I have often wondered, like many others, what Heaven will be like. People have portrayed Heaven as a beautiful garden, as white clouds with people flying around, and even as a bureaucratic government office. We may never know exactly what Heaven looks like, but Scripture gives us some hints about what to expect.
This week’s Gospel comes from the Book of Matthew and tells the parable of the talents. God gives each of us the wonderful gift of life and talents to help us navigate it. The big question is, what do we do with these gifts? Do we use our talents to make ourselves as comfortable and happy as possible, or do we use them to grow closer to God and help others do the same?
The parable tells us about those who used their talents to multiply them and about one who buried his talent. Jesus has also told us that He has prepared many dwelling places in Heaven for us. Just as not everyone will experience the same degree of suffering in Hell, we will not all experience the same degree of joy in Heaven.
Our goal in this life is to grow as close to Jesus as possible. When we die, those who have drawn close to Jesus will remain close to Him in the next life. God will multiply the fruits of our talents and reward us for them. However, if we fail to use our talents, we will have little to multiply. We grow closer to Jesus when we use our talents to love Him and others. Jesus taught us, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
We will all experience joy if we make it to Heaven, but those who are closer to Jesus will experience an even greater joy. Just as we feel warmer when we move closer to a fire, we will experience more joy the closer we draw to Jesus. An earthly fire will burn us if we get too close, but the fire of God’s love will strengthen us and fill us with joy.
If we enter Heaven in an imperfect state, God’s intense love may feel uncomfortable at first as it burns away our imperfections. Just as we may feel uncomfortable when someone turns on a bright light after we have spent time in a dark room, God’s light may initially overwhelm us until we adjust to its brilliance.
We don’t need to know exactly what Heaven will be like. We only need to know that Jesus loves us and wants us to draw as close to Him as possible. Jesus opened the door to Heaven through His great mercy and sacrifice, but we must choose to walk through it. Let’s run into His loving arms and experience the highest joy imaginable.
