Our sight is currently being set upon the coming Ascension of Jesus into Heaven: “A little while, and now you shall not see Me: and again a little while, and you shall see Me: because I go the Father.” With this in mind we are to set our sight upon that which is to come, the Kingdom of Heaven. As was pointed out for us by Saint Paul in our Epistle: “I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, to refrain yourselves from carnal desires which war against the soul.”
Truly each of us are pilgrims who find ourselves on a journey towards Heaven. Our Secret reminds us of this: “that checking our earthly longings, we may learn to love heavenly things.” A pilgrimage is something far different from a vacation. I have been on pilgrimages where individuals have been looking for a vacation and thus the group suffers and the individual misses the point of why they attended in the first place. A pilgrimage is a journey where one goes in search of new or expanded meaning concerning a higher good after which they will return to their daily life.
Through the understanding our of life being a pilgrimage towards Heaven we can begin to see that our life takes on purpose. When we are in the midst of everyday life we are still called to live for the Lord instead of the here and now. As Christians we cannot allow ourself to delay when it pertains to the spiritual life. We take on so many pursuits at the spare of a moment, but when it pertains to faith we so often push it off. As pilgrims we must be sent forth with a true spirit of haste.
As pilgrims we can never find true happiness until we reach that ultimate goal which is the Kingdom of Heaven. Despite the time that it may take to reach this goal we should set out in order to obtain it now. There is not time for us to delay because if we truly believe why would we delay?
At the Ascension we know that Christ ascended to His Father who is in Heaven. We too, therefore, should look forward to ascending into Heaven after our own bodily resurrection. The Ascension places our attention upon that which is most important for us, Heaven. We so easily elevate our sight to that which detracts from this reality, but we should instead raise our sight towards that which is to come.
If we are to live for that which is to come let us begin to live for Heaven now. Each of us are pilgrims on a journey. This is something that we must be convinced of and be willing to respond to. There are so many who know not where they are headed in this life, including those who go to church week in and week out. We cannot be this way for we must know where it is that we are currently headed. Let each of us strive for the Kingdom of Heaven above all things.
