Reflection on Heaven from Sister Mary Jane

Reflection on the Gospel 

By Sister Mary Jane Wallace, O.S.B.

     This Gospel this morning is all about Heaven - the home of Jesus, and our future home!  Jesus advises us to keep our lamps lit and to be ready.  Long before you heard this Gospel, when did you first hear the word Heaven?  Who spoke it to you, and under what circumstances?

     Is your understanding of Heaven the same now as it was as a child?  As a 3-year-old, I remember asking my father - "where is my Mother, where is my new baby brother?"  I was told, "they are in heaven - they left Daddy and you and went to be with God in heaven".  

     Most of us grew up with the Baltimore Catechism and memorized the questions and answer to "why did God make you?".  The answer was “God made me to know Him, to love and serve Him and be happy with Him forever in Heaven!"

     We have all been on that journey to heaven for many years, and Jesus reminds us in the Gospel reading to  "Be ready!  For you do not know the hour I will come and take you home"!

     It has been a long journey, and sometimes in our weakness, we feel tired and overwhelmed in our daily effort to “be ready”.  In my reflection book for today, Jesus speaks to us in the words of a child, and I share this poem from Joyce Rupp:

     I was on a trail I have not traveled before.  It was not a particularly difficult path, but I was not used to the altitude.  I had NO idea how much further I had to walk, but I was getting weary and worn out.  Just then, a family came bounding down the path.  In the lead was a small girl almost 6 years old - her long blond hair swinging in the breeze.  She was as alive and alert as I was winded and half dead.  She stopped, and when she reached me, she looked at me with compassion, and exclaimed, "it's not much further, it's really worth it, you're almost there"!

     For many of us in our elder years, we can take comfort in these words.  For those who are younger, you may think differently.  You may think of the many years you have yet to travel on the journey to heaven.

     Remember, God is a God of surprises, and we know He calls His loved ones home at any age and any time.  My mother went to heaven at age 22 and my Dad died at 56, and baby Leo did not live an hour. And here I am at 90 – still waiting!

     Yes, Heaven is the destination for all of us. Let us take to heart today's Gospel and  BE READY!  For our God is a God of surprises!