Earth Based but Heaven Bound

Christ often spoke about the relationship between heaven and earth.  In the Lord’s Prayer, he asks that the will of his Father be done on earth as it is in heaven. The apostles are told that whatever they bind on earth, will be bound in heaven (Mt 18:17).  Jesus mentions heaven seventy times in Matthew’s Gospel alone.

Christ establishes this impenetrable bridge to make known the ultimate destination that awaits us all.  We are bound for heaven in a way that remains hidden to the world.

Our earthly direction is tracked by the universal GPS – affirming that we are indeed on the way to buy milk, pick up the kids from school or arriving just in time to board the red-eye flight out of JFK.

Unfortunately – there is no GPS tracking our way into heaven.

Darn.

Knowing how close or far we are is left up to us.

God wants every soul to find its way back to Him.  However, knowing the limited extent of our intellect and weakness of will, He infuses virtues into us so that we could perform acts ordered to the eternal life as their end – and enter God’s heavenly kingdom.  Through baptismal grace, the extraordinary powers of faith, hope and charity are infused as a free gift of God’s grace.  But they alone won’t get us into the kingdom.

We are like sailors in a boat trying to catch the wind.  While we can hoist the sails on the ship, we cannot manufacture the wind to get moving.  Divine revelation confirms that when God infuses the virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit into our souls, the capacity to move becomes enabled.

However, receiving these gifts of grace requires responsibility and a response to choose “good” in our concrete actions.  It is not a “take only” offer.  We must work to perfect the acquired virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance in daily life.

The more we do, the more grace within us grows.

The journey to holiness and perfection is not an easy one.  “The wind of the Holy Spirit” blows only when He wills (Jn. 3:8). Life has a great reputation for throwing fast balls.  We must keep our palms open so that the Holy Spirit can continue to work in us as they happen.

We need the grace of God and a willing heart to seek the kingdom first to reach our ultimate “heavenly” end.  Key to getting there is the remembrance that God is beyond the range of all our virtue and soul perfecting efforts.

But so great is God’s love that He gives us the “infused” virtues of faith, hope and love, and gifts of the Holy Spirit to make us more disposed to receiving his grace.

Yes – we are all on the way somewhere.

But no place greater than heaven…

May Christ’s image be before our eyes today and always.