“I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.”
For some reason that line from Billy Joel’s song “Only the Good Die Young” kept coming to my head. And it kept coming back to me because I can’t help but feel like that is how the world sees holiness. To be holy is to leave in pain and penance, to deny yourself of every comfort and pleasure so that one day God will pay you back in heaven.
But this is not the message of our Lord and this is not the witness we have in the saints.
To be sure, Jesus promises heaven to those who live a life of holiness. But too often we can reduce this promise to something transactional: “If I do what God asks me to do, then God owes me heaven as my reward.” But real Christian life is nothing like this.
When Jesus speaks to us about Eternal Life, the afterlife is part of what He means. But Pope Benedict XVI made clear that “’Eternal Life’ is life itself, real life, which can also be lived in the present age.” (Jesus of Nazareth, Vol 1)
In other words, you don’t have to wait to die to go to heaven; heaven begins now.
Take a look at the lives of the saints. I have studied the lives of many of these holy men and women. And what I’m about to say, I say not just as a believer, but as a student of history: You will never find anyone in history who suffered more than the saints. Many of them died painful martyr deaths. Many endured painful diseases like cancer, leprosy, and tuberculosis. And many endure heartbreak at the loss of loved ones or the rejection they felt from family members. As I said, no one in human history suffered more than the saints. Which is why this next truth is so very odd:
No one in history was happier than the saints. When you read their writings and enter into their stories, you encounter a joy that is beyond compare. In Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John are scourged for preaching about Jesus. When they are released, they rejoice that they had been found worthy to suffer for His name.
This seems so counter-intuitive to our world. The world says that we should do everything we can to avoid pain and suffering. Today, we have every single material and physical pleasure available to us. And yet if we are honest, fewer and fewer of us are truly happy.
In the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew, the word “Blessed” could also be translated as “Happy.” “Happy are the poor in spirit… Happy are the clean of heart… Happy are the merciful…” One of the reasons we don’t usually us that translation is that happiness is sometimes boiled down to a simple emotional state: a feeling that comes and goes.
But the happiness of the saints is not a transitory thing. That is because they are beginning to experience heaven on earth.
I know someone at my work was recently diagnosed with cancer. Any of us who have experienced this or had loved ones experience this, knows how devastating this is. And she spoke to me about the heartache and tears that she went through in those early days. But I’ve had the privilege of spending more time with her, talking with her and praying with her. Perhaps in my arrogance I thought that I could somehow comfort her. But every time I end a meeting with her, I’m the one who is more uplifted. Her suffering is very real and tangible. But so is her faith, her peace, and her love. That is because she has a happiness deeper than a sentiment or feeling. There is a joy in the center of her soul that cannot be taken away. This is the same joy that we see in the saints we celebrate today. And this is what Jesus is saying in the Beatitudes.
In the Beatitudes, Jesus says that heaven is waiting for us. But He is saying more than that. He’s saying heaven is here in our hearts. Heaven is here in our souls.
What makes heaven heaven? I mean, what is it that really makes it the paradise that we all yearn for?
The answer is simple: God. In heaven, we are with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment