Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Luke's Gospel…..In the text Jesus asks two questions….“What is the Kingdom of God like?” & “To what can I compare it?”…......So I will ask you....What is your idea of heaven?…Is it a party?…Today when we speak to people about heaven they assume “everyone gets in the door”…..In the mean time do we consider the “things of God” while we are here on earth?…….Heaven is simply seeing God as he is…Standing in the presence of Pure Love…But before we “get there”….How must we prepare?……A good question…Do we ever consider it?
“Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified [whether in this life, or in the next life in Purgatory] live forever with Christ. They are like God forever, for they “see him as he is,” face to face.”
Years ago I was at a funeral Mass and a man after the Mass spoke about his father…He said his father “lived his life on his terms”….As I sat there I thought to myself…Does this person have any idea what it means to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?…..Jesus did not live his life on “his terms” so how can we possibly think that we can enter heaven and while we are on the earth live our life on “our terms”……….”Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross”………Jesus Christ came down to earth to heal humanity of its fallen nature…As we all know…We all are sinners…Jesus knew this and because he loved us beyond all telling, he humbled himself and walked among us….Jesus gave us all the “tools” to elevate and heal our fallen human nature and in the process to grow in holiness…..To strive to sanctify one's self is a process….Why is that process important?…Because we will not stand before God until we are made pure…Don’t believe the Americanized / Sanitized version of heaven…Heaven is not a party……We don’t just “zip right in the door” - It does not work that way……”Heaven is principally a state of utter and absolute fulfillment. In the possession of God in the beatific vision, the blessed will experience what cannot be put into words; a radical union with God that transcends anything we could imagine”….But before we get there, we need to be made pure…We either do the “heavy lifting” here on earth or it will be done in Purgatory……That means we can not die in the state of mortal sin…That means we need to confess our mortal sins to a Catholic Priest…..Because nothing enters heaven and stands before God expect for what is pure…So start the process now!
“Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored.”
Years ago I went to confession with a very famous Catholic Priest. Fr Andrew Apostoli was known all over the world for his devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. During the confession I did not have anything “off the hook” to confess but Father went on to tell me interestingly enough that I did not want to end up in Purgatory, that I should strive to go directly to heaven and at the end of the confession he gave me a prayer to Our Lady of Fatima to help me…I always remember that confession, not because of what I confessed but what Fr Andrew said…Again, it was strange, almost mysterious why Father Andrew brought Purgatory up to me that day…....What I confessed to him was not anything too “over the top”….Its not like I “killed somebody”…Yet Father focused his instruction to me about not ending up in Purgatory….I still remember what he told me to this very day
“Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom”
Getting back to St Luke’s gospel from Mass today and the two questions asked by Jesus….Do we have a realistic idea as to what heaven is?…..If we want to end up there, and I am sure we do, we should learn about what our Catholic faith teaches about heaven….. Because being in heaven means spending time with God, so logically speaking, don’t you think we should start spending time with God while we are on the earth, in the here and now?…How do we do that you may ask?…By praying…By receiving the Sacraments….By going to Mass….Or will people say of us when we die, “He lived his life on his terms”…..Something to consider - Don’t you think?…It all boils down to the two questions Jesus asked today in the gospel….”What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it?”
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