Don't let the big words deter you from the Reality within. "Eschatological" is a theological buzzword that means "the Life of the Future," or "the Substance of Heaven" - complete with the smells, fulness of joy, and Life therein. When something is "eschatological," it carries the fragrance and fulness of all the Properties of Heaven, revealed to us in our present.
We know, for example, that there are no more tears in heaven - only everlasting joy. A person may have a joy-filled experience in Church one day. Some would call that and "eschatological experience" in that, the joy of Heaven's Future has, by God's Grace, been revealed in the heart of that person's Present. Similarly, when a person is healed of a condition or delivered of a demon, it has everything to do with the infusion of Heaven (where there is no sickness; where there are no demons) into the contemporary life of the Child of God.
All encounters of the Spirit are then, at their Source, eschatological in Nature.
In the Holy Eucharist we recite the ancient Words: "This is my Body broken for you" and "This is my Blood poured out for you." And, when the Elements are received, we usually hear words like, "The Body and Blood of Christ, keep you in everlasting life." But, if indeed we are receiving the Body of Christ - and all the benefits procured to us by the same - we need to be sure where that Body of Christ is coming from, . where this Person is currently living?
Let's be certain here: we are inviting a Person to become one with us. We are inviting him into the spiritual fabric of our souls. But what do we know about this Person? Where is he from? Is he from history, or is he from our future? In other words, in the Sacred Eucharist, are we receiving a tortured Body, crucified on a Cross on some obscure hill in Palestine, or are we receiving a Resurrected Body enthroned in Heavenly Places? Which "Jesus" is presented to us in the Real Presence - the Jesus of the Past or the Jesus of the Future? The difference makes all the difference in the world.
I would humbly propose that Christ's Eschatological Ethos is infused in the elements at the time of Consecration. The past would not be able to sustain us in the present, if not for the completion of the future's infusion into the mix. The reason we walk away from Eucharist fed, forgiven, nourished, empowered, and rekindled in hope is because we have had an encounter with the Eschatological Christ. The Risen Christ, who is now enthroned above - where there is no sin or sickness - where, one Day, we will also be - has bent back in time to meet us in our Present and, most importantly, has brought into our Present the Wondrous Graces of the Country of his Eternal Residence.
In the Eucharist he not only visits us from heaven but brings us gifts from that same place.
That is how a person can be instantly healed of a lifelong ailment or addiction when receiving Communion. Or how one, who is in depression on one side of the Cup, can rise to hope and renewed vision on the other side of the Cup. Heaven contains everything we need to guide us Home. And Heaven are the Garments of God, revealed in Jesus Christ, as we embrace and taste him at the Altar.
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