It is so difficult for us to imagine the things of heaven.
“If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.”
And maybe that is the problem, we can only imagine what heaven is like. I have never been to the south pole, and I am not sure that I can imagine what it must be like. I mean, it gets cold here so I can imagine here when it is cold but colder, but that is not the same.
We say that we can experience snippets of heaven right here on earth; that perfect double rainbow, that perfect sunset, a baby’s smile, a loved ones laugh, the perfect philly cheesesteak sandwich. But those are “likes” they are not heaven. So, what is heaven?
Well actually that is easier than we make it out to be. Heaven is God’s love. There you have it. So, what is God’s love? There’s another one. We know what our love is. I love you, you love me, simple. Quid pro quo, this for that. But what happens when I love you and you don’t love me back? That’s not the way that it is supposed to work. But that is the way that it works with God.
He loved us so much that he sent his only son. We didn’t ask him to do that. Not that we wouldn’t have if we had thought about it but, that would have been an awful lot to ask for.
Would you mind sending your only son down to earth so that he could be ignored, humiliated, beaten tortured, hung on a cross and killed so that my sins could be forgiven? Seems like a lot to ask, especially for someone that you barley know.
In the first reading it says that the apostles had formed a community that gave all in the care of one another. “There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the Apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.”
That seems close to heaven. Imagine a world like that? A world where you would go out of your way to make sure that someone else would be taken care of. And I don’t just mean selling all of our possessions and donating the proceeds. I mean really trying to find out what someone needs and providing that for them.
There is no way that I can read the Gospel and not have the scene from the Chosen flood into my head. It must have been in the second to last show in the first season. Nicodemus just wants to meet with and talk to Jesus. I’m going to say that the show got the dialogue word for word. The expression on Jesus’ face when he says to Nicodemus, [“I ask you, how can this happen?] “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony”.
On Sunday we heard that Thomas did not believe the words of his brother disciples, he had to place his fingers in the nail holes and his hand in his side.
Come on, two Sundays ago they went to the tomb and it was empty. More than a week ago he appeared to Cleopas and another and spoke with them. What more do we want?
He is risen we need to believe and act accordingly.
The Son of Man must be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life.
Alleluia, alleluia.
JN 3:7b-15
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“‘You must be born from above.’
The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes;
so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to him,
‘How can this happen?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen,
but you people do not accept our testimony.
If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
April 26, 2022
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