Bishop Robert Barron has a saying that has become so popular, the Word on Fire organization sells t-shirts emblazoned on them: Your life is not about you. I would take it one step farther and add: Neither is heaven.

In many of the books and videos that Bishop Barron has participated in, he has consistently taught that we need to have a Christ-centered life. Until we order our lives around Jesus, we will never be able to have full peace and joy. This means giving up what we want, stop feeding our own egos, and instead, follow God’s will for us. That is what the saints have illustrated with their lives, so it is possible. In our secular-oriented age, which seeks only to soothe our own egos and appease our own feelings, it can seem like an impossible task. WIth God’s help, nothing is impossible.

As humans, we live in time and space and our language reflects that. We can talk about things that we will do in the future, things we are presently doing, or things we have done in the past. God is the creator of time and space, and thus exists beyond it. Trying to describe heaven in our language is difficult because our knowledge and language lacks the ability to adequately convey the spiritual realm. We say we want, or expect to, “go” to heaven when we die. But what is heaven and why do we want to go there? The Catechism of the Catholic Church tries to define its essence in three ways: God’s own “place,” eschatological glory or beatific vision, and the saints and the “place” of the spiritual creatures, the angels, who surround God. (CCC 326) The word place is used in quotes because in our time-and-space language, it’s the best word choice to use, even though heaven is outside of those constraints.

If we try using our language to describe going to heaven, it would be like getting on a plane with a one-way ticket and flying to another country on the other side of the world without any preparation and taking nothing with us. In most cases we would need at least a passport and perhaps a visa to enter that country. For some countries, certain vaccines or shots are recommended so that we don’t become ill with disease that is common in that area. Communicating with the local people may also prove difficult if we don’t know the language; we can’t expect everyone to speak like we do. If we traveled with some of our currency, we cannot expect it to be accepted in every place we visit there. Yet far too many people assume that because God loves them, they will be welcomed into heaven, God’s place, on their own terms. 

Heaven will be everything we want and hope for only when we want what God wills for us and hope in Him. We are given this time on earth to cultivate a relationship with Him. While we can never truly comprehend what is infinite, we can get to know aspects of God that He reveals to us through the Church, the sacraments, and our interactions with one another. When we live with Jesus at the center of who we are during our earthly journey, we are preparing ourselves to enter heaven. When our lives mirror the commandments, the beatitudes, and the works of mercy, it’s like we are learning the language of heaven and storing up foreign currency. When we participate in Mass and the sacraments, it’s like we are preparing our passports, visas and medicinal needs to travel to heaven.

If we aren’t interested in having a relationship with God while we are on earth, why would we want to go to heaven? If our lives are all about fulfilling our wants and catering to our feelings, going to a place that is God-centered would not be desirable. It’s not like we can try out heaven and see if we like it; if we go there, it will be for eternity. 

God created each of us with gifts and talents. He allowed whatever flaws we have, as we live in a fallen and corrupt world. He has given us the freedom to choose to have a relationship with Him. The more we want, desire, and pursue that relationship, the more we reflect what He has given and taught through the Church. When our lives are centered around God, then heaven will be a most welcome place. And when we go there, we will be able to call God’s place our home.