Friars Corner: Jesus is our only key to heaven

Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR

Ezekiel 2:2-5; Ps 123:1-4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6a

As I was waking up this past Monday morning, I felt myself praying to the Holy Spirit the prayer which begins all the sacraments of the Eastern Churches:

Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who are everywhere present and fill all things, Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and increase Your presence within us, cleanse us of all stain (sin), and save us, O gracious Lord.

Then I felt the Holy Spirit showing me that personally knowing Jesus, his mission and power, is our sure way to heaven. Here are a few points to help our faith grow and share in Jesus’ mission.

Last Sunday I attended the ordination of Martin J. Smay in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling, WV. I had baptized that young man 29 years ago. What a glory to be with him for that great step in his life and that of his family, friends and diocese. On Sunday before I went to Fr. Smay’s First Mass, I celebrated the 9 a.m. Mass in the parish where I was staying, St. Anthony of Padua in Bridgeport, OH. There were only about fifty people and one young man about 35 there. In most of our parishes, the older people have passed to eternity and the young are gone. WHY? What is our main problem? Is God’s plan to his churches to get on with a drab life?

Two choices

I don’t believe God wants to close his churches. He lives there among us and wants to feed us in many ways especially offering himself as our “Bread of Life,” John 6:48 and 51. Jesus wants to “fill up his churches” with excited people knowing and loving him and serving others. Jesus is our “Good Shepherd,” John 10:11. He is also the door and has the only “key to his eternal life in heaven.” Jesus is “the Way, Truth and New Life,” John 14:6. He is the loving Savior of all of humanity. That is why our Father sent him to earth.

Many view the church as an institution full of all kinds of rules and regulations. Surely we do have lots of those rules. The first solution is to come personally to know who Jesus was and what he did during his public life on earth and to see what he continues to do each day through countless holy men and women around the world. This is awesome. Jesus loves us and wants to fill our lives with more of his love and gifts. We have two choices, either we understand Jesus and follow his plan or we reject him and his work to our own peril.

Walk with Jesus

How can we meet Jesus? We can’t walk up and shake his hand. He is not personally here now. He went back to heaven. He founded a church full of men and women to continue his work. We meet Jesus first in the New Testament Gospel stories of Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and in the Acts of the Apostles. For only $7.50 we can get a Catholic Book Publishing Co. copy of the New Testament, “Red Letter” edition. Everything Jesus said in the gospels is printed in red ink. His words are clearly evident. It also has good footnotes and explanations. There he is loving, healing, feeding, teaching and helping people. He continues that work each day through his church all over the world.

Every year we “walk” through his earthly life from his birth to his going back to heaven at his ascension. Then Jesus and his Father sent us their Holy Spirit to continue their work of saving the world from destruction.

Prayer corner

My second simple point is to set aside a special quiet place where we live. There we can say a little prayer to the Holy Spirit for guidance as we read and think about a gospel story about Jesus. Every day at Mass we read another story about his life. As we meet Jesus in these stories and in our prayer life, “our own life changes.” We live and move in response to his awesome love for us. Jesus enlightens our minds with more of his truth and reason for living. Get this wonderful picture of Jesus for your prayer room, “thetruefaceofJesus” on the Internet and be lost in the love that flows from Jesus’ eyes to you. You daily grow to be more like the love of Jesus. And his love sets you on fire and it flows out of you to bless others. You become a Jesus radiator.

We cannot love God more than he already loves us. It is impossible. As we fall more in love with Jesus, we realize that he has called us to follow him and that he has already given us many gifts (especially at Confirmation) to reach out and care for others usually in our parish family first.

Bigger tasks

Some of us are called to much bigger tasks. We can either accept his love and mission or reject it. Through his love in us, he can do marvelous things in the culture around us. Hebrews 10:7b and Ps 40:7 said of Jesus, the Messiah, “Behold, I come to do your will O God.”

Let us follow Jesus in doing the will of our Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Let us “be little torches” on fire for Jesus. Try it, you will love him more and do great things.

May almighty God the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit bless you,

• Fr. Bob Hilz
  © 2018 Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR)