SEEK THE VISION OF GOD AND DIRECT ENTRY INTO HEAVEN AND THE SHADOWS OF LIFE WILL FALL AWAY FROM YOU

SEEK THE VISION OF GOD AND DIRECT ENTRY INTO HEAVEN AND THE SHADOWS OF LIFE WILL FALL AWAY FROM YOU

We recently noted a passage from the incredible little booklet, "Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory," about the highest place there, the last place in that place of purification, which is known, in that booklet, as "the Purgatory of desire which is called the Threshold." It added:

"Very few escape this. To avoid it altogether, one must ardently desire Heaven and the vision of God. That is rare, rarer than people think, because even pious people are afraid of God and have not, therefore, a sufficiently strong desire of going to Heaven."

Let us resolve this Lent to address the issue. Few things could be more important in your life.

It begins with questions to ask yurself, on the desert, these Forty Days.

Do you want God enough?

Do you strive after Him?

Do you want His direct Presence more than anything else -- anything?

Do you think of direct heavenly entry? Are you trying for that -- or just doing enough to avoid darkest purgatory?

"Do not open your heart to every man, but discuss your affairs with one who is wise and who fears God. Do not keep company with young people and strangers," wrote Thomas á Kempis. "Do not fawn upon the rich, and do not be fond of mingling with the great. Associate with the humble and the simple, with the devout and virtuous, and with them speak of edifying things."

We must be "ardent." We must ardently want immediate entry into paradise. Ardent is a telling word. It means to have very, very strong feelings. It means to be passionate, fervent, zealous, fervid, wholehearted, vehement, intense, fierce, and fiery -- on fire for God. passionate, fervent, zealous, fervid, wholehearted, vehement, intense, fierce, fiery.

Are you?

Do you pray and live to avoid something or for something -- SomeOne? When you take Communion, is your mind focused on the God Who created you, Who wants you to be with Him, Who wants your full attention?

Just desire, desire, desire. Desire God. Think of the joy of being in His direct Light. Think of the beauty of where He is. Think of the highest Heaven.

Want it. Want to be with the Ancients who surround His Throne. Seek with all your heart to be alongside Jesus (Who as we know is at the right Hand of the Father).

What are you most passionate about in life? What has consumed you more than anything else? What has caused you to focus on it more than any other thing has caused you to focus? What goal in your life have you worked hardest toward?

Reflect on that and take that fervor and apply it to wanting God.

Apply it to direct entry into Heaven.

Not purgatory, no; not even the highest levels of purgatory. Go for it all.

Aim for Heaven.

Want that enough and all those little things you may be focusing on or bound to will automatically fall from you, and along with it the darkness of earth.

http://www.spiritdaily.net/ardentdesire.htm

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March 13, 2015

Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 241

Gospel Mk 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

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