St. Michael and the Scales

There is no excel spreadsheet in heaven of all the prayers or good works that you must do to be granted access to heaven.  We can do no action that benefits God in any way, because He is God, He is eternal, already complete and if we could do an action that benefited Him, then in some way He would be found to be lacking in something.  This is why the gift of the sacrifice of God's son, Jesus is completely, free and unmerited, because if all the human beings that have ever lived prayed constantly from their conception to their death could still not open the gates of Heaven and save us from the eternal suffering of hell they way that the blood of Jesus did.  

Yet, God gives us an 'action' plan of salvation.  We are not to just stay in our Churches and 'check the box' of Sunday Mass or Church service and think we are 'done' with God stuff for that week.  Have we basically gone up to God after a week of living the way WE choose and not the way GOD chooses and saying, "So God, are we good?"  These are the lukewarm most in danger of eternal fire because they seek only something for themselves and nothing for their brother or sister. 

This action that God seeks of us is an action of love for another that is completely hidden, between you and God alone.  If you are seeking notoriety, or to tell someone of the good works you do, then your audience is your God, not Jesus.  In being hidden we communicate more effectively  with God and He begins our path of purification.  But what action are we to do if we can do nothing for God?  What did God himself do?  He went forth from the Temple (Church), and preached the word of salvation, healing the sick, not only for their healing and wholeness but to show the truth of God.  But you would say that He was not hidden at these times, and you would be correct.  However, there were far more times that Jesus was hidden and spoke the truth of God and healed the sick that are not written in scripture.   Jesus wasn't doing anything for God, He is God,  Jesus was showing the truth of God and how we are supposed to respond to His word by His love and action for another.   

This is what Jesus is telling us...YOU ARE FOR THE OTHER, serve, pray, teach, heal, raise the dead.   Yes...MIRACLES are possible, but you must be COMPLETELY FOR THE OTHER, seeking NOTHING for yourself but the salvation of the soul that God has put in your path. 

There is a Jesus that you don't know, that can only be revealed through praying and studying the path of the Passion.  Jesus felt the sins of those around Him, and this sin was painful.  Jesus was fully God and His heart suffered feeling the sins of those around Him.   He then offered this pain back to the Father for them.  This was before the Passion.  Jesus was hurting for those in sin long before the Passion, but it is not recorded in scripture.   This is the hidden POURING OUT OF SELF FOR YOUR BRETHREN that Jesus is calling each of us to do.  

It is in this pouring out of self for another in a hidden way that is between you and God alone that our hearts begin the path of purification.  God shapes our hearts to be like either His Son's Sacred Heart, or the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Mother's especially are put on the path of purification toward the Immaculate Heart.  

It is not what we do that merits us heaven, for what we do shall not be weighed on the scales of infinite justice, but WHAT WE DO WITH THE INTENTION IN OUR HEART AT THE TIME OF OUR ACTION, WORD OR THOUGHT. 

The mystery of being hidden, is that right now, you have a hidden heart that only you know.  If you think that God does not see, or know what is deep in your heart, think again.  What is hidden on Earth will be revealed for all to see in Eternity.  

Right now, your hidden heart is either striving for heaven, or striving for hell, you can't straddle the fence with God.    So even if you donate to charity, or volunteer at a homeless shelter, but are in an adulterous relationship, God knows it all.  Don't' think that you can commit adultery and then do 'something for God' to make up for it like charity.  You are still on the road to hell.   God remembers everything we do, say and our intention for our actions FOR ALL ETERNITY.. REPENT while there is still time and return back to God, completely, with thought, word, action...and in the secret of our hearts. 

When you die and face the Judgement, it is your actions, WITH YOUR HEART that will be weighed against the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Will your heart be weighed against this eternal and perfect pouring out of the holy blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and found to be lacking?  Does the devil have his finger on your side of the scale, pulling you to him?

This is also why those that lay their life down for another, the martyrs who offer their life for the reason of love alone go straight to heaven and do not suffer Purgatory because their offering of their very lives for love alone mirrors Christ's offering on the cross.

Time is short...turn your heart fully to God while there is time. 

The Conversation (Part I)

This story is told in a fictional sense, but what it reveals is true.
(The Blogger/Writer in this story is a  Male, 26, College Graduate.)

There wasn't much going on, I needed a story to write, a personal interest piece.  Not finding anything to stimulate my imagination in local events, I went out in search of a person or persons of interest that I could conjure into an interesting story so I can meet my deadline.    What I found was more than a returning soldier surprising a family member or a lost dog reunited with the little boy that was searching for him, I found something quite terrifying.

