Now, I’m not at all sponsored by Airbnb and this isn’t an endorsement as it’s not for everyone, but I often use Airbnb to save money while travelling. For those maybe not familiar, Airbnb helps connect travelers with homeowners who are willing to accept strangers into their homes. Anyway, once I stayed with this lady who regularly opened two bedrooms of her house for paying guests. She made enough from this that she quit her job and, aside from taking the time needed for basic housekeeping, she spent her days sitting on a tropical beach. Sounds like a fantastic arrangement and at first, I thought she had found the perfect, almost heavenly, life arrangement.
Heaven is sometimes described as a place of rest and for us who work hard or toil, that’s an easy image to cling to. But, while there’s nothing outright wrong with this image for heaven, it does fall short. Truth be told, I’m not sure I could spend my remaining days just sitting on a beach somewhere; I know I’d eventually get bored and if heaven is the perfect place, then it can’t be boring.
All kinds of analogies have been used to depict heaven, but it’s actually very difficult to describe the place because there’s no real eyewitness accounts of what it’s like and if someone were to come back and, in plain English, describe what heaven is like, I’m not sure any of us would understand. Yet, it’s extremely important for Christians to consider heaven, to long for that place, because it’s a big part of what our faith is about. Jesus died on the cross to open for us the gates of heaven. He ascended into heaven to lead us there and in the Gospel for today, he tells his disciples that he goes to prepare a dwelling place for his followers in that kingdom, our true home.
The Father’s house: I believe that is one of the best analogies for heaven. It’s a true home. When a home functions well, it becomes the place everyone wants to go to and remain. A good home offers safety from all dangers, it delivers rejuvenation and peace, joy and love. But, when a home isn’t working well, when it’s a place people wish to escape from, it becomes instead a place of grief and loss.
Lots of great things happen in a good home. While each member of the household may have their own lives, their own rooms and interests, there’s no room for self-centredness. Members of a true home support one another and depend on each other. So, the home becomes the place for many individuals to live as one.
Heaven isn’t just something for the end of life, it makes a difference today if it’s allowed to shape the hearts of disciples. Of course, we can’t create heaven on earth. But we can create opportunities to get a taste of heaven here. In the first reading today, we heard about a time when the early Christians discovered a problem within their community: some of their members, widows, were suffering for lack of food. After some thought, prayer and discussion, the ministry of the deaconate was established and the problem overcome. The witness of love prompted many to join the Church. We may never be able to eliminate sadness, poverty, disease, war or any other evil entirely in this life. But we still work to do so because our efforts offer a taste of the unity and love found only in our true heavenly home; it gives a hint of what happens when many live as one.
Many living as one: it’s the model we ought to keep in mind when we grow our families and our Church. Disciples keep this in mind when making decisions or using their time, gifts and energy.
But sometimes we encounter serious roadblocks or some evils just seem impossible to overcome. I know there are many who sadly find it difficult to discern any similarities between the peace and love offered in the father’s home and their own workplace, church or even home. Heaven makes a difference today because we’re already members of the household of God and as members of his home we have a great family of saints supporting us through their intercession. Among that heavenly family is Mary.
Today, we crowned this image of Mary. She’s important to us for all kinds of reasons, but today we might reflect on her faithfulness to the members of God’s home. Life is filled with all kinds of ups and downs, joys and sorrows that can leave us feeling alone. But as members of the father’s house, we’re never abandoned. At the joy of the first Christmas, Mary was there. At the darkness of the cross, Mary was there. At Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit gave life to the Church and the disciples began their hard work of sharing the Good News, Mary was there. We’re happy to turn to Mary during difficulties, to look to her and prayerfully seek her intercession when facing great evils. We’re happy to crown Mary as our queen because she’s faithfully there as a reminder that we are members of God’s home. She faithfully shows us what happens when many live as one.
I know there’re many here facing great struggles, who feel isolated or maybe you know someone who’s experiencing that. Maybe for the remainder of this month, consider praying, for someone who might need prayers, a rosary or even a decade of a rosary each day. If you need a rosary, there’s one freely available for you in the chapel. Maybe for the next few weeks, consider coming to Mass thirty minutes earlier than usual to join our community in praying the rosary.
To finish, let us ask Mary to intercede in our world and remind all God’s children of how they are members of the Father’s home called to be part of a family composed of many who live as one:
Hail Mary…
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