The Smell of Heaven

A couple of weeks ago I began smelling flowers at my workplace.

At first it was a faint whiff, and I wondered if perhaps I just imagined it. But soon the smell was unmistakable: a light, sweet smell that filled every room and hallway of the building.

Lilacs, I thought.

And sure enough, it was lilacs. Apparently the air conditioning system was drawing in air from the east side of our building, where a wall of lavender lilacs grew.

I was in heaven for a week or two as one of my favorite smells scented the building. (It probably wasn’t so heavenly for a co-worker who suffers from allergies.) The smell lifted my spirits and reminded me of the real Heaven. I thought of saints who emitted the “odor of sanctity,” the smell of flowers, either at their death or long after it, or from the wounds of a stigmata. In more general terms, the odor of sanctity refers to the state of a soul in grace.

So in my imagination, anyway, Heaven smells something like lilacs.

In the days leading up to today, when we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, the Church seems to have been preparing us for Jesus’ departure from Earth and what awaits us in Heaven – just as Jesus tried to prepare His apostles.

“In a little while the world will no longer see Me,” Jesus told us in Sunday’s Gospel.

A week before, He told us: “In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places . . . . And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be.”

For me, the scent of flowers at work were a little reminder of our eternal home with God. So were the birds I heard singing outside my home on Monday, Tuesday’s beautiful rainbow that followed a storm and Wednesday morning’s brilliant sunrise.

Creation sings of Heaven and our destiny there. We can glimpse it in a tender smile, taste it in a cold, refreshing drink, or feel it when a crushing pain is lifted.

And we can smell it in the sweet perfume of lilacs.

These are just a foretaste of something we can’t begin to grasp here on Earth, as Scripture tells us:

“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.”

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.