Have you ever had a dream about a love one who has already passed away? Maybe even someone who’s passed away a long time ago? I think probably most people have, whether it’s one time, or even on a regular basis. Someone told me a while back that that’s how our loved ones who’ve passed away visit us, through our dreams. I used to think that was kind of silly. But the more I thought about it, the more I kind of liked the idea, even if it wasn’t true.
This Advent, I was reading the Gospel (MATTHEW 1:18-25). In that passage, it talks about the angel of the Lord appearing to Joseph ‘in a dream’. As is often the case when I’m reading scriptures that I’ve read many times, something new things will be revealed to me, and with this particular passage, I realized that indeed, people (in particular, people who’ve passed) do come to us in our dreams.
These dreams, for those who’ve had them, can be very comforting because it’s a way of visiting someone we haven’t seen in a while, maybe even years. I never really accepted the fact that this could be until now. And it makes sense. If an angel came to Joseph in his sleep and delivered one of the most important messages in history, a message that would change the world, then why wouldn’t our own “angels” come to us in our sleep?
I guess the only down side of this is that we can’t control when it happens. I mean, it’s not like picking up the phone and calling on them when we want. No, we have to wait for them to come to us. But even that is a very strong reminder of what all faith filled people are doing…waiting. We wait to receive the Eucharist on Sunday, and we wait for special occasions in our parishes and churches, and many of us wait patiently (or impatiently) for our friends and family members who have either not yet discovered or have gone away from our faith. It’s important however to be mindful of what we are waiting for the most. And that is the day when we no longer have to wait for our loved ones in a dream, but we are reunited with them in the Heavenly Kingdom.
Just as in the song “I Can Only Imagine” I try to imagine what that will be like when I finally see everyone I’ve known throughout my life who has passed away, my Mother-In-Law, my Sister, my Dad, and even my little Niece who died when she was just a couple of years old. I look forward to the day when I can be reunited with all of them. In the meantime, I hope that they will come to me in my dreams.
When the angel came to Joseph to deliver his message, which told that him he would be receiving Jesus into his life, it was like he was receiving the Eucharist for the first time. Isn’t that awesome? And he knew that he needed to do more. He needed to act on that dream because he trusted in the message. We too are being delivered a message every time we receive the Eucharist at Mass, a message of hope, and a message of salvation. And if one day we are going to be reunited with our loved ones, just as Joseph acted on the message, we too need to take action by acting out our faith with ones we come in contact with every day, in our families, at our jobs, and out in the world.
Take the message of God out into the world. In the meantime, pleasant dreams everyone.
God Bless.
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