YOU MEAN THOSE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HEAVEN, TOO?!

7/15/13

What is the measure of one’s Christianity, of one’s devotion to the way of our Lord?  How do I know if I am indeed following the way of Jesus?   How do I know, to put it in vague and often misunderstood terms, how good a Christian I am?  

Wise people have been searching for such a measure since Jesus walked physically on this earth, and since long before then if we take in the full implications of Jesus as God.   While the search has been fruitful, the results have been disappointing, or at least frustrating, because there is no ONE measure of one’s devotion to our Lord.  Instead, there are many yardsticks by which we can tell if we are following the right path. 

One of my favorite such measurements, despite (or maybe because of) its being one of the scariest is the following:

How do you, or how will you, react to the news that heaven is going to be populated, to a large extent, by people you vehemently disagree with on some very important issues, don’t like in the least, and/or you simply can’t stand being around?

If you are a card carrying conservative Republican, you are going to be sharing heaven with a lot of card carrying liberal Democrats, and vice-versa.   If you are adamantly, unshakably pro-choice, you are going to be sharing heaven with plenty of people who are adamantly, unshakably pro-life, and vice-versa.   If you are a staunch defender of the 2^nd Amendment, you are going to be sharing heaven with a lot of people who wish that Mr. Madison had taken the day off when that amendment was written, and vice-versa.  If you are white and don’t like blacks moving into your neighborhood, you are going to be sharing eternity with plenty of blacks, and vice-versa.  If you are Catholic and think that only those who follow Rome are going to make it past St. Peter, guess what?   There will be a LOT of Protestants in heaven…and vice-versa.   And, perhaps most controversially of all for many who share my belief in Jesus as my God, Lord, and Savior, if you are Christian and are absolutely convinced only Christians go to heaven, you are going to have plenty of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and people of no particular faith as neighbors for eternity.   (See my 11/14/12 post, YOU MEAN NON-CHRISTIANS DON’T GET TO COME TO HEAVEN?, http://insightfulpontificator.blogspot.com/2012/11/you-mean-non-christians-dont-get-to.html)  And if you are any of the aforementioned and are convinced that Christians are badly misguided in our belief that Jesus is God, you better get used to us, because we’re going to be living with you for eternity. 

If you are a Bear fan, you’re going to be keeping company with plenty of Packer fans in the Great Upstairs, and vice-versa.  If you get misty-eyed whenever you get within 100 miles of South Bend, I almost hate to break it to you, but there will be plenty of Trojan, Spartan, Wolverine, and Crimson Tide fanatics in the seats next to you in the Great Stadium in the sky, and vice-versa, and John, Duffy, Bo, and Bear will be sharing the assistant coaching duties with Knute and Frank.   And, perhaps the worst news of all to many of my friends, if you are Sox fan, there will be plenty of Cub fans passing you your Old Style down the eternal aisle…and vice versa.  Finally, and one that hits home, those of us who simply cannot stand being around people who pay scant, if any, attention to their personal hygiene will find ourselves with plenty of heavenly neighbors who think nothing of skipping the toothbrush or the shower for days on end.  (But, Lord, I hope that part of the admission drill is an eternity long ration of soap, deodorant, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. and a quick lesson their proper, and frequent, use!)

Simply put, God doesn’t look for ways to exclude people; He, or She, looks for ways to include people.  The last thing He, or She, wants is to be separated from any of His, or Her, children for ETERNITY.   What parent would even want to consider, let alone be pleased with and/or seek, such an outcome?  While many of us think we have all the answers, none of us has the answer as to how God can forgive so magnanimously and welcome so enthusiastically and how He, or She, considers matters we think so vital or mere quibbles over arcane and ultimately meaningless doctrine, preferences, or prejudices…

 “…as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12

and

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”  Isaiah 55:8

Very importantly, perhaps especially for us Christians, is that God was speaking to believers when He, or She, said these things through the psalmist and the prophet.  S/He was pointing out how far His or Her thoughts are from those even of believers, and how he forgave the transgressions of believers, which presupposes acknowledgement that believers do indeed commit transgressions.

That God is so inclusive and so forgiving should be very good news for all of us.  But many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, do not like the idea of sharing heaven with “those people,” whoever they may be, who don’t “deserve it,” like we do.  I would bet heavily, if I were a betting man, that just about all of us have this attitude; the only question is the matter of degree to which we have it.  The extent to which we have the “You mean they’re going to be there too?!!!” attitude is the extent to which we have work to do if we are to get in line with God.

Indeed, that God is so inclusive and so forgiving should be very good news for all of us, especially for those of us who, in our hearts of hearts, don’t like the idea of His being so inclusive and forgiving…because we are neither inclusive nor forgiving.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU, POPE BENEDICT

2/12/13




Yesterday, the 266th Pope, Benedict XVI, became the first successor of St. Peter to resign since Pope Gregory XII stepped down as part of schism 598 years ago.

On hearing the news, yours truly’s first thought was that the 85 year old pontiff was resigning so he could still have some, perhaps extensive, control over the choice of his successor. Benedict may have wanted to insure that he was replaced by a conservative in his ideological mold, only younger and stronger so that the Church could accelerate to a sprint what seems to many of us to be the its current brisk jog back to pre-Vatican II days.



