Every journey has a destination. When we get into a car, board a train, or begin walking somewhere, we usually know where we want to go. And if the journey is long, we need directions. We need to know which road to take and which roads to avoid.
Our life is also a journey. We were not created simply to live for a few decades on this earth and then disappear. We were created for eternity. We were created for God. Our final destination is heaven.
Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).
Notice that Jesus does not simply say, “I will show you the way.” He says, “I am the way.” Christianity is therefore not only about following commandments or fulfilling religious duties. It is about walking through life with Jesus.
1. Keep your focus on the destination.
One danger of life is that we become so occupied with the journey that we forget its destination.
We work, earn money, build houses, make plans, solve problems, worry about our health, and think about tomorrow. None of these things is necessarily wrong. But one day we must leave all these things behind.
Jesus asks a grave question:
“What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Mt 16:26).
We should therefore sometimes ask ourselves: Where is my life leading me? Am I becoming closer to God? Am I becoming more loving, more forgiving, more patient, more truthful? If I stood before God today, what would I bring before Him?
Remembering heaven does not make us less interested in earthly life. On the contrary, it teaches us how precious earthly life really is. Every day becomes an opportunity to prepare our heart for eternity.
2. Walk with Jesus, not alone.
The road to heaven is sometimes difficult.
There are moments when our faith is strong and prayer comes easily. But there are also moments of darkness. We experience disappointment, illness, loneliness, misunderstanding, temptation and suffering. Sometimes we may even ask, ‘God, where are you?’
Jesus never promised that those who follow Him would have an uncomplicated life. He promised something much greater: He would remain with us.
A Christian does not walk through suffering alone.
When you are carrying a cross, Christ is beside you. When you are crying, Christ knows your tears. When you are afraid, Christ knows your fear. When you fall, Christ reaches out His hand.
The important thing is not that we never fall. The important thing is that we allow Christ to help us rise again.
3. Travel lightly.
Anyone who has walked a long distance knows that a heavy backpack makes the journey difficult.
Spiritually, too, we can carry unnecessary burdens.
Perhaps someone hurt us twenty years ago and we are still carrying resentment. Perhaps we cannot forgive someone. Perhaps we carry jealousy, pride, anger, greed or an unhealthy attachment to material things.
These things make the heart heavy.
Jesus invites us to travel lightly.
Forgive.
Ask forgiveness.
Let go of hatred.
Do not spend your life fighting battles that have no eternal value.
Occasionally we think that forgiving another person means saying that what they did was acceptable. It does not. Forgiveness means refusing to allow another person’s wrongdoing to imprison our heart forever.
A heart preparing for heaven must learn mercy, for heaven is the kingdom of mercy.
4. Do not be discouraged when you sin
Perhaps someone says: I have made too many mistakes. I have sinned too much. I have disappointed God too many times.
But look at the Gospel.
Peter denied Jesus.
Thomas doubted.
The prodigal son abandoned his father.
The thief crucified beside Jesus had wasted much of his life.
Yet God’s mercy was greater than their failure.
Only those who have fallen can walk the road to heaven. It is a road for people who, with God’s grace, keep getting up.
That is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is such a precious gift. In confession, God does not humiliate us. He restores us. He cleans the wounds of our soul and gives us the strength to continue the journey.
Never allow your past sins to convince you that you have no future with God.
5. Receive the food for the journey
A long journey requires nourishment.
God has given us extraordinary spiritual food: the Eucharist.
At every Holy Mass, Christ comes to us. The One whom we hope to see one day in heaven comes to us already here on earth under the appearances of bread and wine.
Holy Communion is therefore food for pilgrims.
We come to Mass carrying our worries, failures, questions and struggles. Christ gives Himself to us and says, in effect, ‘Continue.’ Do not give up. I am with you.
The Eucharist joins earth and heaven. Every Holy Mass reminds us that our earthly journey has an eternal destination.
6. Heaven begins in the way we love
At the end of our life, God will not ask us how famous we became, how much money we earned, how beautiful our house was or how many people admired us.
Jesus directs our attention elsewhere:
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (cf. Mt 25:40).
The road to heaven passes through the people God places beside us.
Occasionally we imagine holiness as something extraordinary. But very often holiness is hidden in ordinary things: listening patiently to someone, visiting a lonely person, caring for someone who is sick, forgiving an insult, encouraging someone who has lost hope, sharing with someone in need, and praying for someone who has hurt us.
Every act of genuine love brings us closer to heaven.
7. Do not walk alone.
Jesus did not establish a community of isolated believers. He gave us the Church.
We need one another.
Sometimes my faith is weak and your faith helps me. Another day your faith may be weak and mine may help you.
That is why we pray together. That is why we celebrate the Eucharist together. That is why we carry one another in difficult times.
A pilgrim who walks alone can easily lose their way. Pilgrims walking together can encourage one another: Keep going. The destination is worth the journey.
8. Take one step at a time
We sometimes imagine saints as people who did extraordinary things every day. But holiness is usually built through thousands of small decisions.
One prayer.
One act of forgiveness.
One temptation resisted.
One person helped.
One Mass attended in faith.
One sincere confession.
One sacrifice made quietly.
One word of encouragement.
One day lived faithfully.
And then another.
This is how we walk toward heaven.
Dear brothers and sisters, one day our earthly journey will end. We do not know when. But for the Christian, death is not merely the end of the journey. It is the doorway through which we hope to enter into the fullness of life with God.
Imagine that moment when, after all the struggles, disappointments, crosses, temptations and tears of this life, we finally stand before Christ.
Then we will understand that no prayer was wasted, no sacrifice made in love was forgotten, no act of forgiveness was meaningless, and no suffering offered to God was without value.
So let us not be afraid of the length of the road.
Let us not become discouraged when the road becomes difficult.
Let us not remain on the ground when we fall.
Let us focus on Christ.
Pray every day. Receive the Eucharist. Go to confession. Forgive. Love. Serve. Carry your cross with Christ. And when you fall, get up and begin again.
Because we are not wandering without a destination.
We are pilgrims.
And our destination is the house of the Father.
May we live in such a way that, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, we may hear the words for which every human heart was created:
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” (Mt 25:34)
Amen.
