Images sourced from Matt Roszak and are used for illustration purposes, to help explain the subject matter better.
"In truth, I skipped church today because I was meaning to fetch a Bible from a friend, but I just didn't get to do it. And I stayed away.""Why.......? Granted, of course we'd wanna listen to the Word of God and cherish it, but you see people in Mass who don't have Missals or Bibles in hand. I don't. I can't carry a soft copy of the Douay-Rheims translation around with me, it'll be a major inconvenience lugging a PC around with Kindle and having to plug it in — the most important thing is that He is present, and even if you don't have a Bible or a Missal, remember that you are coming for His sake. He is waiting with open arms, ready to embrace you, and he wants for you to be present. That's all that matters. He will be very happy to just see you come, even if you don't have any text to come with you."
In truth, God is not like this—
but like this—
If He were quick to condemn, we wouldn't have Saint Mary Magdalene. She was a prostitute, having slept with seven people who were not her husbands. We wouldn't have Saint Paul the Apostle, who was guilty of sending the early Christians to Jerusalem to be stoned to death — husbands, wives, children. A lot of people are so taken up by the idea that God has sparks of lightning on His fingers that he is quick to send the next wrongdoer to Hell, but that's not who God is. In fact, I'll readily admit that I am enraged whenever I see these portrayals of God — because they do Him, and they do us as people, injustice.
I hold fast to the fact that God is Love, and I want to share with you everything I can share about Him and my visions of Heaven, from deep within my heart. Once this post ends, I encourage you to take your eyes off the screen, or close them for a while...... and picture everything that I have said in this post.
God wants His people to come to Him. He wants His people to come to Heaven. In fact, He has prepared a very special place up there for you, the reader. A place which is made only for you. And oh, if you would listen to His calling and come into His arms with joy! A father would want to give everything to his child.... and especially if the child listens to him and takes him by the hand and treats him with love. Everyone who believes in Truth and Love, deep within their hearts, will be led to the ultimate Truth and Love at some point. And that is the case with God.
I walk into Mass, knowing that it is a foretaste of Heaven, knowing that Mass will be celebrated up there. Sometimes, I walk with all the joy in my heart, like a little child wanting to tell everything to his father. Sometimes, I just want to cry on His shoulders. Yet, I know that my presence will make him happy, however happy or sad I feel. Whatever it is that is going on in my head, He wants me to cast it all to Him, even when I find it difficult to do so.
I write this with the joy of a child and the sadness of a young girl longing for someone to love her. I am satisfied, because I know no one can love me every single day like God does. He never refused me anything; He never even refused me His only Son... on the cross, and also at Mass, and at every other time.
It wasn't too long ago that I joined a friend in prayer. We did not do this over Skype; we just prayed the Rosary at the same time in our own homes while staying offline. That day, I don't know why or how — I felt compelled to stand. I looked at the picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on my shelf. Then, I just..... knelt. I was compelled to kneel. Soon, my clear voice became as sighs. I was breathless. In that picture were the loving arms of Christ Jesus, opening out to reach me. I wanted to cry. And by no means was I "feeling it", as some people would put it. I was not at my best, and I found it insanely difficult to pray that night. And yet, I knew that even at that time, I was being taken care of. I was being embraced.
You may not notice it even, but God wants to embrace you very much. He wants to sweep you off your feet, place you on fluffy clouds, where you'll have a soft and safe landing. He wants to wipe every tear, every worry, away from your eyes. He knows everything that you're going through, and yet..... He loves just listening to your voice, calling out to Him, speaking with Him. We are His children, and He loves listening to our prayers.
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