But about two minutes of reflection shot that theory down. After 27 years of Pope John Paul II and eight years of Benedict XVI, who differed in personality and temperament but not in their approach to the faith, the College of Cardinals is filled, nearly exclusively, with conservatives. Short of a miracle, there is little chance of anyone who thinks much differently from Benedict becoming his successor. The new pope, in all likelihood, will be a younger, more vigorous, perhaps more charismatic, and maybe even more conservative version of Benedict XVI. That would have been the case whether Benedict resigned or died while holding the Chair of St. Peter.

The Pope stepped down for the reason he said he stepped down: he was too tired and sick to continue serving his God and his people. There was no more to it than that.



As my regular readers know, I am no fan of Benedict XVI, primarily because of his tendency to “reinterpret” Vatican II to irrelevance or meaninglessness and his near obsession with Papal authority, the latter of which manifested itself most dyspeptically in the Vatican’s crackdown on large swaths of the American sisterhood for “radical feminist themes inconsistent with the Catholic faith.” The expensive designer shoes didn’t help, either. Regardless of what I or you think about him, though, the Pope’s resignation is perhaps his finest hour. The Pope is 85 years old and in poor health. He is, of course, concerned about his own health, as all of us are. However, he is more concerned with the health of the Church. Benedict realizes that he is no longer capable of providing the leadership that the Church needs at any time, and especially at this troubled juncture in its history. This decision was doubtless made after extensive prayer and meditation with the Boss...and it was a very good decision.



For the good of the Church, the Pope stepped down to hand the reins to a younger man. That in itself would be a gracious, magnanimous, faith filled gesture. But to the extent it sets a precedent, that it tells future pontiffs that it is okay to step down when they are no longer capable of leading the world’s 2.25 billion Catholics, it was an even greater, more enduring step that should serve the Church well for centuries.

DO YOU REALLY NEED ME TO PRAY FOR YOU?

1/21/13




I have long had ambiguous feelings about praying for people or asking for prayers from people. I spend a lot of time praying for friends, public figures, and even for random strangers. I’m not at all shy about asking people to pray for me. (In fact, while I’m on the subject, please say a prayer for me and my family and I will say at least one for you and yours. Thanks.) Catholics regularly ask the saints to pray for us. One of our most beautiful prayers is the Memorare, a prayer of petition to the Blessed Mother that concludes



“O Mother of the Word Incarnate,

despise not my petitions,

but in your mercy, hear and answer me.

Amen.”



So why am I do have such ambiguous feelings about mutual prayer?

Leave aside for a moment, as grist for another mill, whether we should be asking God for anything beyond knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. God is, after all, not some kind of cosmic short order cook. See my 12/30/12 LBJ AND THE INSCRUTABILITY OF THE LORD. I still have problems with praying for people and having people pray for me, even though I still believe that prayer for others is one of our most important jobs in life and an activity in which I regularly and enthusiastically engage and I ask people, all of you included, for your prayers. Why?



Praying for others seems to assume that God has to be talked into doing good things for us. We sometimes have an image of God as some kind of almighty curmudgeon, or worse, who really is looking for an opportunity to flick us into hell, or otherwise wreak havoc on our lives, at the slightest provocation. He must be appeased…or else. And what better way to appease Him but to request that someone, especially someone on His good side, ask Him to do something nice for us, or at least to go easy on us? As Christians, and especially as Catholics, we consider Mary to be as close to Him as one could possibly get. He can’t refuse His mother, right? So let’s ask Mary to bring our requests, permissions, etc., to Him, and maybe He’ll accede to our requests.



This whole notion seems absurd. God is, after all, love. He wants to do what is best for us and is always striving to do what is best for us. The problem is our cooperation and the cooperation of other people with His plans for good for us, but I digress. He doesn’t have to be talked into inundating us with manifestations of His love; that’s what He does as a loving Father. And He’s not going to do what is bad for us or give us things we shouldn’t have, no matter how much we ask His mother to nag Him about it. And, by the way, Mary is not going to nag her Son to do what we want simply because we want it.



So it seems nonsensical to ask people to ask God to do things He already intends to do and pointless and harmful to ask people to ask God to do things He doesn’t want to do because they are not in His loving plan for us. As St. Peter tells us (1 Peter 5, 6)



“Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.”



and the author of Hebrews tells us (Hebrews 13, 5)



“…for he has said ‘I will never forsake you or abandon you.’”



And he means NEVER, but I digress.





And yet…



Those who have heralded God’s message often, almost characteristically, ask us to pray for each other. St. James (James 5, 16) writes



“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.”





The author of the letter, or the homily, to the Hebrews says (Hebrews 13, 19):



“I especially ask for your prayers that I may be restored to you very soon.”





St. Paul tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 1, 11):



“…as you help us with prayer so that thanks may be given by many on our behalf for the gift granted us through the prayers of many.”



And again in his first letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 5, 25):



“Brothers, pray for us, too.”



These are only two of the many instances in which Paul asks for prayers; the ends of his letters are filled with such requests.





So if prayers to a loving God to do loving things are unnecessary, why do His heralds frequently ask for prayers and advise us to pray for each other?



I, like all you, don’t know. But, as usual, I have a theory. Prayer for others is a gift not to the person prayed for but for the person doing the praying. Prayer benefits primarily the prayER not the prayEE. God is already taking care, or trying to take care, of the person prayed for. But the person who prays for someone else grows in love not only for the person for whom s/he is praying but also for God Himself…or Herself.



Any reason to talk to God is a good reason. But talking to God on behalf of someone else is living out His command of love of and service to each other.