HEAVEN

On the old Bravo program, “Inside the Actors’ Studio”, where stars were interviewed, the final question was always, “If there is a God, what would you like God to say to you at the end of your life?” The most common response was, “Welcome”…welcome home, welcome to heaven. Where is heaven?

Centuries ago when we thought Earth was all there was, and later when we believed that the Sun and other stars revolved around us, we considered heaven to be located “up there”. I remember visiting a third-grade class at St. Paul’s in Chicago on the Feast of All Saints, greeting them with, “Happy Feast Day!” They said, “We’re not saints. The saints live in heaven.” And when I asked, “Where is heaven?”, they said, “Arriba” ~ up there. So I asked, “Where is God?” They said, “Everywhere.” “Is God here?” “Yes. God is in each of us.” “Well”, I said, “if God is here, so too is heaven.” I suspect we have heard this many times, though (like these children) we have some difficulty believing it.

There’s a Sicilian fable about a young boy, Pino, who has a great devotion to his patron saint, St. Joseph (Giuseppe in Italian; the common nickname of those with this name is Pino or Peppino). Pino always prayed to St. Joseph, but was not very faithful about Mass or praying to Jesus or Mary. Eventually he dies, and goes knocking at heaven’s gate. When St. Peter opens the gate, he says, “What are you doing here? You hardly ever prayed to Our Lord or the Blessed Mother.” Pino responds, “Yes, I know but I thought I might just have a minute to see St. Joseph.” Peter is about to shut the gate when he sees someone running and yelling, “Pino! Pinuzzu!” It’s St. Joseph. When he arrives at the gate, St. Peter says, “Now look Joe, I know this man has had a great devotion to you all his life. But I can’t let him in.” St. Joseph looks at him and responds, “Well Pete, you gotta do what you gotta do. But if Pino doesn’t come in, I’m taking my wife and son, and we’ll just go somewhere else.” Case closed…or should I say, Gate Opened. Alleluia!

Heaven is where Our Lord is. Find Him...find the good...the best in yourself...live this quest/passion/dream that God has planted in us... and you will find heaven. We will know we have found it because we will feel fully alive...see everything with new eyes…feel re-born…resurrected. Easter is a time to be re-born and resurrected…to see the Risen Christ in those around us, and in ourselves.

In my last blog I wrote of the powerful symbol of the empty tomb. Coupled with the empty tomb is the rock that was rolled away. I wonder if you have pondered about this rock...not only who rolled it...but more importantly why? Of course, WE rolled it to seal the tomb ~ not to keep the dead from leaving, but to keep us from entering. And Christ UNROLLED it...so that there would be no barrier between us.

Whenever we point to heaven out “there”, rather than “here”, we are again rolling the rock to keep us separated. Even those of us who believe in the Holy Presence in the Eucharist have a tendency to roll the rock when we put the Eucharist in the tabernacle, and forget that we are living, breathing, walking tabernacles. Why do we keep rolling that rock?

Perhaps because we too easily see our human frailties and cannot really imagine the Holy Presence within. Our focus in on our Original Sin instead of our Original Blessing….the blessing that God gazed upon us at creation, and what God saw was “very good”…the blessing that Christ came to call us brothers and sisters, children of God…the blessing that He said He would always be with us.

From the beginning of time, we were made of the holy stardust that came/comes from God. Instead of pondering what God might say to us when our earthly journey ends, I wonder how we might live our lives if we truly believed who we are, and who is with us at every moment. Might we not discover HEAVEN on earth?