Mass this morning followed by the last of the mission talks at my church. The Redemptorist priest spoke on the rewards of discipleship, basically outlining the four last things. His stress was on trusting in God's great love and not fearing death or judgment. A few notes:
* "As we live, so we will die." We shouldn't worry about hell as long as we're on the journey to heaven.
* Purgatory is a gift, a time for us to let go of whatever we're still carrying. Christ has already atoned for our sins, but we may still not be pure enough to enter heaven (i.e. may not yet trust God completely, etc.).
* God will be there at the moment we die; He wants us to have a peaceful death.
He told us a beautiful story about an old man who was dying yet had no fear. Years before, when his faith was weak and God did not feel real to him, a priest had instructed him to imagine Jesus in great detail sitting in the chair across from him. Once he had grasped this, he should tell Jesus everything he'd always wanted to say to Him. Then Jesus would speak to him as well.
The man did this, and throughout the rest of his life he continued to have such close conversations with the Lord. When the doctor told him he did not have long to live, the old man could not wait for him to leave the hospital room so he could speak to Jesus. He was so happy to finally be going home where Jesus could embrace him. Jesus replied that He, too, was overjoyed and excited for the man to join Him in heaven.
The man soon died and was found in his bed, but with his head resting on the chair beside him. He had died with his head resting in Jesus' lap. What a beautiful way to return home.
This story made me cry. How dearly I want to see Jesus!
This is my temporary home.
It's not where I belong.
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through.
This was just a stop, on the way to where I'm going.
I'm not afraid because I know... this was
My temporary home.
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