As Christians, I think we look at the second reading from the Book of Revelation, and realize deep down that we want to enter into the promised new Jerusalem. We want to live where there will be no more tears, no more weeping and wailing, no more death and mourning. The thought of such a place is powerful that we can’t imagine anyone not wanting to be there, but do we live up to that desire by following the commands Christ has given us?
The entire second reading is a beautiful image of a new Heaven and a new earth. The old earth, stained and disfigured by sin, has passed away and is replaced by a renewed heaven and earth. Just as God dwelt with the Israelites in the earthly Jerusalem, a new Jerusalem descends from Heaven as God’s dwelling among us. We are also renewed, with sin and its effects wiped away, and our souls are filled with joy and everlasting peace.
All of this renewal has already been prepared for us through the death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one on the throne who says, “Behold, I make all things new.” Our Lord’s sacrifice has fulfilled God’s promise of salvation to humanity, and we are given a foretaste of what it will look like to enter into that salvation.
On our own, we do not know how to enter into this heavenly Kingdom of God, but Jesus has shown us the way. In our Gospel, Jesus gives us what might appear to be a simple commandment: “As I have loved you, so you should also love one another.” This love, however, is not a simple tolerance of our neighbor or a polite greeting one in a while. As Our Lord modeled for us in His death, this love is a total self-giving love. To truly love as Christ has loved us, we must be willing to give everything, even our vey lives, in love of our neighbor.
Suddenly, this is not such an easy commandment, is it? The disciples in the first reading realized the difficulties that come with following the commandments of Jesus. As Paul and Barnabas said, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Truly loving our neighbor won’t come without cost, both interiorly and exteriorly. We may have to give up much in this life for the sake of the next. We may be insulted, persecuted, and derided for our belief in Christ. We may find our love for our neighbor being used against us.
What if we decide not to follow Christ’s commands, and live this life for ourselves? There are many in the world today who think that life is all about getting what they want. These people, many claiming to be Christians, are focused on themselves to the exclusion of those around them. It’s their enjoyment and their desire to get the most out of their lives that is their main, if not only, concern.
I think it’s fair to describe this attitude as selfish, and those who claim to follow Christ but live a selfish life are living a lie. By the example of His own life, Our Lord is very clear that following Him means putting others over ourselves, not the other way around. For those who refuse to follow Christ in this life, what makes them think they’ll be willing to follow Him in the next?
How we live our lives here on Earth, in the relatively short span we have, influences how we’ll live in the next. If we dedicate this life to following Jesus, we’ll spend the next life with Him. If we spend this life thinking only of ourselves and not following Jesus, we’ll spend the next life apart from Him. In other words, we will choose our eternal destination based on how we live our lives now.
If you think about it, this is a scary idea. Whether we have eternal joy in Heaven or eternal sorrow in Hell is our choice. Our Heavenly Father does not want to sound eternity apart from Him, but He respects our free will and allows us to choose whether or not to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He also allows us to refuse His graces and turn away from Him for all eternity. God allows us to choose by how we act in this life.
The image of the Heavenly Jerusalem is a very powerful, beautiful image. May we all choose in this life to follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbor so that we will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
