Saint Josemaria

Quotations from Saint Josemaria

Twelve Points about the Next Life

We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him." 1 Cor 2:7-9 2 God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. Rev 21: 3-4. They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. Rev 22: 4-5 3 Human love, the love we experience on earth when it is really genuine, helps us to savour divine love. That is how we grasp the love by which we rejoice in God and which we will share in heaven when the Lord is "everything to everyone." If we begin to understand God's love, we will feel impelled to become increasingly more compassionate, more generous, more dedicated. Christ is Passing By, 166 4 'What does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his own soul?' What use to man are all the things of the earth, all that our intelligence and will can aspire to? What is the point of all that, if it is all to come to an end and sink out of sight; if all the riches of this world are mere theatre props and scenery, and if after all this there is eternity for ever, and ever, and ever? () Men lie when they say 'for ever' about things on earth. The only true, totally true, 'for ever' is that which we say with reference to God. This is how you ought to live your life, with a faith that will help you to taste the honey, the sweetness of heaven whenever you think about eternal life which is indeed 'for ever'. Friends of God, 200 5 Look: what we have to try to do is to get to heaven. If we don't, nothing is worthwhile. Faithfulness to Christ's doctrine is absolutely essential to our getting to heaven. To be faithful it is absolutely essential to strive doggedly against anything that blocks our way to eternal happiness. Christ is Passing By, 76 6 Our Lord speaks frequently to us of the reward which he won for us by his Death and Resurrection. 'I am going away to prepare a home for you. And though I do go away, to prepare you a home, I am coming back; and then I will take you to myself, so that you too may be where I am.' Heaven is the final destination of our path on earth. Jesus has gone ahead of us and awaits us there, in the company of Our Lady and of St Joseph, whom I so much revere, and of all the angels and saints. Friends of God, 220 7 In the hour of temptation, practise the virtue of Hope, saying: For my rest and enjoyment I have the whole of eternity ahead of me. Here and now, full of Faith, I will earn my rest through work and win my joy through suffering. What will Love be like in Heaven? Better still, you should practise your www.josemariaescriva.info 1

Love by saying: What I want is to please my God, my Love, by doing his Will in all things, as though there were neither reward nor punishment simply to please him. The Forge, 1008 8 'This man is dying. There is nothing more to be done... 'It happened years ago in a hospital in Madrid. After his confession, when the priest gave him his crucifix to kiss, that gipsy started to shout, and no one could stop him: 'I can't kiss Our Lord with this filthy mouth of mine!' 'But listen: very soon you are going to embrace him and give him a big kiss, in Heaven! Have you ever seen a more startlingly beautiful way of expressing contrition? The Way of the Cross, Third Station 9 How that sick woman, whom I tended spiritually, loved the Will of God! She saw her many, longlasting and painful illnesses (not a single part of her body was healthy), as a blessing from Jesus and a sign of his special love. Although in her humility she used to say that she deserved punishment, the terrible sufferings that she felt all over her were not a punishment, but a mercy. We spoke of death. and of Heaven. And of what she was going to say to Jesus and to Our Lady. And how she would be working much more from up there than she could down here. She was ready to die whenever God wanted... but, she exclaimed, full of joy, If only it could be today! She looked forward to death with the joy of one who knows that when we die we go to meet our Father. The Forge, 1034 10 I like to say that there are three things that fill us with gladness in this life and which will bring us the eternal happiness of Heaven: a firm, refined, joyful and unquestioning fidelity to the faith, to the vocation that each of us has received, and to purity. The person who gets entangled in the brambles along the way (sensuality, pride, etc.) does so because he wants to and, if he doesn't change, he will be miserable all his life because he will have turned his back on Christ's Love. Friends of God, 187 11 Men this has always happened in history bind their lives together to accomplish a collective mission and destiny. Is the unique destiny of eternal happiness worth less to the men and women of today? Furrow, 729 12 In this life, the contemplation of supernatural reality, the action of grace in our souls, our love for our neighbour as a result of our love for God all these are already a foretaste of heaven, a beginning that is destined to grow from day to day. We Christians cannot resign ourselves to leading a double life: our life must be a strong and simple unity into which all our actions converge. Christ is Passing By, 126 Points from the Catechism of the Catholic Church "God our Saviour desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim 2:3-4). "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12) than the name of JESUS. Prologue The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for. CCC, 27 Men this has always happened in history bind their lives together to accomplish a collective mission and destiny. Is the unique destiny of eternal happiness worth less to the men and women of today?

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"We believe that the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in Paradise forms the Church of heaven, where in eternal blessedness they see God as he is and where they are also, to various degrees, associated with the holy angels in the divine governance exercised by Christ in glory, by interceding for us and helping our weakness by their fraternal concern" (Paul VI, Credo of the People of God 29). CCC, 1053

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