Heaven and All Saints' Day

Karen Pepe • October 27, 2021

From pastor’s desk on the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, year B

Where is heaven? - Everywhere and nowhere.  Rather we should ask: What is heaven? Heaven is not a place but a state of being or a spiritual condition.  However, it seems that most people have a false conception of heaven as a place of infinite pleasures known from our life on earth.  If that were true, heaven would eventually be boring and with no purpose.  We would be exhausted as if staying too long on a vacation. Certainly, heaven is associated with peace and joy, but it is a different kind of joy - it is the never-ending joy that is a fruit of fulfillment of God’s will.

The Revelation does not speak of heaven as a place but rather as a kingdom of God.  This means that the heavenly kingdom will be organized and ordered towards higher purpose, which is the glory of God.  Hence, heaven will consist of the fulfillment of all desires that will be realized in God on God’s terms.  Ultimately, it is life in God that makes heaven possible.  For Christian believers’ true happiness is found only in Christ Jesus.

Is heaven possible on earth? Yes and no. Let’s start with ‘no.’  The earth can be just a foretaste of paradise. Since the earth with all its majesty is God’s creation, it reflects God‘s beauty and harmony.  However, we know that all things as we see them on earth eventually will come to an end.  All the plants and bodies will decay; all the buildings and the mountains will collapse; and even the earth itself will vanish.  It is not really heaven if we mean it to be something that will last forever.  In addition, our human life is affected by the original sin and actual sins we commit throughout our life.  Consequently, for many people, life on earth looks more like hell or purgatory than heaven.  Even if you do have a good and happy life, you still are not free from worry, difficulties, and suffering. Therefore, we know heaven cannot be found on earth.

Now what about the ‘yes’?  According to our faith, heaven is where Jesus Christ is.  That is why when one of the Pharisees came to Jesus to ask him about the kingdom of God and correctly answered Jesus’s question, our Lord told him “ You are not far from the kingdom of God.  “The pharisee was not far from “the kingdom,” for he was very close to comprehension that it was Jesus Christ who embodied the kingdom and it was Jesus who is the Way to heaven.  The so-called good thief understood this while being crucified next to Jesus.  This villain asked the Lord, “ Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  And our Lord Jesus answered him, “ Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

As we approach the celebration of All Saints Day we recognize those who experienced in a special way the foretaste of heaven on earth and already enjoy the bliss of heaven.  On this special day we profess that there are people in heaven, that is, there are people who enjoy the vision of God because they believed in the word of Christ and put it into practice during their life on earth.  Since they wholeheartedly embraced the faith in Jesus Christ, they were able to become saints.  And that is exactly heaven.  Heaven is when you can live with Christ and in Christ despite the circumstances; it is when you can always fix your gaze on Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected and do everything for the greater glory of God through Jesus.

The Church professes that the saints are in perfect communion with God.  We too would like to be in that communion with God so that we can feel peace, joy, and provide meaning to our lives on earth.  But if we still experience anxiety and pain; if we still don’t see the meaning to our life, let us begin with the simple fulfillment of the Commandments and let us cling to Jesus while always praying “Jesus, I trust in You.”  We need to follow the great example of Catholic saints and ask them to help us on the way to salvation.

Happy All Saints and All Souls Day! God bless you all!