I went into a local eatery that had a bar, I wasn't hungry, I was looking for someone that would strike my interest so to speak.  As I walked in, I saw most of what you see in this restaurant on any given day.  Not a chain restaurant, but you find the 'Tumbleweed' type crowd there.  Married couples, older parents and a caregiver adult child, first dates, things like that.  Then I looked in the corner and saw a middle age woman alone, with a haunted look on her face.  She looked as if she had just found out something devastating.  Her eyes stared at nothing as if she was thinking how to tell someone something that would not be good news.   She had short brown hair, with a round face and large eyes.  I went over to her and thought I would start up a conversation, make up something, get her to talk to me, get her to tell me her story.  But as I approached her, I knew a lie wouldn't work with her, the best thing to do would be to tell the truth.

"Hi."  I said to her.  She looked up at me and as if she knew me she smiled at me.  "Hello," she said.

"Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I write a blog, and I guess I am hunting for a story, a personal story that I can write about, and you look like you have a story to tell. "

"Please sit down,"  She smiled at me as if she had known me all her life and they way she looked at me was the same as my Mother who when I was trying to hide something, knew everything I had been up to.

"My name is Michael.  Do we know each other?" I asked.

"No." She smiled.

"Then may I asked what the look that you were giving off before I spoke to you?  You look like you had lost your best friend and was looking for a way to tell the spouse."

"That's a very good analogy I'm afraid."

There was a silence between us as she sized me up with those eyes.  My brain was screaming for me to stay silent even though I wanted to ask many questions.  She broke the silence.

"Well Michael, you want a story, but let me ask you a question.  What would you do if you found a terrifying truth that could not be denied but neither could it be proven?"  

I was silent as I pondered this.

"I don't understand." 

"Let me explain.  We live in a natural world with material objects, atoms, electricity, etc., correct.?"

"Yes, of course."

"Now the truth that we understand is bound by the culture and environment that we live in.  There is scientific truth that can be tested, observed, repeated.    There are cultural truths that we live by, our values, morals, beliefs, etc.  Less attainable than the scientific truth, but these are still truths that men and women have been willing to sacrifice much for.  But both these truths are still contained within the framework of our environment.  Not just our neighborhood, but the entire universe.  Would you agree that there are truths that we maintain as 'true' because we believe them as a culture or we have observed a truth by a scientific method?"

"Yes...but could you give an example?"  

"Sure.   This Glass, it contains water.  If I turn the glass upside down, would we both agree that there is an agreeable truth as to what the result would be?"

"Yeah...the liquid will spill on the table."  

"Of course.  And we could do that experiment over and over again.  But there is also a truth in the belief that murder is wrong.  This is not testable, but this is a truth that has been held by our culture for quite some time, would you agree?"

"Yeah, sure."

"But still any truth that is a product of our culture, experience or science is bound by the Universe. What if I told you there was a truth that was not bound by the universe and can never be proven by science or truly understood by the mind of man."

"I'm afraid you've lost me somewhat."  

She laughed a little, took a sip of her drink and then looked at me very seriously.  "Where do you feel truth if something is true?"

"What?"

"Simple, where do you feel or know something is true within your physical nature?  In your head, your heart, your gut, all three?"

"Oh, I see, I guess sometimes a combination of all three, but sometimes it is usually one of those depending on what the truth is."

"Exactly!  But you agree that your knowledge or sense of truth is contained within yourself, because if you do not accept that murder is wrong, it is not a truth for you, wouldn't you agree with that?"

"I guess you are right, I never thought of it that way."  

"Would you also agree that having the truth contained within the individual is also the definition of free will?  For if the truth is contained within the individual, even if as a collective the group can share some of the same truths, the individual can at any time choose to accept or reject a truth that they have encountered."  

"You can't deny the water spilling, why would anyone reject that? It doesn't make much sense to deny the truth of gravity."

"Agreed, but you cannot deny the individuals right and ability, no matter how absurd, to reject a scientific truth."

"I guess you are right there.  What's your point."  

"My point is that there is a truth that is beyond the containment of this Universe that is not bound by this Universe.  This eternal truth is not only the definer of truth, but is the existence of truth because it is existence itself.   The eternal truth is not bound by time, but is outside of time.  However, time is the eternal truth's tool to teach truth from Himself to those that are bound by the universe."

"That sounds like you are talking about God."  

"I didn't know myself that was what I had discovered at first, but yes, I am.  You see, I am a Mathematician, as a result I am very analytical, and I have found the truth of God, because the Eternal Truth allowed me to find it........and I found something else"

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  CONTINUED IN PART II.