There is a long list of things that people never hear in sermons anymore: mortal sin, judgment, Hell, purgatory, fornication … you name it. But there is another omission that is rather odd given the tenor of these times: Heaven.Posted on 09/18/2014 2:06:25 AM PDT by markomalley
There is a long list of things that people never hear in sermons anymore: mortal sin, judgment, Hell, purgatory, fornication … you name it. But there is another omission that is rather odd given the tenor of these times: Heaven.
Almost no one talks of Heaven and I seldom hear any expressed desire to go there. The way most of our prayers sound, we are content to have God make this world a better place. People will ask God to fix their health, fix their finances, and so forth. But quite absent from most prayers is any mention of Heaven or a desire to go there and be with God.
Many old prayers spoke of longing for Heaven. The Hail, Holy Queen laments that we live in exile, in a valley of tears, and are poor, banished children of Eve who long to see the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb, Jesus. Lots of old hymns sang of being free at last, of flying away to Heaven some bright morning when this life is over and looking forward to that day, “By and By when the morning comes.” Yes, soon and very soon! Older churches were designed to remind Catholics of Heaven and their structures were often centered around the vision of Heaven from the Book of Revelation.
Today, most of the focus of our so-called spiritual life is on making this world a better place, almost as if we were saying to God, “Make this world a little more comfortable and I’ll just stay here forever!”
Honestly, do you long for Heaven or are you just trying to make it through to tomorrow? Have you ever heard a sermon on Heaven? Does the thought of it excite you? It IS after all our reward, that eye has not seen and ear has never heard!
Granted, today there is a serious problem with universalism wherein it is assumed that almost everyone is going straight to Heaven when he dies. And maybe that’s part of the problem. Since so few think they can possibly lose the gift of Heaven, most take it for granted (literally and figuratively). Why be vigilant or care that much about something that is certain and has to be entered through a rather unpleasant door called death? We tend to regard lightly what we get for free, but if we must sacrifice to get it, we value it more highly. (If we had to scrimp to be able buy tickets for some event, we’ll be sure to get there on time!)
Another factor is that we live very comfortably these days. It is a kind of comfort that both distracts us from spiritual things and focuses us on worldly things. Our comforts also make the Cross seem strange, even immoral. Who cares about Heaven, especially since you have to die to get there! Instead most would rather focus on expanding their cable service or taking a cruise.
Yes, Heaven is a pretty remote thought for many today.
I thought about this yesterday, on the Feast of St. Cyprian, as I read through some of his works and happened upon an account of his martyrdom and also a meditation he wrote on the joy of Heaven. Consider this brief account of his martyrdom and then his short reflection on longing for Heaven:
On arriving at the spot where he was to die, Bishop Cyprian took off his mantle (overcoat), and fell to his knees and prostrated himself before God. Then, arising he took off his dalmatic which he gave to his attending deacons and remained in his long white robe. He payed his executioner the sum of 25 gold denarii. While this gesture was not unheard of, especially for a person of some means, it nevertheless tells us of the graciousness and forgiveness in the heart of Cyprian. He himself tied the blindfold over his eyes after which his hands were tied. Kneeling again he awaited the final blow. At length the sword passed and Cyprian ended his pilgrimage here. It was September 14, 258.
Reflecting on his martyrdom we do well to recall his own words of Heaven,
We have solemnly renounced the world and therefore, while we continue in it, should behave like strangers and pilgrims. We should welcome that happy day (of our death) which is to fix us, in our proper habitation, to rescue us from the embarrassments and snares of this world, and remove us to the kingdom of heaven.
Who of us, if he had long been a sojourner in a foreign land would not desire to return to his native country? Who of us, when he had begun to sail there would not wish for a prosperous wind to carry him to his desired home with speed, that he might sooner embrace his friends and relatives? We must account paradise our country.
There friends and parents and brethren and children without number wait for us and long to celebrate our happy arrival. They are in secure possession of their own joy yet are solicitous for ours. How great will be our common joy upon the transports of meeting together in those blessed abodes.
How unutterable must be the pleasures of that kingdom which have no intermission. There we shall meet with the glorious choir of apostles; with the goodly company of the prophets; with an innumerable multitude of holy martyrs; there we shall be blessed with the sight of those triumphant virgins who have subdued the inordinate lusts of the flesh; and there we shall behold the rewards of those who, by feeding the hungry and consoling the afflicted have with their earthly treasure stored up for themselves treasure in heaven.
To these beloved brethren let us hasten with eager longing!
Let us pray that it may befall us speedily to be with them; speedily to come to Christ. May God see this our purpose. May Christ look upon this resolution of our mind and faith, who will give more ample rewards of His love to those whose longings for Him have been greater (De Mortalitate, 26).
Yes, speedily may we be rescued from the embarrassments and snares of this world. And may we stay in the Lord’s narrow way that nothing will prevent us from beholding the beautiful face of God, for whom we long and whom we must ever more deeply desire! Let us hasten to the Lord and Heaven with eager longing!
Msgr Pope ping
If you’ve experienced along illness and know your not going to get better you think about heaven daily
I hear about people longing for heaven every day on the TV. Usually right before they blow themselves up.
I know I am so unworthy of heaven. Only by reliance on the atonement of Jesus sacrificial death and resurrection and free gift of salvation can be relied upon.
Missing out on entering heaven is the greatest tragedy anyone can experience forever.
That’s where I’m at.
My prayers are pretty much just for mercy on my wretched soul.
That is one of the reasons why I admire the true stories of people who have had what are called “near death experiences” or NDE’s.
BINGO!
