Think on the Things of Heaven, Not of the Earth

As I was reading Our Lady of Fatima by Fr. William Thomas Walsh I came across a quote that caused me to suddenly stop reading; something had changed, I felt a kind of rage, perhaps anger as I read these words: “Here, in these cloisters there was peace. Lucia began to be glad that the Bishop had sent her there” (Our Lady of Fatima, p.198). 

Lack of Peace Outside the Cloister

It didn’t take me long to realize that the anger I felt was directed towards myself because I was envious.  I too desire peace and protection from the sinful events which have become a part of my world.  Why couldn’t I live in a holy place, surrounded by spiritual, prayerful, kind, and honest people? How can I put some distance between myself and the sins which seem to surround me? 

My wife and I are grandparents, but not always happy grandparents; that is, we no longer find that delight and ease of life that we once shared with our grandchildren when they were younger; when they were more innocent and perhaps the world less sinister. Now they are teenagers, but lost teenagers. They are young people getting younger. Rebelling against adulthood and everything it stands for: education, having a steady job, patriotism, college, marriage, and family, in general taking responsibility for one’s life and just growing up.

Envy and Regret Resolved

After prayer and reflection, I realized that I had no reason to be envious just because I lived among the laity instead of within a religious community.  A quote from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians helped clear my mind: “Think of the things of heaven, not of the things of this earth” (Colossians 3:2). I came to realize that I didn’t have to think about the “sins that surround me” and/or the people involved; I can and need to pray for them and myself whether I lived at home or in a monastery; frequent prayer and attending Mass is the healing needed no matter where I live.

I Am Exactly Where I Should Be

The point I am trying to make is that instead of feeling envious of those who have responded with a “yes” to the religious vocation or for feeling regret for the life that I have chosen, I need to understand that the present circumstances of my life are not random or the result of chance. But that I have been placed where I am because it is where I need to be at this time in my life. I need to realize that I am a result of God’s will, which I have tried to follow on a daily basis; choosing time and time again to submit to his will.  So why should I have regret or envy now?

It’s true that I desire more peace in my life. And St. Paul tells me, you, and the whole world how to achieve this: “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of the world.” In the past, I never took him seriously because I didn’t  know how to “think about the things of heaven.” I didn’t know, because I knew so little about heaven; it was a limited topic.

Focus on Heaven

Focus on “heaven” resulted in the redundancy of thought until now.  You see, through prayer, I have taken the liberty to expand the meaning of “the things of heaven” to include all that would lead me to Heaven. This  I have done with the help of “Lectio Divina,” a way of reading sacred scripture for personal benefit, which gives me and you the right and privilege to seek a personal meaning in sacred scripture, a deeper meaning, a meaning that means something to our souls and to our lives 

So now it becomes easy to think about the things of heaven; I can use all of Sacred Scripture; it would take me more than a lifetime to contemplate, pray about, or think about everything in the Holy Bible. I have an unlimited treasure, and such thoughts do grant me peace and free my mind and spirit from preoccupation with the “sins that surround me”. When I place my heart and mind in the things of God,  I find my treasure in heaven as Jesus tells us, “Where your heart is, there is your treasure” (Mt.6:21). 

Conclusion

A few days after I had written the first draft of this article, a friend of mine came over letting me know that he had received and read the e-mail copy I had sent. So I asked for his opinion, his honest opinion. He didn’t say much, but his few words held a lot of meaning: ” See no evil (sin); hear no evil (sin); speak no evil (sin), and there is no evil (sin)! Maybe you should change the title to ‘See No Evil,’ and add a photo of the three monkeys covering their eyes, ears, and mouth.”

I listened, I never thought that my article could be interpreted in that light or that removing myself from “the presence” of sin (if I could), is the same as hiding from it or even denying its existence.

I answered, “But I don’t turn a deaf ear or a blind eye to the sins that surround me; instead, in a manner of speaking, I embrace those sins and join these sins to mine, sickening my soul, until I attend Mass, where I am healed by offering it all to God. I am able to do this by joining my prayers to the prayers of the Priest, and my sacrifice to sacrifice of the Priest during the Eucharistic celebration. 

Carrying my sins and, in some way, the sins of my family reminds me of the Israelite in the desert where many were bitten by serpents (Numbers 21: 5-6) causing a poisoning of the body and soul, a sickening of the body and soul. In order to be healed they had to present themselves to a bronze serpent on a pole constructed by Moses at God’s command, “Whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered” (Numbers 21: 9). 

The poison left their bodies, taken up to God as an offering, a sacrifice, healing body, and soul.

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15); “Jesus, exalted to glory at his cross and resurrection, represents healing for all.” (footnote for Jn.3:14, St. Joseph’s Bible).

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Our Lady of Fatima by Fr. Walsh:

In 1917 The Blessed Mother appeared six times to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. One of those three children was Lucia Abobora, who later became Sister Maria das Dores and spent the rest of her life as a cloistered nun with the Sisters of Dorothy in Spain.