Heavenly Real Estate

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. 
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.  In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.”  Thomas said to him, 
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?” 
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. 
No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I find this passage from John the most comforting passages in all of scripture.  There is nothing nebulous about it at all.  Jesus comes right out and states that He is going to prepare a place for us and He will come back and get us for wherever He is we also may be.  A heavenly home!   A place that lasts.  There will be no sorrow, only joy.  Every person you meet will be a friend and there will be no secrets between friends. You will know everyone by name and each of us will know and feel like we never did before, the love of God.  Where God is, there is heaven.  

There are probably as many definitions of what heaven will be like as there are people who have lived on earth.  We all know what we like.  Unfortunately, heaven is not going to have anything that we like.  That is because we will love everything about this place.   What it is actually cannot be described by the words of man.  We do know that it will be a place of great joy.  Can you imagine meeting some of the hot shots in heaven, people like Peter and Paul?  I am going to make it a point to look up Adam and Eve if only to ask them what in the world were they thinking of!  I will also be looking up Francis of Assisi and Clare to share how much I took their stories to heart. 

But, what will my personal heaven be like?  I think I will no longer feel like a stranger when in a group of people.  I will not be shy as I am today. I may lose my ability to write but gain an ability to speak and be understood.  I have a much easier time marshaling my thoughts by writing them down and my inability to do the same verbally as well makes me afraid that I will say the right thing in the wrong way.  I do not want to hurt peoples feelings so for me quiet is better.  In heaven, all of our defects will fall away.  Our artistic side will bloom and we will spend our time doing things that enhance the beauty of heaven. 

The beauty of heaven comes from the beauty of God himself. His Spirit imbibes all that is there in ways that are subtle and yet pervasive.  His great love fills the air with a great peace and this peace fills us to the brim with love for Him and for all of His creation. 

Finally, we will know everything there is to know. Like the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz, we will know why the ocean is near the shore. My inability to understand advanced math will be cured and I will correct Einsteins equations and make them even more precise than the old boy could do here.  And I will meet my family.  Not only Mom and Dad and Grampa and Grandma, but all of the relatives that came before me and whose DNA enriched mine and made me who I am.  I will spend eternity thanking God for His great love and for creating me, a fallible creature, and by allowing me to spend eternity with Him. 

The Poor Souls in Purgatory are waiting for your help.  Please, there are millions of people needing our prayers. Please remember them today, especially at 3:00PM local time which is the Hour of Mercy.   God bless you for all that you do for my friends in Purgatory.