Tag Archives: detachment

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

Heart in God, not in goods

The widow giving her two mites, all she had

The Scriptures invite us to love God above all things. But in an affluent society, where goods abound, it is easy to put our heart more in goods than in God. In this meditation we draw on texts of Scripture, Popes Paul VI and Francis, and Fathers of the Church, to consider how:

  • We must strive to love God with our whole hearts and to keep our minds on the eternal reward that awaits us in heaven
  • We should adjust our priorities so that we are detached from the goods we possess and we do not buy things we do not need
  • We can endeavour to live a more simple lifestyle, appreciating the little things of life
  • We should be generous with our wealth in helping those who are less fortunate

John the Baptist, Precursor of Christ

In the lead-up to Christmas, the liturgy reminds us repeatedly of the important role of St John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus in preparing the people to receive him. In this meditation we consider:

  • The similarities between the annunciations by the archangel Gabriel to Zechariah and Mary  of the birth of a child
  • The importance of John’s role as the last and greatest prophet to announce the way of the Lord
  • John’s virtues of detachment from comforts and humility that make him so efficacious in carrying out his role
  • John’s efficacy in announcing Christ to two of his own disciples: John the Evangelist and Andrew
  • Our own mission of making Christ known to the people of our day

Lessons from the manger: detachment

Christ is born in Bethlehem

The birth of Christ is a special time in the Church’s calendar. It is a joyful event that marks the beginning of our salvation.

From the manger in Bethlehem Jesus teaches us many lessons. In this meditation we consider the lesson of detachment from material things and comforts, which abound especially at Christmas but throughout the year as well. We consider that:

  • Jesus wants us to be happy but we will not find true happiness in material things
  • We were made for God and will be truly happy when our heart rests in him
  • Jesus teaches us much about detachment in the Sermon on the Mount
  • Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si teaches us how to be happy with a simpler way of life
  • St Teresa of Calcutta shows us how detachment from goods is freedom
  • We can follow some very practical suggestions to find the happiness we seek