological proposition. In the Incarnate Christ, heaven itself is Incarnate — made real and solid — in this world. And this is not some place we come to at a later date, after we leave this world. In the presence of Jesus the Reign of Heaven is made physically present in our selves, our souls and bodies even now. And as we choose Jesus for our heaven, so we choose the least of God’s creatures as bearers of grace to us.
~ Fr. Will, ObJN
