“What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him”…..In the meantime - Seek out a “thin place” - In fact turn your home into one

Today at Holy Mass in the first reading from the Book of Exodus we hear that every time Moses spoke with God his face became radiant…..”As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the LORD”……I have found that people who are very close to God and I have met a few, when we see them, their eyes have a light in them - Literally, their eyes have a “shine” to them……For example, google a clip of Fulton Sheen, who was a very holy American priest who had a television show for years in the 1950s and 60s….When he spoke, literally, his eyes had this glow to them….When I see that in the person, I listen up…But I digress, back to Moses and the first reading…..Because his face became radiant as a result of his conversations with God, he covered his face when he walked among his people…Another sign of a holy person - All holy people are humble like Our Lord and Our Lady were humble…But I digress again………..”Then the children of Israel would see that the skin of Moses' face was radiant; so he would again put the veil over his face until he went in to converse with the LORD”……This idea of a “veil” is used in Catholic teaching to illustrate the barrier between heaven and earth….”A veil” is between us and God - No matter how close you get to Our Lord - As long as we walk this earth - That “veil” stands between us and God…..So we “see” - But only partially…We “hear” - But only partially…..Now for my point - The closer we get to God, the “thinner” that veil gets…..And the “thinner” that veil gets - The more joy and peace we will have here on earth……Our world gets it wrong! - BY FAR, the happiest people are those closest to God - Why?…..Because God is PURE LOVE and to be in his presence brings with it deep joy and peace - That its why the eyes of holy people “shine” the way they do…And that is why Moses’ face became radiant when he stood in the presence of God.

“I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me.”

As my wife and I were growing our family, I would tell her we need to create and seek out what I call “Islands of Goodness”…..Places in this world, where God is present….The Irish have another name for these “Islands of Goodness”….They would say - “This is a thin place” - What do our Irish friends mean by “a thin place”…..What that means is, a place where the veil between heaven and earth is “thin”…..I have been to such places in my life and I seek them out to this very day for me and my family…..Allow me to illustrate this idea for you……When I was single I would “vacation” in Kolkata India right before Christmas….Someone reading this may say, “You vacationed in a slum?!?” - YES - Allow me to explain.....As we all know, Kolkata India is known to be a very poor and chaotic city in this world…But Kolkata if you were serving with Mother Teresa’s sisters was what my Irish friends would call - “A thin place” - A place where God was close….And when you are in such a place - You feel God’s presence in a very real and tangible way!……I would “vacation” there and serve the poor with Mother Teresa’s sisters and the people I worked with at the bank in New York City could not understand…But what they did not understand was, when I was in that “thin place”, I received something that no other “vacation spot” in the world could give to me - I felt very tangibly the presence of God - He was close….Also, its important to note that the people I encountered in Kolkata, both the nuns and the volunteers from all over the world were very “special people”…Its very refreshing to be around authentically good people….I work in a cut throat business and not everyone is lets just say “nice”…But when I was around the people in Kolkata, these people brought me hope and they too made my time there not only refreshing (believe that or not) but added to Kolkata being a “thin place”……As Catholic parents, its our job to create what the Church calls the Domestic Church in our home….Our home should become a “thin place” - A sanctuary from the world…How do we do that?….The only way to do that is to rely on God’s grace…Once again - Daily Prayer, Weekly Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Weekly Fasting, Monthly Confession and Frequent Reception of the Eucharist at Mass…..We ALL have to come to grips with the fact that we ALL are flawed - That is why we must rely on God to help us create a “thin place” in our home - Where the veil between heaven and earth is thin….This is within our grasp…But only if we rely on God’s grace…Such a place - A “thin place” - Can not be self manufactured

"The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field”

Today we hear at Mass how Moses’ face became radiant when he prayed in front of the Lord….Prayer has a way of changing us, this is why we must spend time with the Lord….Its a life changing practice to sit before our Lord who is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament…For those who are not Catholic reading this, such a practice is called Adoration…..A friend of mine who is a Carmelite Priest told me something I will share with you - Adoration is like radiation…..Just like when you sit on the beach and the sun radiates its heat upon your face - Just like if someone has cancer - They go through chemo-therapy and receive “radiation” to shrink the cancer in their body…The same thing happens when we sit before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament - God “radiates” his love upon us and as a result we slowly change…….…..As we all know, our world is far from perfect and if we are being fair and honest, we would have to admit, we too are all flawed…That is why we need grace…Its only through God’s grace that we can experience a “thin place” - A place where the veil between heaven and earth is thin…..When you find such a place - Trust me - You know it….Now just think - If experiencing a “thin place” on earth is wonderful, think how great heaven will be, when the veil between us and God is removed?!!?.......…“What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him”…..In the meantime - Seek out a “thin place” - In fact turn your home into one