THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Third Sunday after Easter 21 April 2013

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

“In a little while…” Our lives here on earth (no matter how long) are but a little while. We must constantly remind ourselves to think of life from God’s perspective – the eternal perspective. When we think of the fleeting days that we have before us in comparison with the forever of eternity, we begin to appreciate these words of Our Lord.

Jesus also, speaks of sorrow and suffering in today’s Gospel. Strangely enough it is in sorrow and suffering that time seems to drag on the longest. In pain and suffering time seems to just stand still. Joy and pleasure seem to have the opposite effect upon us. They say: “time flies when you are having fun.” There is probably some natural psychological reason for this, but what concerns us more at this point is the spiritual or supernatural aspect.

Our souls long for joy and pleasure that is only to be found in God. St. Augustine confirms this in his Confessions “Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in You.” Contrariwise our souls flee from the pain and suffering of being separated from God, which is manifested in Hell.

In the presence of joy our souls experience no satiety, and so the time appears to rush by as we never tire and are ever eager for more. In the presence of pain and suffering we are ever eager for the end of the pain or suffering and so the time appears to drag out. In eternity there is no time. God lives in an eternal present. This is a difficult concept for us to fathom, but in considering the little while of this earth it seems a little more approachable.

In Heaven there will be no end to the joys. There will be no anxiety for the necessary end to our pleasures that we experience here on earth. In Hell there will be no end to the suffering, and so time will cease. There will be the experience of being stuck and never having an end to the misery. In either situation there is a continual experience of the same situation without end. Hence there is no time.

When we consider this situation of the soul in Heaven or Hell, we can appreciate just how short time is here on earth. We can make a somewhat feeble attempt to compare the temporary joys and sufferings of this life with the eternal joys and sufferings of the next life. There is joy for us either here or there, and there is suffering for us either here or there. The question is: do we want a temporary joy here and now or a permanent one in eternity, or do we want a temporary suffering here and now or a permanent one in eternity?

There are in this life some times of joy and some times of suffering, but in eternity it is one or the other. If we embrace the cross and the suffering now as Jesus invites us (Take up your cross daily and come follow Me) then we will find the eternal joy in Heaven. If we refuse the cross now then we will find eternal suffering in Hell.

We must have suffering here or there and the choice is in our own hands. A relatively short and temporal cross for eternal joy; or a relatively short and temporal joy for an eternal misery.

Jesus of course was speaking to the Apostles of his Death, Resurrection, and Ascension, each of which was truly just a little while. To us, however, He is encouraging us to persevere and not grow weary in our labors carrying our crosses; nor to become complacent and satisfied with the fleeting pleasures of this world. We must keep both the passing joys and sorrows of this life in perspective by contemplating the eternal rewards or punishments that await every one of us in eternity.

We must daily seek to increase our love of God and our desires to be with Him, counting the burdens and crosses of this world as nothing. The greatest suffering in this life cannot be compared to the eternal joys of Heaven. And the greatest joys of this world cannot be compared to what it is like to suffer eternally in Hell.