“At the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?” (Luke 20:33)
In their attempt to discredit Jesus’ teaching about the resurrection, the Sadducees presented a comical scenario that made heaven sound a lot like earth. But Jesus made it clear that heaven isn’t just more of the same. It isn’t a matter of the quantity of goodness we will experience; it’s a matter of the quality, the type, of goodness we will inherit.
Think about the Mass. Externally, it consists of actions we are all very familiar with: prayers and hymns, sitting, standing, and kneeling. But at the same time, the liturgy presents us with a much bigger vision of a much bigger reality. It points us to a banquet that is qualitatively different from any feast we’ve experienced. For at Mass, heaven touches earth, and the Lord offers himself to us as our bread and wine. Because it is a sacrament, the familiar actions are infused with grace, enabling us to touch God himself!
Now think about your own prayer time. You may be concerned with overcoming a certain temptation, but God may be asking you to put aside these concerns for a while so that he can work on something deeper— and set you free from so much more!
Similarly, your prayers of intercession may be limited by modest horizons, but God may be asking you to cast your net far wider, maybe to pray for an end to abortion or for the victime of war in Afghanistan. Expanding our expectations like this is another way that God wants to help us touch heaven. He wants to give us a new way of thinking—something as deep as it is broad.
The best way to avoid limiting the Holy Spirit is to make sure you are devoting part of your prayer to listening to him. Don’t fill up all your time with talking—no matter how noble your intentions are. Try your best to sit quietly in his presence. If you let him do some talking, you’ll find your heart and mind expanding day after day!
“Father, I know that heaven is far beyond what my limited imagination can comprehend. Come and broaden my vision a little more each day, so that I can cooperate with your vast, surprising, and awesome grace!”
Revelation 11:4-12; Psalm 144:1-2, 9-10