Fans of Everybody Loves Raymond may recall the episode where Ray sits down with his 8 y/o daughter to address the question of where babies come from. Actually, Allie's question, though similar, was quite different: "If we all go to Heaven when we die, then why does God want us here first? Why does God want us here? Yeah, why? Why are we here, Daddy?" Not surprisingly, Ray had no idea.
Poor catechesis, Ping!
Everybody wants to go to Heaven, just nobody wants to go now!!! Except me!
All kidding aside, once you have experienced Heaven and return here to this realm, you feel so empty it is as though your closest friend died and ripped your heart out in the process.
I died from meningitis in 1988 and experienced Heaven. Not only did it eliminate my fear of death, it caused me to greatly miss the feeling of being in God’s radiance. No longer did I want to be here in earth. It truly is like finding the treasure buried in the field. Here it is, over twenty five years later and I still remember the experience as though it is a current experience.
Recently I was deep in prayer and crying, begging God to allow me to return to His radiance and experience His Love again as I miss it so much. His voice immediately responded, “Love me in all the people around you.”
There is an important lesson in life!
When we are full of ourselves we have no room for God. When we are empty, nothing can fill the void except God.
When a society equates sin with enjoyment, it’s hard for people to view Heaven (as traditionally taught) as anything other than the deprivation of all that they care most about. There’s nothing appealing except to continue the present life, but with fewer constraints.
As for me, my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
BINGO!
I agree 100%.
My Father's mansion has many rooms. Some rooms are near to Him and some are very far away from Him. When you really Love someone, you want to be as close as possible to Him at all times. That's why Bother Lawrence's writings are such profound truth. I passed through a great dark cloud where I saw many mis-shaped beings and gargoyle looking figures. But the bright light that shone upon me from above eliminated the possibility of me experiencing any fear at the sight of these odd beings. This is when I realized that the beings served a purpose, i.e. to create fear in anyone not connected to Heaven and serve as an etheric fence to keep them out of the higher realms of Heaven. Fear acts as an anchor, just as hate, guilt, or any other obstacle to Love within our souls. God's perfect Love casts out that fear and allows us to go to Heaven. Once there, you do not want to return to this hell we are in. Jesus came here to teach us how to get to our real home, with God. For me, Jesus' great sacrifice was not dying on the cross and returning to a solid connection with Our Father, it was disconnecting from His Father and lowering himself into the flesh at our level to teach us how to grow. That was the greatest sacrifice, i.e. giving up His experience of Communing with His Father to blaze the trail for us.
Preachers are generally tainted to begin with. Don’t forget — Jesus warned us about scribes. Guess who ‘educates’ most preachers and priests?
They need to read David Limbaugh’s book and learn about the miraculous side of God. Without modern day miracles, the church is dead.
"...Teach me to realize that this world is passing, That my true future is the happiness of heaven, That life on earth is short, And the life to come eternal.
Help me to prepare for death With a proper fear of judgment, But a greater trust in your goodness. Lead me safely through death To the endless joy of heaven. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen."
In his spiritual autobiography, "Surprised By Joy," CS Lewis indicated that one of the principle driving forces behind his turning away from atheism and paganism was the hunger for the eternal. Lewis reasoned that all human longings and desires (i.e. hunger, thirst, sex, etc.) could be either distorted or perverted into dreadful sin, but were also placed within us to serve a higher purpose when properly fulfilled. Lewis suggested that our Creator would not imbue us with a desire and longing for Heaven, or at least an innate curiosity about the afterlife if there were no means of fulfilling it.
It was such a strong theme of Lewis's that Brooke Fraser wrote her aptly titled, "CS Lewis Song." Here's a cover with the lyrics...
I thought that only angels and the saints, and perhaps a few visitors (Elijah, John), were allowed into heaven.
This says it all!
Recently I was deep in prayer and crying, begging God to allow me to return to His radiance and experience His Love again as I miss it so much.
Most of us go through life seeking "true" love. I recall the Conversion Story of Roy Schoeman. In it, he describes the day he "fell into heaven" while walking through the woods. He writes:
I felt myself in the immediate presence of God. I was aware of His infinite exaltedness, and of His infinite and personal love for me. I saw my life as though I was looking back on it after death, in His presence, and could see everything which I would be happy about and everything which I would wish I had done differently. I saw that every action I had ever done mattered, for good or for evil. I saw that everything which had ever happened in my life had been perfectly designed for my own good from the infinitely wise and loving hand of God, not only including but especially those things which I at the time I thought had been the greatest catastrophes. I saw that my two greatest regrets when I died would be every moment which I had wasted not doing anything of value in the eyes of God, and all of the time and energy which I had wasted worrying about not being loved when every moment of my existence I was bathed in an infinite sea of love, although unaware of it. I saw that the meaning and purpose of my life was to worship and serve my Lord and Master, in whose presence I found myself. I wanted to know His name, so that I could worship Him properly, so that I could follow "His" religion.
Your testimony bears this out.
“There is only one tragedy in life: not to have been a saint.” - Leon Bloy
When we are full of ourselves (politicians) we have no room for God. When we are empty (the American people as a whole), nothing can fill the void except God.
This says it all!
I was at total peace when Obama was reelected. A few weeks before the election I came to the realization that God is in control and what is supposed to happen will happen.
Election day for me was a confirmation of God being in control. We are in the transition times, (I don’t like using the term “end times” as we are actually in a new beginning.)
People who focus on what they are letting go of bring fear into their lives and fight the process of growing closer to God. People who focus on the destination and Love God are described in the rapture process.
It’s like learning to ride a bicycle. If you look at a point down the road, ahead of you and focus on it, you are quickly off and riding. But if you focus on what is beside you or behind you, you quickly crash!
Thank you for sharing the excellent post.
I believe that long illness can be a blessing from God to people who might have otherwise never thought about it.
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