Fourth Sunday of Easter

*picture from http://osucatholicsinfo.blogspot.com

They stood before the throne of the Lamb...

"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship Him day and night in His temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

(From the Second Reading for this Sunday)

Sometimes it seems difficult to think about the life beyond earth. At times, it doesn't seem real. Sure it's Heaven, but will it really be that great? We won't be able to do anything but praise God for all eternity, 
and that sounds pretty boring, doesn't it? 

Heaven will be even better than anyone could ever imagine. God's abundant beauty and excruciatingly brilliant glory will be revealed to us, and we will see Him face to face. It will be even more amazing than we could ever hope for.

Susan Tassone put it wonderfully in her book Thirty-Day Devotions for the Holy Souls: "St. Theresa of Avila received but a passing glimpse of the hand of our blessed Lord and went into ecstasy. St. Francis heard an angel give one touch of a violin, and the saint nearly died of pleasure. The mind of man cannot comprehend eternity."

There will be no more war, no more sadness, no more hunger. 
No more tears, no more heartbreak, no more struggles. 
We will rest in His arms for all eternity.

By the way, eternity is forever. A thousand years seems like a long time, but multiply that by infinity and you will get eternity. It's such a long time that our minds cannot come close to understanding it.

When we spend time thinking about our lives and about eternity, our priorities just fall into place. Our lives are nothing in the timeline of eternity. Each breath we take totals up to a tiny gasp. It's no wonder God doesn't really need us and our love. He just wants us, 
more than we could ever imagine.

I encourage you to spend some time thinking about eternity and your priorities in life. What do you spend the most time on? What does all your energy ultimately go into?

Father Larry Richards, an AMAZING priest, once said something like: At the end of your life, God will give you exactly what you want. If you want God above all things, you will go to Heaven. But if you want anything else other than God, you will go to Hell. (sorry, I'm just paraphrasing)

His words have always made me think more about my own life and its direction. I think it's important for us to do everything with the mindset of eternity and to think "Will doing this bring me closer to God?" and "By doing this, will it bring me closer to Heaven?"

So I encourage you to think about this for your own life. I pray that you will find some way to draw nearer to God so we will all be together in Heaven, praising God for all eternity.