Heaven tomorrow?

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

This is the third of a three-part meditation based on this passage from the Rule of Saint Benedict:

Live in fear of judgment day and have a great horror of hell.

Yearn for everlasting life with holy desire.

Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die. (RB 4:44-47)

Today we take up the last line of the passage, the destiny that the first two lines are meant to prepare us for. Yesterday we emphasized the virtue of hope as the means by which we could properly yearn for everlasting life, and now we come to the endpoint which is actually a point of departure into a new beginning.

If I am aware every day that I am going to die, and I reflect on it with hope, then it might be possible for me also to consider that my death leads beyond itself to heaven. And that is precisely what I invite you to contemplate, as I repeat what I said yesterday: our destiny is heaven. Perhaps the next step in your existence will be the time when you pass through purification and enter into the heaven which you have yearned for but you have not be able to picture. It will indeed be more than we can think of. Consider Saint Paul quoting Isaiah:

Eye has not seen, ear has not heard,

nor has it so  much as dawned on man

what God has prepared for those who love him. (I Cor 2:9)

That is what is awaiting us when we die, assuming that God’s mercy for us triumphs over any judgment due us, and if we have learned nothing during this past year of mercy, let it be that mercy always triumphs over judgment.

So what are the practical consequences of thinking this way? Well, what do you think? What difference will it make in your life if you knew that tomorrow you would be entering heaven? How about judgments, resentments, likes or dislikes? How might you treat the person(s) you find it most difficult to live with? What affect does it have on your priorities? how about good deeds? What might you be able to let go of that you have been holding onto for so long? What about your worries, concerns, petty agendas or fiercely held opinions?

What does any of it matter if you know that tomorrow you will have a chance to be in heaven?

Think on this. Think with gratitude. If you are American, be thankful for it as you celebrate our holiday tomorrow.

And may God bless you in all things.

There will not be a reflection tomorrow due to the American holiday of Thanksgiving.