HEAVEN

What is heaven? Where is heaven?

Various cultures, traditions and religious have their own concepts of a heaven. Heaven as a higher place is where beings that have achieved a higher state of life dwell. It is where gods and transcendent beings live. They call it in various names: Nirvana for Hindus and Buddhists, Valhalla for the Vikings, Mt. Olympus for the Ancient Greeks. For us Christian, such dwelling of the Divine is simply heaven.

In art, Christian concept of heaven is often depicted as a place filled with clouds with hosts of angels and saints hovering around the central figure of the Trinity. Others see it as a restoration of the Paradise from Genesis. Simply put, it is the kingdom of the Triune God, where His might and will reign. But heaven for us, more than a matter of space and time, is a state of mind. It is an awareness of God's abiding presence in our midst and is fully achieved through a union with God; to be one with God. Thus, one does not necessarily enter heaven only after he dies. Heaven is possible here on earth. As Jesus said: For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you (Lk 17:20-25). It is heaven whenever the will of God is fulfilled. It is heaven when a brother holds the hand of a brother in need. It is heaven when one recognizes Jesus in her neighbor. Heaven, after all, is a matter of God's presence in our midst, made aware among us through persistent desire to receive and embrace it, though it will be a great challenge for us to accept it. It is free but is not cheap. It comes with a "price." As Jesus said: "But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation (just so He may reign in heaven)." Suffering and rejection become prerequisite for heaven, as in the way Jesus trod to the glories of heaven through the road to Calvary. 

Human as we are; with great difficulty to penetrate the concept and state of heaven, we turn to other options more accessible to us. We paint our own concept of heaven; heaven with colossal towers, embellished with gold and worldly riches. And so, we create our own heaven believing that this match the Heaven God offers to us. Relying on our strength and intelligence, we cease to proceed to our final destiny: heaven, and satisfy ourselves with the make-believe heavens we created here on earth which, in reality, will lead us to hell as damned souls apart from God.

In this tragedy, we seek the wisdom of God. That intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unstained, certain, not baneful, loving the good, keen, unhampered, beneficent, kindly, firm, secure, tranquil, all-powerful, all-seeing Spirit (Wis 7:22B–8:1). For with the wisdom of God guiding us, the seemingly lucid and difficult to grasp heaven becomes reachable for us humans.

Here on earth, may it not only feel like heaven, for heaven is for real even here on earth.

LIFE CHANGING RELATIONSHIP

Are you in a relationship? Single? Married? Or is it complicated? Relationships we make change us, either for the better or for the worse. A lady becomes a wife when she is married to her man, and so does her husband becomes a groom. As a child is born of them, they become mother and father; parents to their sons and daughters. Father and son relationships will be formed then. And so, it is in other human relationships which we enter to. Through them, we receive our new identity. They become our life. Husbands and wives would do everything so that their marriage may work. Fathers and mothers are willing to work overtime so that they may give the best life they can give to their children.   

We pin our life and hope to whom we are related to; to whom we have made a connection; as they have become the source of our inspiration and meaning in life. They become our anchors in times of tumults in our journey. They are with us when life is stormed by problems and challenges. We are motivated to continue to live for them and made willing even to suffer in the name of our beloved.

Unfortunately, there is no forever in this world. None of our human relationships will last forever. None of the securities and identities they offer us will last in eternity. When we hear stories of separations between husbands and wives, when we read news about sisters fighting and maligning each other, we realize how fragile are the human relationships we establish. The Good News is, there’s a lasting relationship offered to us where forever is a reality. God offers Himself to us to be our Father, our Brother, and our Guide. And He guarantees us that this relationship with Him will change us forever. Our relationship with God will lead us to heaven; will lead us to resurrection and newness of life. That is not just at the moment. That is for eternity. There is forever in God alone.  

The seven martyrs in the Second Book of Maccabees were radically changed by their relationship with God. Their perspectives and priorities in life were changed by their relationship with God, so much so that they were willing to undergo severe pain and suffering just so they may follow God and His precepts (2 Mc 7:1-2, 9-14). How our very own martyrs illustrate the same confidence, faith and hope in God as they willingly laid down their lives in the name of their faith in the God of the Resurrection. They knew eternity awaits them after the torments in this world. That understanding of the end enabled them to endure the present. The prospect of heaven, made known to them by their rich and constant relationship with God, propelled them to bear the sufferings of the present; to let go of worldly and human security, just so they can hold on to God; for to be parted from Him means total death and misery as a child is separated from his parents. Worse than physical death is the spiritual death one suffers as he departs from God's presence. With a severed relationship with God, man loses everything.     

The Sadducees in the gospel (Lk 20:27-38) are not believers of the resurrection of the dead. Being so, they only have human relationships to hold onto even to the life after the next. They thought that even in heaven, a wife will remain to be such to her husband. They are mistaken, for such relationship has no use since one is united to his or her true love; the One that completes him or her: God. No sane person will choose to be with a lesser being than the perfect God for all eternity. Human relationships, fragile as they are, passes like this world. What remains is our lasting relationship with God that will bring fulfillment and completeness in us.

A child in a marriage is sought for the sake of posterity; that the mother and father may live forever through their children who will remember them. But what could be the true source of immortality?

