Friday, February 24, 2006

Back to Basics: Getting to Heaven

The only thing that really matters in life is getting to Heaven.

Among all the achievements of our life only one thing is really crucial. It is attaining the goal — Heaven — set for us by God. We must be ready to give up everything, if necessary, to achieve this goal. We must also be ready to set aside anything that even gets in the way of our achieving it, no matter how valuable or appealing it may seem. Everything else has to be subjected to that one supreme objective in our life — possessing God. If anything becomes an obstacle rather than an aid to this end, then we must be prepared either to set things straight or to put the obstacle aside completely. Eternal salvation — our own or our neighbor's — comes first. Our Lord tells us so in the Gospel of the Mass (Mark 9:40-49): If thy hand is an occasion of sin to thee, cut it off! ... And if thy foot is an occasion of sin to thee, cut it off! ... And if thine eye is an occasion of sin to thee, cut it off! ... It is better to enter into the kingdom of Heaven maimed, lame or lacking an eye, than being physically sound to be cast into hellfire, where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. It is better to lose something as necessary as one's hand, one's foot or one's eye than to lose Heaven, which is our supreme good, implying as it does the beatific vision of God for all eternity. How much truer this is, if, as is usually the case, what we need to put aside with no more than a bit of determination on our part is something that would otherwise not result in any significant harm to us....

Often the obstacles we have to set aside will not be tremendously significant ones. In the life of a Christian who is striving to please God in all things, this will usually be the case. What will have to be set aside and cut out are our minor whims and preferences. We shall take prudent steps to correct small breaches of temperance where Our Lord asks us to mortify our temper or our moods, to overcome any excessive concern we may have about our health or comfort ... All of these more or less habitual failings need very much to be taken into account, even though they may not be ore than venial sins. They slow our pace and can trip us up — or worse: they can gradually lead to or bring about more serious falls.

If our struggle is generous, if our goal in life is clear in our sight, we will be decisive not to say ruthless, in striving to correct these situations so that they cease to be obstacles and are turned into advantages. This is what Our Lord often did with his Apostles. From Peter's hot-headed impetuosity He formed solid rock on which He would build his Church. From the vehement impatience of John and James (who He dubbed sons of thunder) He fashioned the apostolic zeal of untiring preachers. From Thomas' skepticism he molded a strikingly articulate testimony to his divinity. What has been previously a crippling liability becomes a powerful asset.
Can you tell I've been thinking about Lent? Actually Lent really began coming to mind a couple of days ago, so that's a week ahead. Just about the right timing for me to mentally prepare for the blessings that God will bring from this time. Despite my preference for Ordinary Time I treasure all the seasons that God gives us and Lent is no different.

First is this period of self-examination, where we contemplate the time to come, remember our ultimate goal (as stated above), and then ask where God wants us to go in order that we may meet Him more fully.

In my case, I have a pretty good feeling that it calls for some giving up and adding on.

Giving up: mortification of the flesh (which would be giving up dessert).

Adding on: focusing on "back to the basics" in my life (which means sticking to my daily schedule properly). A daily schedule may not sound like much but it can mean the difference between laziness and prayer time, between selfishness and serving my family through a clean house and nice meal on the table.

I'll also be contributing to a Lenten prayer blog which is an amazing ecumenical project begun by a couple of bloggers who want to truly celebrate Lent fully. There are around twenty people who will be sharing their prayers throughout Lent and I fully expect that I will be blessed by their prayers much more than I will be contributing any of my own. However, be that as it may, please drop by often as no one seems to be waiting for Ash Wednesday and are popping in to introduce themselves and often say a prayer or two.

More later about the books I'll be reading.

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