Feast of All Saints 1.11.09 Beatitude – good and happy
There are two very common statements we make about Heaven:
One is, You will be very happy in heaven. The other is, You have to be good to get to heaven.
Goodness and happiness are connected; they eventually converge on the same point.
We are happy in heaven because we will be dwelling with God, and thus drawing in the fullness of life, as alive as we can possibly be; as much as possible being what we are meant to be. Fulfilment.
But to get to heaven, we have to be good. Meaning that we have to be in union with God, living in such a way that we have the life of God operating in us.
The way to get to heaven is to live like you are already there!
We are not as happy here as there, but everything else is the same. The only difference is that here we have suffering, various distractions and purifications. These things are preparing us to go there forever.
Those in heaven worship God, thank Him, trust Him, submit to Him, love one another, and pray for those in need.
These are all things we are supposed to do on earth and the more we do them the happier we are; and furthermore these things give us the surest way of getting to heaven.
On earth we have a foretaste of heaven. The best way to enjoy yourself on earth is not to sin, as some would suggest, but to obey God in all things.
Beatitudes: Blessed are those... ‘Blessed’ means both happy and good.
They are happy because they are good. Good because they are happy (insofar as in union with God).
The closer one is to God the happier and the more likely to behave in the right way.
All saints: Saints come in different degrees of holiness. Most are not canonized. They were just ordinary, average - like us.
You can get to heaven without being the best; you just have to be good (enough). But we should strive for excellence.
Today we are celebrating ordinariness (rightly understood).
At the very least we seek union with God, to be in a state of grace, so that we will be there on the last day, among the blessed.
Reflect that a lot of the ‘All Saints’ are people just like you. They have battled through the same sort of things as you are going through. Maybe they had a difficult marriage; maybe they had very little money; maybe they had trouble passing exams; maybe they struggled with depression; maybe they were bullied by someone; maybe they had doubts about their faith...
Think about the day you die and then 50 years later still. People will read your tombstone and see some basic information, but they will not understand all you went through. Just as we do not understand what they went through – those who have gone before us.
It is comforting to know we are all in the same boat. We can encourage each other to get at least the minimum right. Just hold on till you die... not much to ask. Of course you can do more, but at least do that much.
Our religion works better if you pitch in, not just dabbling around the edges, keeping God at arm’s length.
Our Lord is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the reward and the way to the reward.
He makes us happy and He makes us good – with all the chorus of the saints we rejoice in Him.
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