The life changing relationship with God begins in the here and now. In our baptism we have received eternal life. And this divine relation propels us; empowers  us to reach that day when we will be united with God body and soul in heaven; where we will be most alive.

WALANG WALA

Once when I was a boy, I was asked by my mother to cook rice. She asked me if I knew how to do it. Eager to impress her, I answered in affirmative. After all, I had been watching her do it many times. Although at the back of my mind, I did not know how much water should I place in the pot together with the rice grains. And so I washed the grains and estimated the amount of water that I should place with it. I placed the pot on the stove and begun to boil the rice. After a couple of minutes of boiling, the rice was cooked. However, there seemed to be excess water. I kept boiling the rice, praying that the excess water would evaporate soon. The rice seemed to be burnt but still, there was water in it. Smelling the burning rice, my mother went to the kitchen and checked the pot. She put off the fire and told me I had placed too much water. We ended up sipping rice broth (Arroz Caldo) that lunch. "Ang yabang kasi," one of my siblings retorted. Such an incident could have been averted if only I admitted my ignorance in cooking rice; if only I was humble. In life, it takes humility to do great things, even just boiling rice. 

In the gospel (Lk 18:9-14), a Pharisee and a tax collector prayed before the Lord. They presented themselves before the Lord. One was humble, and the other was proud (of himself). But what should be our attitude in God’s presence? It should be humility and never pride. And if anyone should boast of himself, let him boast of the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31), and would find himself humbled by God's grandeur.

Before the Lord, we are nobody compared to His majesty. Humility is being honest and truthful on who we are in reference to God's greatness. That truthfulness leads us to thankfulness. For in our emptiness, God finds a space to fill in whatever is lacking; God supplies our deficiency. Truthfulness about our inability to do anything good without God's assistance; apart from His grace; makes us realize the necessity of dependence on the mightiness of God. Humility is a dependency on God, initiated by our truthfulness about ourselves, sustained by our gratitude towards God's generosity. Humble persons are grateful persons, as gratitude requires the admission of one's dependence on others. As we admit our poverty (pagiging walang-wala) before the Lord, He listens to us (cf. Sir 35:12-14). The Lord hears the cry of the poor. As we present our nothingness to the Lord, He is made present in our life. He enables us to do wondrous things that are rather impossible for us to do by our strength. Pinupuno tayo ng Diyos. Empty hands can be filled with lots of blessings. 

Like the Pharisee in the gospel (cf. Lk 18:9-14), not everyone can be humble before the Lord. Others are too proud of themselves (mayabang). Proud people (in a negative sense) are called mahangin in Filipino. When they are around, like air and wind you cannot miss their presence. They make sure their presence is felt. They are airy and puffy persons. When one thinks of them as great because of their lofty depictions of themselves, one would realize that what they were projecting are simply lies and empty air. Their inflated egos are too absorbed by the grandiosity of their deeds; “ang galing galing ko,” they tell themselves. They would even brag about themselves even to the extent of maligning others: "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity, greedy, dishonest, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income." Their own doing deceives them, as they were too convinced of their righteousness.

Compared to God, we are nothing. All that we have comes from the Lord. Proud persons face an unfortunate fate. In as much as God wants to bless everyone, He could not do so to a proud person for no space is given for the grace of God in his life; wala nang lugar para sa Diyos at sa kanyang grasya. A proud person is simply bloated with his make-beliefs and fantasies; puro hangin lang. 

St. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy (2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18), narrates his life's journey. “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” He had gone to several missions and built communities even among Gentiles. He had increased the faith of the early Christians through his letters. All these he was able to do not because of his abilities. He admits: "The Lord stood by me and gave me strength... And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom." Such dependence on God enabled St. Paul to do wondrous things that are truly worthy of the crown of righteousness from the Lord. With St. Paul's humility before the Lord, the Lord exalts him. 

Walang masama sa pag-amin ng ating kakulangan sa harap ng Diyos at ng mga tao. Ito ang kababaang loob na simula ng pag-asa sa Diyos, at ng pagpapasalamat natin sa Kanyang kabutihan sa atin; kabutihang pupuno sa ating kakulangan.

WILL YOU BE INVITED?

In the gospel (Lk 14:12-14), Jesus points to the reward that is to be given to us at the end of our earthly life’ at the resurrection of the righteous. By inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, persons who cannot invite us back, who cannot repay our righteous deeds, we are allowing the Lord to reward us. This is unlikely when we invite friends and relatives who can easily invite us back. We have received, then, a cheap reward here on earth.

More than us focusing on the rewards, whether immediate or delayed, Jesus places greater emphasis on the need to discipline one's self in choosing the difficult path; being firm and dedicated to treading it; as it would bring us to a better destination. This is the path He himself took; the way of the cross that leads to the glory of the resurrection.

It is very tempting to take the easy way and easily get one's  reward; to not heed God's call and command but rather satisfy one's desire for comfort in the present.

The Good News is that even in our disobedience, the answer of God out of His great love for us is not punishment, but mercy (Romans 11:29-36). And this is beyond logic. How inscrutable are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways. God's love desires to rectify our waywardness that we may choose the reward that awaits us in heaven where the Lord has spread a great banquet for us.

Will you be invited in that banquet?

Or will you have too much of feasting here on earth?