The Only Way to Heaven

Reflections on the Gospel By Irish priest Fr Sean Sheehy

A man was climbing a steep mountain when he slipped and began sliding, accompanied by falling stones. He grasped a little shrub as he was falling and hung on to it for dear life. Fearfully, he yelled, “Help! Is there anyone there?” No answer. He yelled for help a second time and no answer. After yelling in desperation a third time a voice answered from the mountain top, “I’m here!” The climber pleaded, “Please help me!” The voice said, “Let go of the shrub!” The man looked down, then looked up and shouted, “Is there anyone else up there?”

To reach the top of the mountain, which is Heaven, we need to put our trust in what God asks us to do. St. Paul reminds us that, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). However, our preference is to walk by sight rather than by faith because we feel more in control. Living by faith means trusting in God whom we can’t see to lead us. That isn’t easy for most of us because we have difficulty trusting ourselves, never mind others. As Christians, Jesus asks us to trust in Him to catch and save us when we slip and fall as we climb the mountain of life. He assures us that, “Blessed is the man who does not lose faith in me” (Mt 11:6). Trusting in Jesus means we have to let Jesus save us because we can’t save ourselves.

The Crux of Christianity

Everybody wants to go to Heaven but no one wants to die. Herein lies the crux of Christianity. Jesus taught that the only way to Heaven is His way – He is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6). His way is the Way of the Cross.

Because this way to Heaven involves sacrifice, suffering and death many people, like the mountain climber ask, “Is there another way to Heaven?” Indeed, many who claim to follow Jesus often try to seek a more comfortable and easier way to Heaven where they can be more in control and feel more comfortable, rather than having to rely totally on Jesus present in and through His Church. Many there are who claim to be Catholic but ignore the Church’s teaching and discipline enshrined in the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Holy Mass, the Sacraments, and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. We have a tendency, due to our proneness to sin, to pick the bits of Catholicism that are convenient or suit our selfish agendas. We want salvation without the Cross. But the fact is that Jesus made the way of the Cross, not the so-called “synodal way,” the only way to Heaven.

God’s Wisdom Is Crucial

Satan polishes our ego into thinking that we can make ourselves happy, fulfil our dreams, and save ourselves from suffering. Sts. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas noted that what can be taken away from us can’t make us happy. It is only God who can’t be taken away from us against our will. No one can stop us from believing in Him. The Holy Spirit informs us that, “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” “Make no mistake about it: if any of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.” “Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans, for the corruptible body burdens the soul … and weighs down the mind that has many concerns… Or whoever knew Your counsel, except You had given wisdom and sent Your Holy Spirit from on high?” (1 Cor 1:25; 1 Cor 3:18; Wis 9:13-18). Jesus is God’s Wisdom and He imparts it to us in Baptism and Confirmation through the power of the Holy Spirit guiding His Church.

Jesus’ Way Is the Only Way to Heaven

Jesus tells us clearly that “no one comes to the Father but through me” (Jn 14:6) and “no one comes to me except the Father draws him” (Jn 6:44). It follows logically that if we are to be saved from our sinful state and enter Heaven then we must make Jesus our only Saviour and let His teaching determine our priorities. He must be the lens through which we judge everything and His Spirit must enlighten and guide our spirit in all our decisions. This involves developing a relationship with Jesus as our first priority. This requires a total commitment to follow in His footsteps. He is the “Light” in our darkness (Jn 1:5) and He warns that, “If anyone comes to me without turning his back on his father and mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and sisters, indeed his very self, he cannot be my follower. Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Lk14:25-33). This is a wake-up call to each of us. With Jesus there are no half measures. It is all or nothing. Therefore, nothing must come between us and Jesus that might prevent complete union.

Before successfully gluing two things together we must first remove everything that might prevent a total bonding. The same is true in our relationship with Jesus. Paradoxically, the more we put Jesus first in our life the more we’ll find what is real, true, good, and beautiful. The more we experience these transcendentals the more we’ll be able to give witness to the joy they bring in our relationships.

The Way of the Cross Brings the Joy of the Lord

The Way of the Cross is the way to Heaven because it is the way of total submission to God’s will which is epitomised in Jesus’ passion, suffering, and death. This requires us to do His will rather than seek our own comfort, convenience, and security. Jesus assures us: “I am the Resurrection and the Life: whoever believes in me, though he should die, will come to life; and whoever is alive and believes in me will never die.” Then He asks us: “Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:26). Jesus proved that the Way of the Cross ends with resurrection and eternal life with God the Father in union with Jesus through the love of the Holy Spirit accompanied by the angels and the saints. When we follow the Way of the Cross we can joyfully pray each day: “Fill us at daybreak with Your kindness, that we may shout with joy and gladness all our days. And may the glorious care of the Lord our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands” (Ps 90:14-17). He will. The way of the Cross is joyful because it is the way to Heaven. Sadly it is the one way that’s less travelled by men and women, even by many who call themselves Christian. What about you? Are you taking up your cross and following Jesus as a faithful member of His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church?