This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant
We must always remember that we are made for heaven.
God is in love with us. We are his children, and for us he has prepared the most worthy and beautiful place: Paradise.
Here [on this earth] we are [only] passing through. We are made for heaven, for eternal life, to live forever.
Forever: it’s something we can’t even imagine now. But it is even more beautiful to think that this forever will be all in joy, in full communion with God and with others, without any more tears, without rancor, without division and upheaval
.
But how to reach Paradise? What is the way? Here is the decisive phrase of Jesus. He says: I am the way (John 14:6). To ascend to heaven, the way is Jesus: it is to have a living relationship with him, to imitate him in love, to follow in his footsteps.
Which way are you following?
There are ways that do not lead to heaven: the ways of worldliness, the ways of self-assertion, the ways of selfish power.
And there is the way of Jesus, the way of humble love, of prayer, of meekness, of trust, of service to others. It is to go ahead every day asking: “Jesus, what would you do in this situation, with these people?”
It will do us good to ask Jesus, who is the way, the directions for heaven. May Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, help us to follow Jesus, who opened heaven for us.
Excerpted from the pope’s Regina Coeli address, May 10, 2020
