When we think of a home, we see an image of a warm, welcoming and safe environment. Home is where we are meant to find peace, to rest and to share hospitality with our neighbors. Love, communication and selfless sacrifices all live in a healthy home. But we know what God has revealed to us, and to our ancestors, is that our dwellings on earth are temporary. Even with a comfortable home, we feel something deep inside of us that is missing because we were created to be in the company of God, face to face. That is what heaven is. Heaven is the home that God intends to share with us when we love him and keep his commandments.

What if I told you that we can catch a glimpse of heaven here on earth? It’s true, and it’s no secret. We can find a place that fills the hole in our hearts, a space that God reserves for himself. We come home when we partake in the Eucharist at Mass and pray before him in adoration. In receiving our Lord and gazing at him under the form of bread, we prepare ourselves for the place where we will find ultimate wholeness.

To be at home is to be part of a family. God gave the Israelites a covenant, a family bond, when he revealed himself and gave us the Ten Commandments.

Christ came and gave himself in loving sacrifice so that all of humanity can participate in him, the new covenant.

We are meant to imitate Jesus, to serve those who live under our roofs and those whom we encounter.

This month, you’ll read about the new home for a mom experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, plus visiting our grandparents and the elderly. We also focus on obedience in the practice of Natural Family Planning, a way for married couples to follow God’s will with the children they bring into their home. Most importantly, we begin the celebration of the Eucharistic Revival, reigniting our Love for Christ Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament, our home on earth.

We must work tirelessly to extend God’s new covenant to all our brothers and sisters in South Carolina, especially those who are in most need of our love and service. Let us spread the Gospel in thought, word and deed, and open the doors of our homes to Christ, who is the source and summit of our lives.

In Christ’s love,

Most Rev. Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS

Bishop of Charleston