Drawing Our Gaze to Heaven

This is a computer-generated transcription that has been included to make the homily searchable.  It has not been verified by the author.

Why did Jesus leave the earth that way? He could have just been talking with his disciples and poof, disappear. Or He could have walked off into the sunset. Or He could have flown off into the sunset. He could have sank down into the ground. Because all sorts of things, He or could have just told them that next week, I’m gonna go to heaven, and you won’t see Me. But He wanted them to see Him. He had this big crowd of disciples assembled and He wanted to do it in a special way. He wanted to do it by rising, rising, rising, rising, rising, all the way up. And so they’re all looking up, looking at Jesus. Why? Why did he want to do it that way? What’s He doing? He’s drawing their look, their attention, up, up to heaven, up towards heaven. Because it’s easy for us to forget about heaven. We’re always just looking around at our life here on earth, and we pretty much forget about heaven. We just had a funeral, a very good friend of ours who’s always sat right there in this chapel, Mike Norris. And those are occasions, we think again, about heaven. But a lot of times in our daily life, we forget about heaven. And so Jesus wanted to help us. The letter to the Hebrews says, “we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.” So this is not an anchor of the boat. It’s an anchor of the soul. Well, what would an anchor of the soul be like? It says, “a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain.” So it’s using the image of the temple, the temple in Jerusalem. And it says, “where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” So it’s talking about Jesus being our anchor, but not an anchor, an anchor of our soul, not an anchor, that’s pulls us down. We’ve got too many anchors like that, but an anchor, which is to pull us up. Something that we can hold on to, to pull us up. Maybe we could say, instead of an anchor, we could say, like a grappling hook, right? A grappling hook that you use to pull yourself up. So I don’t want to say Jesus is our grappling hook. But that’s the idea. So this life on earth, it’s easy to forget about heaven. But if we know how to pay attention, actually, our life here on earth has all sorts of reminders about heaven. And so I wanted to give just an example of a few of those. Because in different ways, some things remind us that this life is passing. Some things are reminders of heaven in a negative way, what heaven is not, and some things on this earth in a positive way, like little glimpses of heaven. So I wanted to look at these different ways. And again, just given a few examples. First, the fact that this life is passing. St. Paul says the form of this world is passing away. And that’s what, that’s the difference with eternal everlasting life. It does not pass. And the Roman Catechism says, “the full happiness”, for something to fully give us happiness, it has to be everlasting. Because if it wasn’t everlasting, we’d always have the anxiety of well, this is going to end and it would end. So the Roman catechism is talking about why the supreme happiness is called the everlasting. It says, “it can’t be a material thing of this world because all the material things of this world, they’re all passing.” And it says, “the more we love the things of this world, the farther we are from real happiness.” The more we love, the things, the things the material things that this world, actually, the farther we are from real happiness. So many people spend their life trying to get things and attain, those things actually are taking us away from everlasting happiness. And it cites scripture where St. John says, “Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. But this world passes away, and the lust of the things of this world, all that passes.” That can give us a little, a little pleasure, but it’s all gonna pass. And so the Catechism says, we’re called to learn to despise mortal things and to know that in this world in which we are not citizens, but sojourners, that is, we don’t belong here. We’re not citizens. We’re passing through. That was the sense of the Israelites having a tent. Abraham living in a tent, a tent, you know, your tent is because you’re on a journey, you’re passing through. So many people spend their life building a big, beautiful home here on earth. And it’s not going to last and you’re not going to stay here. “We are not citizens here but sojourners. Happiness is not to be attained here.”  But then it says, “Yet, even here below, we may, with reason be set to be happy, in hope, and by hope.” And it cites scripture, “If renouncing ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly in this world, looking for that blessed hope, and the coming of the glory of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.” So there is no everlasting happiness here on earth. But there can be a true happiness in hope, the hope of what is coming. So that reminds us that this world is always reminding us that it’s passing. But some things remind us of heaven, because, in a negative way. The Book of Revelations when it says, “At that time, the Lord will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” All of that; tears, death, mourning, crying, pain, all those that we experience here on this earth are reminding us of what heaven is not. There’s none of that in heaven. And even nature. You know, nature. We’re in this chapel. A lot of times in this chapel, I mean, sometimes it’s nice like today, it’s nice and gentle. Sometimes it’s really cold. Sometimes nature is really cold. Sometimes it’s gonna get pretty hot here, in summer. You know, nature, sometimes nature is very beautiful. But nature has problems. You know, sometimes it’s beautiful, but there’s mosquitoes. And in nature, you know, there’s so much, so much violence in nature.  