Fr. Janusz Mocarski, Pastor

Mensaje del pastor para la celebración de la Pascua 2025

By Anthony Aruanna • April 14, 2025
Queridos hermanos y hermanas,

Pastor’s message on Easter 2025

By Anthony Aruanna • April 14, 2025
Dear brothers and sisters,

From Pastor’s Desk on the Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • March 2, 2025
“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” — Our Lord Jesus addresses this question to His disciples trying to tell them that they need to be healed of their spiritual blindness first. In this context blindness is not to believe in Christ and healing means to have faith in Jesus who is the Light of the world. In other words, when we gain our spiritual sight through faith, then we will be able to help others on the way to salvation. Without faith in Jesus we just remain living in the darkness of sin. Without Jesus we are all like blind men bouncing against the walls of reality and against each other. However, when we embrace faith in God in the person of Jesus and let our hearts be set on Christ, then He—the Son of God and Our Lord—becomes our guide. Because of that our every step will be illumined with the light of faith. While putting our faith into action in our daily life we also start bearing good fruits of an authentic and happy life.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el Octavo Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • March 2, 2025
“ ¿Puede un ciego guiar a otro ciego? ¿No caerán ambos en un pozo? ” - Nuestro Señor Jesús dirige esta pregunta a sus discípulos tratando de decirles que primero necesitan ser curados de su ceguera espiritual. En este contexto, ceguera significa no creer en Cristo y curación significa tener fe en Jesús, que es la Luz del mundo. En otras palabras, cuando ganemos nuestra vista espiritual a través de la fe, entonces seremos capaces de ayudar a otros en el camino de la salvación. Sin fe en Jesús solo permanecemos viviendo en la oscuridad del pecado. Sin Jesús todos somos como ciegos que rebotan contra las paredes de la realidad y contra los demás. Sin embargo, cuando abrazamos la fe en Dios en la persona de Jesús y dejamos que nuestro corazón se fije en Cristo, entonces Él -el Hijo de Dios y Nuestro Señor- se convierte en nuestro guía. Por eso, cada uno de nuestros pasos estará iluminado por la luz de la fe. Al poner nuestra fe en acción en nuestra vida diaria, también empezamos a dar buenos frutos de una vida auténtica y feliz.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el 5º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • February 6, 2025
A menudo la gente nos pregunta a nosotros, los sacerdotes, qué hacer para profundizar en su vida espiritual. A todos se nos ocurren respuestas diferentes y, ciertamente, hay muchos caminos para una mayor vida espiritual. Hay, sin embargo, un método más probado que ha ayudado a muchos cristianos católicos a estar en la vía rápida de la santidad y a comprender mejor la vida espiritual. Es la consagración total al Corazón Inmaculado de María, o como propuso originalmente San Luis Grignon de Montfort allá por el siglo XVII, la Consagración Total a Jesús por María. Después de San Luis hubo muchos otros que siguieron sus pasos. Entre algunos de los santos más conocidos se encuentran el Papa Pío X, San Maximiliano Kolbe y San Juan Pablo II. Estos santos reconocieron que María desempeñó un papel vital en la vida de la Iglesia primitiva y que la Santísima Madre sigue desempeñando un papel importante en la Iglesia de nuestros tiempos.

From Pastor’s Desk on the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • February 6, 2025
Often people ask us, priests, what to do in order to deepen their spiritual life. We all can come up with different answers and there are certainly many ways to greater spiritual life. There is, however, a more proven method that has helped many Christian Catholics to be on the fast track to holiness and to better understanding of spiritual life. It is the total consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or as originally proposed by Saint Luis Grignon de Montfort back in the XVII century, the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. After St. Luis there were many others that followed in his footsteps. Among some of the most known saints were Pope Pius X, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and St. John Paul II. These saints recognized that Mary played a vital role in the life of the early Church and that the Blessed Mother still plays an important role in the Church of our times.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el 2º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • January 26, 2025
Estoy seguro de que todos estamos atónitos y horrorizados por los incendios forestales del sur de California que afectan ya a cientos de miles de sus habitantes. La velocidad y la ferocidad del fuego sólo demuestran lo frágiles que somos como seres humanos individuales y como humanidad en general. Muchos californianos pueden estar dudando de su fe en estos momentos; muchos se plantearán preguntas: ¿Dónde está Dios? ¿Por qué permite Dios catástrofes tan terribles? Ciertamente, muchos de nosotros nos haríamos las mismas preguntas. Si Dios está detrás o no, no lo sabemos. Sin embargo, sí sabemos que vivimos en un mundo creado que tiene su propio ritmo y ciclos que se dan en la naturaleza. Las cosas suceden con y sin interrupción humana. Algunas cosas las podemos controlar (muy poco, de hecho), y muchas otras no. Lo que sí podemos reconocer es que las catástrofes naturales son una forma de llamada a la conversión y a una mayor confianza en Dios. También es una llamada a la acción para hacer la tierra más acogedora, de modo que las personas puedan prosperar en ella.

From pastor’s desk on the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • January 26, 2025
I am sure that all of us are stunned and horrified by the wildfires in Southern California impacting now hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants. The speed and ferocity of fire only proves how fragile we are as individual human beings and as humanity by and large. Many Californians may be doubting his or her faith at this moment; many will pose questions: Where is God? Why does God permit such terrible disasters? Certainly, many of us would ask the same questions. Whether God is behind it or not, we do not know. However, we do know that we live in a created world that has its own rhythm and cycles that occur in nature. Things happen with and without human interruption. Some things we can control (very little, in fact), and many things we can’t. What we can recognize is that natural disasters are a form of a call to conversion and to greater trust in God. It is also a call to action to make the earth more hospitable so that people can prosper in it.

From pastor’s desk on 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year, B

By Anthony Aruanna • October 19, 2024
Last July over 50 thousand Catholics gathered in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress. Obviously, the central theme of the gathering was the Eucharist. One of the key speakers at the Eucharistic Congress, Monsignor James Shea, said:

Del Escritorio del Párroco el 29 Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

By Anthony Aruanna • October 19, 2024
El pasado mes de julio, más de 50.000 católicos se reunieron en Indianápolis con ocasión del 10º Congreso Eucarístico Nacional. Obviamente, el tema central del encuentro fue la Eucaristía. Uno de los principales oradores del Congreso Eucarístico, Monseñor James Shea, dijo: