| The Gospel today is one which is often chosen for funerals. It’s from John 14 and is often interpreted as an invitation to wait patiently and hopefully for what Jesus is going to accomplish on our behalf, in the future. The text says that he is going to prepare a place for us in his Father’s, Abba’s house/mansion. It sounds like we are to expectantly await this attractive reward at the end of a faithful life. But, and this is why we hear this Gospel at funerals, the usual interpretation is that we will not get our place in the mansion until after we die. This is where I think we might be going in the wrong direction with what Jesus was trying to say.
Most of you know that some people predicted and many more expected that Saturday, May 21, was supposed to be the day of rapture for the “elect” who were going to be taken up directly to heaven. It was to be marked by earthquakes and empty clothing lying about where the raptured ones were taken up. Many people waited with great expectation for 6:00 p.m. As far as I know, nothing changed and there were no more earthquakes than any other day, and no more clothing lying about than usual (teenagers – might have taken advantage of it to try to confuse their parents or just as an excuse to leave more clothing strewn around their bedroom). Many people waited for some special treatment by God and it did not come in the way they expected. Perhaps Jesus’ own words that we will know neither the day nor the hour…are most true.
But interestingly, I think many Catholic Christians read the Gospel text of today in a similar manner. We want to believe that there is some future place, and some future special treatment which Jesus prepared for us. But, I think that Jesus was saying to his disciples, and the moment at which his was speaking was before his death and resurrection, that the events surrounding his passion, death, and resurrection were the final preparation for us. We already have a special place in God-Abba’s mansion and we can enjoy it even now.
We have been promised an eternal life. And if you listen to me often enough, you will hear me say that we are already living our eternal life. There is not a new life that starts after death. We have been given one life to live, which changes after death, but is not ended. We want to believe that heaven is better and it may be. What we miss by putting all our emphasis and expectation on some future time, somewhere in heaven, is the opportunity and responsibility to be a part of heaven on earth.
The place is already prepared. Do we see it? Here and now - do we have an experience of it? Today, are we contributing to others’ experiences of what Jesus has prepared for us?
Salvation, redemption, forgiveness, and liberation are already the result of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. What more can there be? We are to live with the energy and awareness of believers who are living stones (1 Peter). We are already “a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people of his own…” who have the opportunity to praise God (Acts of Apostles).
Jesus announces to his disciples that he is going to go to prepare a place for them, for us. He is not talking about some distant future place. He is referring to the now, the post-resurrection reality that he will unleash, that he has unleashed by his death and resurrection. In the post-resurrection world in which we live, we are already living our eternal life.
Today, in this one life we have, in this world as we know it, we are to share the experience of salvation and liberation with others. Today, we are to forgive and receive forgiveness. In this world, we are to live with the fearlessness, the selflessness, and the hopefulness of those who have already received a great reward, a great gift, through Jesus our savior. Today, in this life, at this time, in this world, we are to live as those who ALREADY have Jesus, the Christ as our way, our truth, and our life. We need not wait for heaven. We are to co-create with God as we make heaven on earth, as we inhabit our place in the house/mansion of God’s salvation and grace in this life, TODAY, and every day.
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