You know, animals attacking each other constant struggle. And our world, our world, just to name some examples, so much injustice. Imagine a city where there was no need to lock your doors and no need for police. So even door locks remind us what Heaven is not, there’s no locks on the doors in heaven. There’s no need for police in heaven. So even police are reminding us what heaven is not. And many other reminders like alarm clocks. There’s no alarm clocks in heaven. There’s no watches, you don’t have to worry that you’re running out of time. There’s no allergies in heaven. No cedar fever. There’s no bills in heaven. There’s no report cards in heaven. There’s no dieting in heaven. There’s no boredom in heaven. Sometimes people think heaven is going to be boring if it’s everlasting. No, there’s no boredom in heaven. And there’s no having to say goodbye to someone we love in heaven. And so all those things which are so much a part of our life here on earth, and we could all make longer lists are signs that we’re not home yet. This is not our home. Life on this earth can be sometimes like purgatory, very difficult. Sometimes, sin can even make this life like the beginning of hell. And there’s just way too many terrible examples. But sometimes also this life can be a little taste, foretaste of heaven. And what about our bodies? The great revelation for Christians is that heaven, life everlasting is not just us as disembodied spirits, because we believe in the resurrection of the body. And that’s what Jesus is showing us. He doesn’t just go in spirit to Heaven. He goes, He shows them very clearly, He’s going in His body to heaven. Our bodies, which can often be sick, wounded, tired, get older. And those negative ways that we sense the problems of our bodies, that our bodies are not yet risen bodies. A body that has young, beautiful, strong, healthy, is like a little sign of what the glory of the resurrected body will be. And so it’s important to remember that the truth of the risen bodies, because sometimes we have an idea of heaven, you know, the images always show of Heaven is just little, little angels floating on puffy clouds. And it looks kind of boring, doesn’t it? Kind of boring, kind of cold, kind of bland. But that’s not the heaven that our faith reveals to us. If God can make this earth, this earth, which has been terribly wounded by sin, but this earth is so interesting, so attractive, so exciting, is heaven going to be less so than this earth? How breathtaking, how overwhelming, how joyful, how peaceful, how astounding, how fun, how exciting, and how adventurous will Heaven be? Scripture speaks that the Lord will create new heavens and a new earth. Because our bodies are not meant to just float around in space. Our bodies are meant for this new earth, the risen bodies. And the Catechism says, “For this, for the cosmos, all the material creation. Revelation, that is our Christian revelation, affirms the profound common destiny of the material world and man. God created this world for us. And it says, “the common destiny of man who will be raised from the dead. And if he’s faithful to Jesus, will experience a risen body in glory.” And it also it says, “but the common destiny of the material world.” And it cites St. Paul in Romans, Chapter eight, who says, for creation waits with it.  For creation, all this material creation, like we have a beautiful example here in the hill country, in our little mission, especially when it’s not too hot. “For creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God in hope, because creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay.” Our experience of creation is a creation in bondage to decay, which is a result of sin. We know that the whole creation has been groaning and travail together until now. All of creation, so this groaning, of travail, of suffering, all of creation is suffering, St. Paul says until now. And so that’s the creation we know, the creation, which has great beauty, but also has a lot of, lotta things which aren’t beautiful. And it says, “not only creation, but we ourselves, who had the first fruits of the spirit,” the spirit of Holy Spirit has already given to us in his first fruits. “But we groan inwardly,” groan inwardly “as we wait for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” The redemption of our bodies are all of creation, all of material creation, and our own material bodies. physical bodies are groaning, waiting for the fullness of redemption. And the Catechism goes on to say, St. Paul and the Catechism goes on to say, “the visible universe then, is itself, destined to be transformed.” So it’s not like that we’re just gonna jettison this earth and disappear and float around on clouds. It’s this, this the visible universe is destined to be transformed, so that the world itself restored to it. Now, this is citing, the Catechism is reciting St. Irenaeus. Saint Irenaeus who was very shortly after our Lord. And I think that, that about a century later, “so that the world itself restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles should be at the service of the just, sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ.” So this new earth will be transformed, to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus, new heavens, and a new earth. And so there’s already little signs of it now in that, because what’s one of the things that’s amazing about our earth as how, the sign of the creativity of God, all the different aspects of our creation, the beauty, the excitement, the splendor, the power, that we sense in creation. Even like, for instance, the science shows that the nature shows are often good examples of that. And the more, the more science develops, the more it reveals tremendous mysteries in nature, tremendous mysteries in the stars, tremendous mystery in things which are so tiny, they’re subatomic particles, tremendous mysteries in our own body. And so this world, which is physical, which is touchable, which is visible, which is vibrant, with sights and sounds, and tastes, and colors and sensations.  