How do you get to heaven?

Lots of people, Christians and those of other religions or no religious belief at all, believe in heaven. Fewer people seem to believe in hell or at least don’t want to think about it. And now days many don’t seem to give much thought to how you get to one place or the other.

Christ talked about the existence of both frequently, and urged everyone to do what was necessary to go to heaven. As Christians our reason for believing in the existence of heaven and hell is because we believe in Him and He believed in them!

Back in the 1970’s I taught religion at a Jesuit boys high school. At some point during the courses I taught I would ask the question, “When you die what is the reason for getting to go to heaven?” I almost always got the same answers: Because I was good, I didn’t hurt anyone, I was sincere. Rarely was Jesus mentioned as the answer. Many of the students had received Catholic education throughout their schooling yet did not understand what Christ Jesus had to do with eternal life.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6) He also said, “eternal life is this to know you the only true God, an Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

The Church teaches, “By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has “opened heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remain faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into him.” Check it out in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 1027

The essential answer for our getting to go to heaven is, Christ. Jesus has “opened heaven to us.” He is the way we can be eternally with God. By his death and resurrection Jesus accomplished what we in and of ourselves could not accomplish - our redemption. It is the love of God made manifest on the cross, bearing our sins, granting us forgiveness and through the Spirit entry into relationship with God. It is God’s initiative, not ours that allows us this access to eternal joy with the Trinity and all of the saints and angels! The Father wants us to be with Him eternally and through the Son has made the way for us be with them, happily ever after! It is our responsibility to respond to this grace of God with faith doing his will in our daily lives.

Let me make one comment on hell. Hell is the consequence of our free will. We can choose it for ourselves. God does not cast anyone into hell against his will. If we truly are creatures with free will then we have the capacity to say no to a loving Creator. That is essentially what hell is. Eternal separation from the One who loves us so much that he allows us to choose to be with Him, or not. Take a look in the CCC, 1033-1037.

The Church also teaches that even those who have not baptized and responded with faith in Christ may be saved (under the impulse of grace) who “sincerely seek God and strive to do his will can also be saved without Baptism (Baptism of desire).” CCC,1258-1261. It is a mystery and thank God He is the judge of all and not me or you! It is not our responsibility to judge who is or isn’t going to heaven when they die.

Our responsibility is to pray for salvation for everyone and to be witnesses of the eternal life that begins here and now in knowing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (See John 17:3 noted above). What is important for those of us who know Christ and are seeking to do his will, is to graciously be available to share the good news of what God has done in Jesus our Lord so that all might have fullness of life here and eternal happiness in heaven! After all, if we believe in a heaven and hell we certainly want to help others to be in heaven and to know the way to get there!

What then shall I compare the people of this generation?

What then did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, `Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.' ... (When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

"To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, `We piped to you, and you did not dance;we wailed, and you did not weep.'For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, `He has a demon.' The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."Luke 7:25-35

God is not distant and removed from creation and his creatures. He is with us! He is not static but active, creative, redeeming-moving in his all powerful Holy Spirit in our 'today.' The Lord Jesus points out the purposes of God coming in two very different persons. John the prophet forerunner preparing the way, and Jesus the Messiah. The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purposes of God for themselves in what He was doing in their day. They missed his activity, his will for them in the persons of John and Jesus. They couldn't see God working among them.

There are many Christians as well as unbelievers that have no understanding of this truth. They don't know the good news of Emmanuel, God with us today! Here and now. Jesus said, I am with you always. In Christ God the Father has given us the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us as Church but also personally in our daily lives (have you read the Acts of the Apostles recently?).

This reality effects everything. Who we are and what we do. How we pray personally and when we gather together. Anticipation and openess to the Holy Spirit's guidance. Attentiveness to His providence in our lives and in interacting with others, and with circumstances we are in daily. Our faith in His faithfulness in all details of our lives. Our confidence in his mercy coming through times of joy (we danced for you) and in times of sorrow (we sang a dirge for you). His grace in presenting his life to us in the church by different kinds of churches as well as different types of people that we can identify and respond to. John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus were very different as the Lord himself pointed out.

In this time, in our generation, the Lord continues to fulfill his purposes. Let's pray for our eyes to be opened to see what he is doing and our ears to hear what He saying and to obey Him! (See John 5:19,20 to learn from the Master). He wants us to know with confidence that He is with us and wants us to join Him in fulfilling his purposes in our day!

Ben Stein's Documentary

Ben Stein's controversial documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, about the possibility of an intelligent designer who created the universe (i.e. God) is coming to theaters this weekend! He interviews scientists who have lost their careers and reputations for questioning the theory of Darwinism and suggesting that, scientifically, there may be evidence of an superior intelligent being who created the universe. Ben Stein shows how the theory of Darwinism is infiltrating the media, the courtrooms, school systems and society in general. Freedom of speech is impeded on those who point out the flaws in this theory. If you would like more information on this documentary or to find it in theaters near you click here, and check out the trailer below:

Who said evangelism can't be fun?

Well, the one-day 42-mile hike went very well. Four of us "knuckleheads" woke up around 3:30/4 am and drove out to the Mason/Dixon Line (border of PA and MD) and began the hike at sunup around 5:45am.

As I had already accomplished this "feat" in one-day I suppose I was a bit confident in my hiking skills - so I decided to bring 1) lots of food, 2) bottles of water and gospels of John to hand people, 3) a camera, 4) an digital audio recorder for the upcoming podcast on this expedition, 5) assorted survival gear (compass, rosary, bible, guidebook, cigars, etc.), and 6) water for myself. Needless to say, my pack was very heavy - my feet now "bear the marks."

So what does all this have to do with evangelization?

Well, as the last post explained we stopped hikers along the way and asked if they would like a bottle of water and, if the opportunity arose, a mini-version of the Gospel of John (called "The Water"). That went pretty well. We met about 15 or so hikers, most of whom were hiking the whole 2000 miles GAME (Georgia to Maine)! We even met a couple dudes with kilts on - interesting!? But, all were very thankful for water and several accepted the gospels - one dude, who had, I must say, distasteful music playing in his backpack ... accepted the gospel and said, "I'll read it in the next few days." Praise God!

As we left each encounter we prayed for them and went on our way. Who knows what the Lord will do through those random acts of kindness and the gospels?!

While the hike was a success - the physical toll it took on our bodies was quite heavy - as my feet now show. I think we have a greater appreciate of suffering now :) We actually ended up running about 40 - 50 % of the hike (mainly to make up time due to one of the guys getting injured and to slacking off early in the hike).


Anyway stay tuned for a podcast devoted to the hiking trip - with lots of fun details and some teaching on begin missionaries: anytime, anywhere. Also, click here for more pictures from the hike.

Finally, just being out in God's creation was awesome. Seeing the beauty in Brazil this past May, Pope Benedict told the youth:

"When we see the beauty of creation and recognize the goodness present there, it is impossible not to believe in God and to experience his saving and reassuring presence. If we came to see all the good that exists in the world - and moreover, experience the good that comes from God himself - we would never cease to approach him, praise him, and thank him. He continually fills us with joy and good things. His joy is our strength.”

Amen to that!