One of the things that has stayed with me from Theresa's Divine Liturgy was the homily given by Fr. Robert Rankin. At one point he held up a tapestry of the last supper and said that when you look at a tapestry from behind, the image is not very clear. Yet when you look at it the correct way, the image becomes crystal clear. Another line from that homily was that when you go beyond the veil into eternity, you will not have any questions.
The photo above was taken in Paris at the Basilica of Sacre Coeur in 2018. It came from one of the many mosaics that surround the altar dome. We were looking through pictures of the various churches we had visited in Paris and when I looked at this photo, something became very apparent to me.
If you enlarge the photo, you will see that the first two saints are St. Theresa and St. Rose. That was the name given at birth to Theresa. What suddenly occurred to me was that she chose the name Genevieve for her confirmation when she turned Catholic at 18. The part that gave me chills was that my Jennifer's name saint is St. Genevieve.
In so many ways and so many situations, I catch a glimpse of how interwoven our lives are. The irony of this is how long it took me to make the connection. We received a beautiful icon for our wedding of St. Patrick and St. Genevieve. We found a statue of St. Genevieve in Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. We visited the church and venerated the relics of St. Genevieve in Paris. But it
wasn't until last night, looking at a picture that it came to me.
While I am still on this side of the veil, I don't see all the ways our lives are connected and directed by the giver of life. I sure hope that Fr. Rankin is correct and at the moment I pierce the veil and see the other side, there will be no questions and all things will be revealed to me. Until that moment, I will cherish the little moments when I catch a glimpse of just how blessed and directed our (Jennie and Patrick) lives are.
