"It is what it is”

Today at Holy Mass the Universal Church commemorates the Solemnity of All Saints…What is a saint?…To put is simply…Its a person who is in heaven….Most people think of a saint from the lens of those select few who are canonized by Rome…And those few clearly are saints…But what about the rest of us?….If a person enters into eternal life (i.e. Heaven) - They are just as much a saint as say St Francis or St Padre Pio….Are you aware of this?…..So what does that mean for us in the here and now?….It means we do not just “float” into heaven when we die….This is arguably one of the biggest misconception throughout the enter Christian world - That includes many Catholic circles as well….The Church has NEVER taught this…Before we enter heaven and stand before the Beatific Vision - We must be made pure….And if we cooperate with God - By living a Sacramental life, as we are ALL called to at our Baptism, along with the trials and tribulations we endure in this life that will “mold” us - Whether we like it or not - In the “furnace” of that “process” - We will become the person were born to be! - And be “ready” to stand before the Lord….If we look at life here on earth through that lens - The lens of God - Then we will be ready to face God when our time on this earth comes to an end…And if we have any small “rough edges” left - God in his goodness and mercy will take care of them in Purgatory…Some may read this - Some may even be Catholic and say…”That is not MY Jesus” who says things like that!!!!….Sorry to “burst your bubble” - But what I just noted is a perennial teaching of the Church - Not even the Pope can change it…..”After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb”……Having a mature Catholic faith means we actually know what the Church teaches - The next step after we know what the Church teaches - Is to live it….Is the “god” most Americans “created” in their head really who God is?…..Not to mention their “ideas” about heaven?…….All well-formed and functioning adults know full well - WE do NOT get to define reality…There is a saying where I come from in New Jersey - “It is what it is”…..God is God and we do not get to define him…And Heaven is God’s house - Right! - That means its God’s rules - And that means we get into God’s house according to “those rules”….Once again and its worth repeating……“It is what it is”

“Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me,"Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?"I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows."He said to me,"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."

For the readers of my blog who are not from America, particularly from New York City, you may not know who Fr Andrew Apostoli is….Fr Andrew before his death was a rather famous priest…..And one time I went to confession with him - It was a face to face confession too - Not in the confession booth….He was giving a talk that I attended and after his presentation he made himself available for confession in the seats in the back of the auditorium….So as I sat before Fr Andrew, I was nervous - He was a famous man and a holy man for that matter…He did not know me either but the only thing he told me after my confession was that I should not want to go to Purgatory - That I should want to go “straight to heaven”….I found that rather odd - My confession was not “so bad” - I did not confess “killing anyone” - But for some reason - The idea of Purgatory was the ONLY thing Fr Andrew spoke to me about - And he was emphatic, so much so he gave me a special Fatima prayer…..In the life of a Catholic, there are some confessions that we always remember - There are many reason for that and I will not explore those reasons in this reflection…But for me - This was “one of those confessions” - I have never forgotten it to this day…..And it’s been well over twenty years that the confession took place….Father Andrew Apostoli has since gone on to his eternal reward….In my humble opinion, I believe he could very easily be canonized as a saint by the Church - Fr Andrew was a very special person and a VERY holy man….Since the age of twenty-two, its been over the thirty years since I committed my life to Christ as a faithful Roman Catholic, and during that time I have been blessed to have met many VERY holy men and women - Some even world famous…..And when one meets an authentically holy person - YOU NEVER FORGET the encounter - Trust me about that!…Holy people “leave a mark” on you….And when a holy man, like Fr Andrew Apostoli tells me, without even knowing me, that I DO NOT want to go to Purgatory - That I should strive to go “straight into heaven” - Well - I cannot speak for YOU  - But as for me - I am going to take his words seriously……Do we take the teachings of the Church seriously? - When it comes to Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell?….Do we have a well-formed and mature Catholic faith?…..Either way - WE do not get to define reality…..So I will say it again - I hope your listening - “It is what it is”…..JMJ

Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.