According to Vatican News, Pope Francis stressed this during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta as he reflected on how Christians journey on earth toward heaven.
Heaven, he highlighted, is the place of eternal joy as it is where we are welcomed by and encounter Jesus.
The Pontiff reflected on the First Reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, where Paul tells the Jews that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their religious leaders did not recognize Jesus, condemned Him to death, but that after being crucified, was raised from the dead.
The Holy Father encouraged us Christians to walk with the promise of God in our hearts.
“We, too, are in movement along the path. When asked where we are heading, we say, ‘Towards heaven!’ ‘So what’s heaven?’ some ask. There we begin to be unsure in our response. We don’t know how best to explain heaven.”
Francis observed that many “picture an abstract and distant heaven.”
“And some think: ‘But won’t it be boring there for all eternity?’ No! That is not heaven. We are on the path towards an encounter: the final meeting with Jesus. Heaven is the encounter with Jesus.”
I am traveling in life to meet Jesus … which will make us happy forever
During our everyday lives, the Pope stressed, we must remind ourselves “I am traveling in life to meet Jesus.” This meeting, he said, will make us happy forever.
“But what does Jesus do in the meantime?” the Pope asked.
Jesus, he said, is working for us and praying for us. The Pope reminded that at the Last Supper, Jesus promises Peter He will pray for him.
“Each of us must say: ‘Jesus is praying for me, working to prepare me a place.’ He is faithful. He does so because he has promised it. Heaven will be this encounter, this meeting with the Lord who went ahead to prepare a place for each of us. This increases our faith.”
Jesus, the Pope said, is “the priestly intercessor, right up to the end of the world. “
Pope Francis concluded, giving the following advice: “May the Lord give us the awareness of walking along a path with this promise. May the Lord give us the grace to look upwards toward heaven and think: ‘The Lord is praying for me.’”
No comments:
Post a Comment