Second Reading: Thessalonians 2:16—3:5
Gospel: Luke 20:27-38
“…and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” – Luke 20:38
Have you ever wondered what does it look like in heaven? Have you asked yourself, is there really heaven? Imagine your idea of the place called heaven, do the people there really dressed in white all the time? Do the people never grow old? Are there big houses as well as small houses there? Are there also typhoons and earthquake there? Are there cars and bicycles? There are many questions that we can come up and we can go on and on… But what are the real environment and the situation up in heaven, we really don’t know.
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| "Road to Heaven" by Emily Mueller |
For the past days, we have celebrated the All Saints and Souls Day. We remembered our love ones who have passed away. We recalled the value that they imparted to us when they were still alive. And for the whole month of November, we will pray for our departed love ones.
The readings for today are very powerful that they tells us the fundamental foundation of our faith. They show us that there is really life after death. The readings make us realize that if we live by our faith to the Lord and follow him throughout our life on earth, we will expect great things after our death. If Jesus Christ did not resurrected after his death on the cross, we do not have the faith we are holding now. Because of his resurrection, we believe that death is not the end but a start of a new life with the Lord.
And the place where we can spend the life after our death is in heaven. So the question now is do you want to go to heaven? Do you want to go to heaven NOW? =) You might say, “Lord, not yet because I still have many goals in life.” “I still need to take my children to college.” “I still want to go places and travel the world.” “I still have debts to pay.” “I am still single.” "I still have not achieved my dream to be an actor like Piolo Pascual and have a movie with Angel Locsin.” There are many reasons why we don’t want to die yet. But we should always remember that when we die; we will not go right away in heaven. We will still be judged on how we did our life on earth.
And in order for us to have a worthy death, we need to have a worthy life. We ought to strive to be a loving person every day and have the people around us experience the love and blessing of the Lord through us. Become an instrument of God in our own ministries (our family, our work, our friends, and our community). Nurture and excel in the core gifts that God gave to us. Live a happy life that when the time we face the Lord after this life, he will pat us on the back and tell us, “You did well my child.”
Today, the Lord is telling us that there is heaven. All we need is believe and live life the way the Lord wants us to do it.
Reflection: Are you ensuring that what you do everyday makes you closer to heaven?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for choosing me to love others as you do. Guide us to be like you in everything that we do.
PS. Every week, we will reflect on what the Bible says during the mass. Write with me and share your reflections also through this blog. Thank you.
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