3rd Advent - Heaven, right here, right now.

Some questions I received from some young persons a couple of weeks ago were: “How do I know if I will get into Heaven? How do I experience God?”  Really good questions, but given that we are preparing to celebrate the Incarnation of the Son God, maybe we will tweak these questions? And in doing so, we find a way to understand differently.

We need to remember that at Christmas we are not just celebrating a birthday. We can use that description for little kids because it is an easy way for them to understand it, but adults, well we can also be more sophisticated. 

At Christmas, We celebrate Heaven coming into the world.   We that fullness of the Divinity was born into a fully human person.  We celebrate that God is present here in our world, in our reality.

John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, the Christ. John recognized him as the Son of God who came into our world. And think too what Jesus’ words were “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”  So our focus is really not so much about whether we get into heaven, but being more aware of heaven breaking through into our lives, here, now, today, and the rest of our lives.  How can we experience God...we look to how Jesus did, and continue that.

Think again on Jesus. When did he say the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand? When he healed; When he comforted; When he forgave. Any action of his that was of goodness and love; heaven broke into our world.

Where does heaven break through in our lives, in our world? It is whenever we forgive someone truly in our hearts, and when we truly accept forgiveness from another, from the Father.  Heaven breaks in each time we willingly give of ourselves for the good of another; an act of mercy, compassion, generosity, patience; when we listen without judgement; when we see a person.  

We ritualize this all in our sacraments, to help our imaginations grow so as to see this taking place in the world around us.  Being fed here, we feed others: in our parking lots on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays each month, at Catholic Charities every day.  Being reconciled here, we reconcile with one another.  Being confirmed in the Spirit here; we seek the Spirit out there.

Think of the Joy we can experience. Heaven in our homes; workplaces, school, the arms of a loved one; St. Vincent’s dining hall; a parking lot.  If we can experience that Joy, then we can point it out too. Point it to others, “LOOK!” there is heaven. Look there, see God is present.”  Less pressure too, not worrying so much about getting into heaven; more like living in heaven now! And how can we experience God? By living out our humanity.

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