“The strength of the soul consists in its faculties, passions and desires, all of which are governed by the will. Now when these faculties, passions and desires are directed by the will toward God, and turned away from all that is not God, then the strength of the soul is kept for God, and thus the soul is able to love God with all its strength.”
— St. John of the Cross, p. 259 of “Ascent of Mt. Carmel.”
Not everyone is going to heaven. Let’s get that out of the way. And, there are probably people who are going to hell who, at this moment, don’t think that it is possible for them. After all, they were baptized and received their First Holy Communion (especially if they are Catholic) or they have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior (if they are Protestant.) It’s not enough, though.
We have to make the choice to act like we are baptized or Jesus is our Savior every single minute of our existence on this life.
Dr. Italy likens this to a door. On one side is Jesus (who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the only way to the Father) and on the other is not-Jesus. The idea is at the end of our life the door will close and depending upon which side of the door we are standing when it slams shut and locks will determine where we spend eternity.
I don’t know about you, but I tremble when I think about it. St. Paul told us that we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Pretty scary words. I mean, have you read Matthew, Chapter 5 and 25? We all fall short of the beatitudes. Oh, and by the way, the door is narrow that leads to heaven. More complications.
And, yet, there is so much hope if (and this is a big “if”) we trust Jesus. Trust Him in everything, everyday. Put our daily lives into His loving Hands. Sometimes, I feel like the woman with the hemorrhage and I touch the hem of His garment and hold on for dear life. Everyday, we make the choice for God because we don’t know when that door is going to shut.
Choose wisely, friends.
Dr. Linda L. Powell 