Tag Archives: christianity

The hope of Heaven

A depiction of heaven

As we know from children’s catechisms, the reason why we exist is to know, love and serve God on earth in order to be happy with him forever in heaven.  We know it but we tend to forget it in the busyness and distractions of everyday life. In this meditation, we consider how we can keep this most important goal in mind in order to reach it:

  • Asking God to increase our hope of going to heaven
  • Longing for heaven in our prayer
  • Having a daily plan of spiritual activities to help us grow in love for God and speed us on toward the goal
  • Having our heart in God, not in goods
  • Doing what sports people do to win a crown that fades: having a rigorous training program, having a coach, following the rules, taking time out to consider how we are going, finishing the race

One in the Communion of Saints

One of the most consoling truths of our faith is the reality of the Communion of Saints – the Church triumphant in heaven, the Church suffering in purgatory, and the Church militant on earth, all helping one another. In this meditation we use texts from Scripture, the Catechism, St Bernard, St Therese of Lisieux and St Josemaria to consider how:

  • The saints in heaven “fix the Church more firmly in holiness” by their example and prayer for us
  • We should have as the goal of our life to be with them for all eternity
  • The souls in purgatory suffer greatly and are exceedingly happy, relying on our prayer for them and interceding for us before God
  • In the Church militant, we are helped by the prayers of all in this Communion and we should feel responsible to help the others by our struggle for holiness and our prayers and works.