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The Only Way to Heaven
  American humorist, Seba Smith, around 1840, wrote a short story titled “The Money Diggers” in which he noted that, “There are more ways than one to skin a cat.” He was talking about the many ways to dig for money. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote a love poem in the nineteenth century which began with the line, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”  Jesus teaches us that there may be many ways for doing many things but there’s only one way to enter Heaven, namely His way. In his play “As You Like It”, Shakespeare, through the forlorn character of Jacques, opined that, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances.” The world may be a stage but life is not a play; it’s real and often painful. It’s an experience of one’s developing self from the moment of conception to natural death expressed in thoughts, words and actions. There are entrances and exits such as conception, birth, entering and leaving childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, old age, finally exiting in death and entering the beyond. A good exit is more important than a flamboyant entrance because the way we exit determines the smoothness or roughness of our entrance into the next stage or phase of life. Death is our final exit from the world in which we now live, move, and have our being. How do we prepare for it satisfactorily? A productive retirement follows when we exit a career or job with a vision of what we want to be and do as we enter the next phase of life. For the Christian, a good exit means being prepared to enter Heaven. St. Peter teaches us that “the goal of our Faith is the salvation of our soul” (1 Peter 1:9). There’s only one way to achieve that reality, namely through, with and in Jesus Christ. This is why St. Peter in his first sermon confronted the Jєωιѕн leaders’ willingness to hand Jesus over to be crucified, reminding them that they killed the only one who could save them. Bishops and clergy have an obligation to confront the world with this truth just as Peter did.
  There’s no stairway to Heaven as God revealed in the story of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9) whose builders tried to gain entrance to Heaven on their own. Rather, we walk with the One who has descended from Heaven and now has ascended and resides there. Regarding who will be saved, Jesus responded: “Enter through the narrow gate, the gate that leads to damnation is wide, the road is clear, and many choose to travel it. But how narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road,  and how few there are who find it!” (Mt 7:13-14). Jesus tells us, “No one has gone up to Heaven except the One who came down from there – the Son of Man who is in Heaven” (Jn 3:13). Later He explained, “… it is not to do my own will that I have come down from Heaven, but to do the will of Him who sent me. … Indeed this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks upon the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life. Him I will raise up on the last day” (Jn 6:38-40). Jesus is the Good Shepherd who “calls His own by name and leads them out …” He promised that,  Whoever enters through me will be safe … I came that they might have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:3, 9-11). Fullness of life can only be experienced in Heaven.
    We hear people today, even leaders of the Church, claim that “all religions are paths to God.” That is a lie which Satan loves because it either reduces or dismisses the importance of Jesus and His Church as necessary for salvation. Jesus states clearly that, “… no one comes to the Father but through me” (Jn 14:6). The Word of  God through St. Peter emphasizes that Jesus is the only Savior: “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other Name in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:11-12).  The fact is that there’s no other way to Heaven. Jesus is the only Savior of mankind. Neither Islam, nor Buddhism, nor Hinduism, nor Confucianism, nor any other man-made religion can save a man or woman from hell. That’s why in death everyone must opt either for or against Jesus who “judges the living and the dead” (2 Tim 4:1). Since Jesus and His Church cannot be separated, no one can opt for Jesus without also opting for His Church. That’s why St Peter publicly proclaimed this truth on Pentecost Sunday when he preached the following: “Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).  Those who heard Peter’s confrontational sermon implored in their guilt, “What are we to do?”  Peter responded, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37-38).  Repentance and baptism marked the exit from their sinful ways and their entrance into a new way of life, namely Jesus’ way, the Christian way, through membership in His Church. It is active membership in Jesus’ Church that prepares a person for a positive exit from this world and a happy entrance into the next world.
  Jesus revealed that, “Eternal life is this: to know You, the one true God, and the one you have sent, Jesus Christ” (Jn 17:3). The intentional member of the Church can declare with assurance in the words of the Psalmist that, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want…Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for You are at my side with Your rod and Your staff that give me courage” (Ps 23). Imagine the peace and security that prayer gives us when Jesus is at the centre of our life. Jesus shepherds us through His Church and guides us through the Holy Spirit to meet all our needs by accompanying us and calling us to yoke ourselves to Him (Mt 11:29) as we enter and exit the different stages and experiences of life. He walks with us daily through, with and in His Church’s prayer, worship, Sacraments and service, especially in the Holy Mass where He enables us to be present with Him at Calvary where He sacrificed Himself to atone for our sins in order to save us. This is a visible display of His love for us. Through His Church’s Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick Jesus enables us to die peacefully by preparing us for a good exit from this life through dying with Him in order to rise with Him (Rom 6:8). Jesus empowers us to “suffer injustice and endure hardships through making us aware of God’s presence,” reminding us that He is always with us. “You have seen … how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself” (Ex 19:4).  Peter reminds us: “Christ suffered for you … to have you follow in His footsteps. By His wounds you were healed. At one time you were straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls” (1 Pt 2:21-25). What greater security could anyone wish for than that which Jesus offers us?  He calls you and me by name and wants to have a personal relationship with us as members of His Church into which He granted entrance through Baptism. Do you recognize His voice as He speaks to you and meets you in each of His Church’s Sacraments especially in His Mass through the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist? He is the only One who can take you to Heaven since He alone knows the way because He is the only Way to Heaven, the only Truth about who God is, who we are and how to get to Heaven, and the only giver of Heavenly Life. If you don’t hear Jesus it’s not because He isn’t speaking to you but because you aren’t listening. “Today, if you should hear His voice, harden not your hearts as at the revolt” (Heb 3:15). What do we need to do? We need to reform our life, repent, and believe in the Gospel. That is the only way to Heaven. He has given us His Church to make that possible. It is all so simple, isn’t it! Like the Nike slogan, “Just do it!” (fr sean)
 
Gifts to Pray For
Lord, grant me the gift of wisdom, discipline, and understanding, that I may not be hardened by sin, weakened by laziness, or blinded by foolishness. Amen! (Liturgy of the Hours)