The best gifts have two distinct aspects: they can be enjoyed immediately, and they can be contemplated indefinitely. In our own culture, this was reflected when chocolates (or flowers) and jewelry were considered the traditional gifts for women: they could immediately enjoy the chocolates, and keep the jewelry to remember the occasion for ever. I suppose men are considered able to both enjoy and keep a tie or pipe…
This standard of gift-giving almost mirrors the temporal and eternal – time and eternity – in our lives. We live from day to day, only able to act in the moment we have, but we look forward to an eternity in which we will be beyond time. Chocolate offers a few short moments of pleasure – jewelry goes beyond those moments. It’s trite, but there is something accurate in the idea that “diamonds are forever.” At the very least, they are intended to last forever, representing the eternal love of the giver.
Taking this idea to an even higher level, I was reminded of a homily given by one of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, who pointed out that the words “Taste and see that the Lord is good” can refer specifically to our Eucharistic Lord. We taste Him, for a moment, when we receive Him in Communion. We see Him in Eucharistic adoration. In a way, Christ has given us Himself in the same two-part gift: for a short time, and for an indefinitely long contemplation. We are united to Him physically in Communion for a few moments, and we see Him in Eucharistic adoration for as long as we care to stay.
Both aspect shows us something of the Beatific Vision: in Communion, we are reminded that we will with Christ in our resurrected bodies, physically; in adoration we are reminded that this will not be a short moment, but will last forever. When we “taste and see that the Lord is good,” we experience two real aspects of eternal life.
In the Beatific Vision, of course, the gift will be perfect and united – we will be wholly united to Christ, not only for a few moments but for eternity. We will “taste and see” His goodness simultaneously and forever. In our temporal state, though, this is reflected in Christ’s gift of the Eucharist, in Communion and adoration. And we seem to see this ourselves, when we give gifts to be both immediately enjoyed and forever contemplated.