It’s made for us, for man, to speak to us in our body and soul. And so this nature also helps us realize that there’s also positive signs of this new heaven. So none of us, I don’t think, have experienced Heaven. But we can get little glimpses of it. Everything that is truly good in this world is a glimpse of heaven. So just again, to take a few examples from nature, the stars, which help us sense the immensity of God’s creation, of God’s power. The sunrise which speaks of the glory of God, the mountains, are standing in front of an immense mountain or standing on a mountain, the sense the majesty, the oceans, which speak to us of the immensity of the Lord. Or think like the freedom of eagles soaring in the mountains. And when you say, I mean, we got here, we have buzzards, but, but it’s still impressive, to see their freedom. When they soar, we think, wow, we just have to walk and climb, and they can go soaring. Sometimes we have dreams of flying, it’s beautiful to see the freedom of flying, or even the charm of the tiny little flowers that the Lord places all over the place. The delight of seeing like little puppies or little kittens playing together, the warmth of a fire. All these, all these aspects of our world can be like little glimpses of heaven. But the Book of Revelations at the very end says, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. So bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the land, through the middle of the street of the city.” So this is this new Jerusalem, a transformed city. Also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” So a river, you know here in New Braunfels, we have a special gift. We have the beautiful Comal River, which joins the Guadalupe River, in a canal, which is so clear, it’s beautiful to swim in the canal. And so that river you can see the Comal River, and it can remind you, not just of Schlitterbahn, but of Heaven. Heavens better than Schlitterbahn. And scripture speaks with so many images of heaven, of life, the fullness of life, of light, the beauty of light, of peace, peace with God. So the peace that that brings to ourselves, no longer struggling and tensions within ourselves, peace among each other, which is so often so challenging, and peace with all creation. It speaks of it as the Father’s house, a family home, but a beautiful family home. You know, you sometimes, sometimes you see the picture of these beautiful mansions or very expensive mansions in extraordinary places on the beach or on the mountains, and hardly anybody can afford it. You know, it’s $5 million, or it’s $30 million. And that’s nothing compared to what heaven will be like, the Heavenly Jerusalem. So not just a few people, but a whole society of love, a paradise, a garden of paradise. And it even speaks of it as a great feast. Isaiah, writes “on this mountain, and the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples, a feast of fat things, fat things, a feast of choice, wines, of fat things full of marrow of choice wines, well refined.” So it’s even speaking of this very enjoyable food, you know, fat, we have a fear of fat, that a bit fat, there’s so much flavor, and satisfaction and good fatty foods. You know, a diet without any fat is not so enjoyable. And also says choice wines, the gladness, the relaxation, of wine. You know, it says, take substance abuse, because we know alcohol can be often abused and other drugs can be abused. But what are people looking for, they’re looking for peace, they’re looking for escape, they’re looking for joy. They’re looking for something transcendent. So even in those things, that’s like a sign of seeking something more. And this feast is a gathering, a gathering of family and friends in unity. You know, people often say about how Thanksgiving can be difficult because family members are getting together, and they don’t really get along very well. But there won’t be any of those problems in this great feast. And so scripture compared to it, especially at the book, Revelations, to our great wedding feast. How beautiful a wedding is, when there’s a man and a woman who truly love each other, who truly love each other. And they decided to unite their lives, and have their lives become fruitful. And that, a true Christian marriage is a sign of the union of joy that God is preparing for His children. And even all, as the Psalm says, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is, when brothers dwell in unity.” And that’s what heaven will be. So Heaven will not be painful or tedious, but it’ll be very active, there’ll be a lot of joyful activity. While our lives, we can be fruitful, helping each other. And there’s another sign of heaven. And that sign is the longing, the deepest longing in our hearts, the longing to be loved, and to love, to love, to be loved, infinitely. The longing for intimacy, the deepest desire in our hearts, and in the marital embrace, a loving marital embrace, to be a sign of that. But it can never completely fulfill it, because it’s a longing for God Himself. And heaven will be the fullness of this embrace with God. So, the Scripture today is speaking of the apostles looking up as Jesus rises to heaven. And so it’s an invitation for us to be attentive to how God is speaking to you. And so you could do that this week, you can be looking for the different ways that God is speaking to you, reminding you about where, what He is preparing for you. St. Paul said, in a reading today, “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to us all. What are the riches of His glory in His inheritance among the holy ones? And what is the surpassing greatness of His power for us who believe.”  And so all these signs are like trying to wake up our hearts, as signs of what God, have the hope that God is calling us to. And so that’s not escapism, that spurs us on to live better our duties here on earth. And we will be praying shortly.  We pray this often, “Our Father who art in heaven,” every time we pray. Pray that it’s calling us to lift our eyes up to our home in heaven. And so this Mass that we’re celebrating today is like every Mass, to draw us to heaven, to help us, strengthen us on our journey right now, and to lead us home to the Father. Amen.

KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
Hebrews 6:19
Ephesians 1:17-23
Matthew 28:16-20