Do you remember the movie “The Ten Commandments?” I was in high school when I first watched it. Since then, I have watched it at least once a year. The parting of the Red Sea, and the Israelites walking on dry land until they reached the other side, safe from the Egyptians who were chasing them, is still my favorite. At times when life becomes heavy, I close my eyes and imagine myself in the Red Sea, walking on dry land with walls of water on my left and right, extending my arms, touching the water, feeling the presence of God who lightens my yoke, refreshing and allowing me to arrive safely to his shore.
O, how great is the love of God! Our God who parted the Red Sea over 3,000 to 3,500 years ago, the God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham is still with us today and my heart overwhelms with joy and thanksgiving! The same God — who fed our ancestors with manna from Heaven, who spoke to Moses in the burning bush, who brought Lazarus back from the dead, who fed over 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, turned water into the best wine during the wedding at Cana, healed the lepers, the lame and the blind, performed so many miracles, who died on the cross and rose again on the third day so we all might have eternal life — is still with us, loving us, giving us food for our body and soul while we are still pilgrims on earth.
In the book of Exodus, at Mount Sinai God the Father revealed to the Israelites through Moses the Ten Commandments inscribed in two stone tables. God the Son — Jesus — fulfilled the law, emphasizing and focusing on love for God and love for neighbor. When He ascended to Heaven, He didn’t leave us orphans, He sent the Holy Spirit to us.
Today, God the Holy Spirit — the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth — is still with us, teaching us, revealing all truth to us, inspiring us to obey the Ten Commandments, letting us know when our thoughts and/or actions do not align with the law, filling our life with peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live according to God’s will, He teaches, guides, comforts, and intercedes for us.
The Holy Spirit, our constant companion on this journey, inspires us to repent and return to God when we turn away from His Commandments: 1. I am the Lord your God: You shall not have strange Gods before me. 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. 4. Honor your father and mother. 5. You shall not kill. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. 10.You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
In the Gospel of Mark, we learned about a scribe who asked Jesus “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength and the second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
If we are to further simplify the commandments, it is simply “LOVE.” These commandments are God’s precious gift to us, His children, to help us stay on the road that leads us back home to Heaven — our true home. The Ten Commandments are our moral compass or map, guiding us in our relationship with God and all people.
When was the last time you read/thought of the Ten Commandments?
What is your moral compass these days?
Which road are you currently traveling — is it the narrow one that leads to Heaven or the easy wide road that leads to hell?
Do you believe in God’s unfathomable divine mercy and forgiveness?
You may have already heard the parable of the prodigal son who asks his father for his inheritance. Luke 15:11-32 has details about this younger son who set off for a distant country and there he squandered his wealth in wild living. Not long after he spent everything, there was severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need. So, he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his field to feed pigs. He longed to feed his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses he said “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son, make me like one of your hired servants”. So, he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son , threw his arms around him, and kissed him. The son said to him, “Father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants “Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.
This parable emphasizes God’s unconditional love, forgiveness, and the joy of repentance.
The Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to find the one lost sheep, risking His life and when he finds it, holds it lovingly in His arms, safe and secure from all harm.
O, Heaven as our destination – pray, pray, pray that we all persevere in loving God and one another! Let love be our only motive in everything we do daily. Saint Therese of Lisieux says “Do little things with great love”.
John 14:2 says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
1 Corinthians 2:9, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard nor have entered the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.”
In the Bible, the word heaven is mentioned 622 times in the New International Version and 692 times in the New King James version.
In 2010, a young boy, Colton Burpo, from Nebraska, U.S.A. shared his astounding true story of his trip to Heaven and back in the book “Heaven is for Real.” When this book came out, I bought so many and gave them away. In 2011, when my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and we had gone on frequent medical trips to Seattle, had numerous conversations about Heaven and what Colton had seen and learned about Heaven. My father and I also talked about the story of another little girl, Akiane Kremarik, who had experienced visits to Heaven and who is given the extraordinary gift of painting. The picture of her painting titled “The Prince of Peace” which is the face of Jesus that Akiane saw in Heaven, is in Colton’s book because it is also the face of Jesus who Colton met in Heaven. These true stories about Heaven can still be googled on the internet.
There are also saints who received visions of Heaven. Less than a century ago, St. Faustina Kowalska, a nun in Poland, recorded her vision of heaven in her Diary entry for Nov. 27, 1936:
“Today I was in heaven, in spirit, and I saw its unconceivable beauties and the happiness that awaits us after death. I saw how all creatures give ceaseless praise and glory to God. I saw how great is happiness in God, which spreads to all creatures, making them happy; and then all the glory and praise which springs from this happiness returns to its source; and they enter into the depths of God, contemplating the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whom they will never comprehend or fathom. This source of happiness is unchanging in its essence, but it is always new, gushing forth happiness for all creatures. Now I understand St. Paul, who said, ‘Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him.’’”
She further wrote, “God has given me to understand that there is but one thing that is of infinite value in His eyes, and that is love of God; love, love and once again, love; and nothing can compare with a single act of pure love of God. Oh, with what inconceivable favors God gifts a soul that loves Him sincerely! The sight of this great majesty of God, which I came to understand more profoundly, and which is worshipped by the heavenly spirits according to their degree of grace and the hierarchies into which they are divided, did not cause my soul to be stricken with terror or fear; no, no, not at all! My soul was filled with peace and love, and the more I come to know the greatness of God, the more joyful I become that He is as He is. And I rejoice immensely in His greatness and am delighted that I am so little because, since I am little, He carries me in His arms and holds me close to His Heart.
In closing, let us pray, “O Father in Heaven, touch the hearts of your children who still do not believe in God nor in eternal life. May a ray of mercy envelop them too, please clasp them to Your Fatherly bosom. Thank you for giving us the Ten Commandments as our moral compass, guiding us daily to abandon sin and to repent, helping us stay on the road to Heaven, teaching and inspiring us to love God and all people. May we all follow the Ten Commandments; may all our thoughts and actions be done out of love and only love. We ask these in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
• Gina Del Rosario is a Roman Catholic who was born and raised in the Philippines, and is a parishioner at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Juneau. “Living & Growing” is a weekly column written by different authors and submitted by local clergy and spiritual leaders. It appears every Saturday on the Juneau Empire’s Faith page.
