"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
The human heart longs to be in communion. Isn't this what we were made for - to love and be loved?  To be in communion with God and one another? We long for this Paradise of Love so deeply that we often try to fill the void within us on our own - not being willing to wait for God to fill it. We simply want to fill the emptiness we feel with something just so we don't feel the hunger pains anymore. So we begin to consume, consume, consume whatever we can grab ahold of so we can hide the fact that we're hungry. But ultimately the hunger always returns because we aren't consuming what can really fill our appetites. Too often we seek temporary relief while Jesus is calling out to us, "Come to me! I can give you rest. I can fill your hunger. I can give you Paradise." 

The secret is not to attempt to deceive yourself into thinking you're not hungry, but rather to allow your hunger to grow so that the true Bread from Heaven can fill you even more. He wants to fill you but you must remember that Jesus said "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" from the cross to a thief who was on a cross next to him. It is only in suffering that you can enter into your hunger and allow it to grow deeper so that your heart can expand to its limits to be able to be filled from the utter depths to the top and overflow in a cascade of Love. 

He proves he wants to fill you by giving himself to you in the Eucharist - but you must be disposed to receiving the graces he gives in this sublime and Most Blessed Sacrament of self-gift. You must allow yourself to be hungry for him when you approach the altar so when you receive him you will have a taste of Paradise preparing you for that day, when by his grace, you will feast in its fullness forever. 

Jesus, I'm hungry for you. Come and fill me.