St. Maria Goretti

The other day, I was driving and I pulled up to a four-way stop sign, behind a woman in a Honda. And a couple of other cars pulled up to the four-way stop also. And they went through. And then a couple more cars pulled up to the four-way stop, and then they went through. And the woman just sat there. Now, normally this would have driven me absolutely crazy. And you guys have heard my theory about how just having a steering wheel in my hands, is an occasion of sin. But I had just come from the Adoration Chapel, and I was bound and determined that I was going to give this woman the benefit of the doubt. So, rather than yelling, or laying on the horn, or making certain Italian hand gestures, I simply pulled around the woman, stopped and went on my way. See what the grace of God can do! But as I went around the woman’s car, I did look in to see if she was O.K.. And she was. She was just a million miles away. You could see it by the expression on her face. She had no business driving a car in a state like that. But she was very clearly thinking about something. It kinda reminded me of those Arby’s commercials where the person is distracted and they have that big, red Arby’s hat thing over their head to indicate that they are thinking about Arby’s. I don’t know what the woman was thinking about. Maybe one of her parents just died. Maybe her husband just left her. Maybe she had a sick child. Maybe she was planning dinner or trying to remember the phone number for the dentist. I have no idea. But she was thinking about something else other than her driving. And it showed.

Today, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, have something on their minds also. They too are distracted. Wouldn’t it be cool if they made an Arby’s commercial of the Apostles with big, red Arby’s hats floating above their heads? But James and John aren’t thinking about Arby’s. They’re not thinking about the big football game, or getting tires for the car, or about their work. They’re not thinking about any of the things that we spend our days thinking about. They’re thinking about Heaven. And their concern about Heaven and Jesus’ Kingdom is so complete that they don’t even notice that their distraction had to have been evident to Jesus and the other Apostles. Everybody knew that they had something on their mind. But what blew the rest of the Apostles away, was what these two were asking Jesus to do for them. They asked Jesus for the best seats in His Kingdom. They wanted to sit right next to Him for eternity. And one of the reasons that the rest of the Apostles are so upset, really is, why didn’t the rest of them think of this before? James and John are right. There’s nothing more important than our place in Heaven. They may have been going about it in the wrong way, but James and John are not bashful. They are not going to sit back and lose what they are already coming to know is going to be the most important thing in their future. James and John have Heaven on their mind. In their distraction, they don’t care about what the others think. In their obsession with Heaven, they want to make sure that they are going there. And apparently, they wanted good seats, the best seats.

This weekend, James and John challenge us to think even more about Heaven. While we are in this world, all of us should have Heaven on our minds. All of us should be distracted a lot of the time while we are living in this world, thinking about and working towards where we are going when this time is over. We’re not getting any younger you know. Our time in this world is passing oh so very quickly. If you’re not thinking about Heaven, maybe taking a cue from James and John, you ought to start thinking about it. It is where we are going to want to be when our time in this world is over.

Isn’t it funny that when we take a trip, when we go on vacation, we get so excited about where were going and we prepare for it? We plan, we talk about it, we can’t get the excitement out of our minds. Heaven is going to be a whole lot better than any vacation that we’ve ever been on. Isn’t it time, that like James and John we became less bashful about talking about Heaven? Even more, if we are going to be distracted about something, what better thing is there to be distracted about than Heaven?

James and John may have gone about it in the wrong way, but they were thinking along the right lines.

Everyday we need to be thinking about Heaven too. Are we following Jesus home to Heaven? What’s it going to be like when we get there? Who are we going to sit next to? The best is yet to come for all of us. We can’t even begin to imagine the Beatific Vision! Our hearts belong in Heaven. What are we doing now, in this world, to get there?

I don’t know about you guys, but after listening to the story about James and John, I’m thinking Heaven. And it’s a whole lot better than Arby’s.

May God bless us this weekend, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti… Pray for us !!!