Heaven is the final home for all.

Life has taught us that we are different in many ways. We come from different backgrounds. We have different cultures and our upbringing is different. Our religious affiliation depends to a large extent on our family background and the friends that we keep. It may also depend on those who influence us positively. It could even depend on our particular condition in life and how we want to change that condition. It may also depend on the school we attended and the teachers that we had. All these put together may determine which Church we attend or the being we pray to.

It seems to me that Christ had all these in mind when he told his disciples in John 10:16, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.” In Eucharistic Prayer IV we offer this prayer to God, “Remember those who take part in this offering, those here present and all your people and all who seek you with a sincere heart. Remember those who have died in the peace of Christ and all the dead whose faith is known to you alone.” This clearly means that we will all be surprised in heaven to see the kind of people who will make it there.

In his book ‘Church Humour’, Judson K. Cornelius tells a beautiful story to demonstrate the point made above. “A man died and went to heaven. St. Peter happened to have time on his hands and offered to show the new arrival round. As they walked from place to place, St. Peter pointed to the different groups and explained who they were. “They’re the Jews…those over there are Buddhists… Those are Protestants… the ones in the corner are Mormons.” They arrived at a compound surrounded by a high wall. From inside could be heard the sound of voices and laughter. “Who are those?” asked the new arrival. “Hush!” said St. Peter, “They’re the Catholics – but they think they’re the only ones here.”” Many times we find people in different denominations behaving as if heaven is their exclusive right. Poor things!

Isaiah 66:18-21 has God speaking these glorious words to us: “I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them; from them I will send fugitives to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory, and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the Lord in clean vessels. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the Lord.” Even Peter had to learn his lesson the hard way that salvation did not belong to the Jews alone. In the 10^th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles 34-35, Peter was directed by the Spirit to go to the house of Cornelius who was a gentile. On speaking to him the Holy Spirit came down on Cornelius and his household. Peter had to explain his action to the other disciples. He had this to say among other things: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”

This then calls on us to be careful how we treat people whether they ‘belong’ to our Church or not. The way I see it, heaven is the ultimate destination for all of us. God will turn no one away unless the person out-rightly rejects God. I believe there will be big surprises awaiting us in heaven, especially, when those we least expected will be given a place of honor at the throne of Grace and mercy before God the father of all.