During a Catholic funeral, when we reach the graveside, we are reminded that we are not meant for this world. St. Paul writes to the Philippians that “our citizenship is in heaven.” (3:20) What awaits us there? Christ tells us in St. John’s Gospel (14:1-3), “in my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” He tells us that not only is there a place for us, but that he is going to prepare that place for us in his Father’s house. He reminds us, “If there were not [a place for you], would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” So, he tells us, “do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God, have faith also in me.”
The more that you read the Sacred Scriptures, one thing becomes more and more clear: we are not created for this fallen world. Even at the beginning, this is evident. Man was created to live with God. We were created for Heaven. The only reason that we do not live in God’s presence now is because we must purify our hearts of sin. God cannot coexist with sin. For a visual, imagine what happens when you put baking soda and vinegar together.
We obviously aren’t in Heaven right now, but we are meant to be there. This means that in reality our life is a pilgrimage. Every day we walk closer or further from Heaven through the actions that we choose to do. Occasionally we get a little lost, we make mistakes, or we might even lose sight of our goal. These are the days where our guide–the Church and her ministers–assist us by getting us back on track to Heaven.
When I think about these things, Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” often comes to my mind. Sometimes we just don’t know what to do or which way to go, and Frost describes this dilemma so well. The two paths before us look almost the same, but we only get to pick one. Once we pick, we can’t go back. “I doubted if I should ever come back,” Frost writes.
So how should we choose which path to take?
Frost chose the path that had not been taken, but we don’t really know why. Perhaps that’s part of his point in the poem. Sometimes it seems like we have to pick one and see where it leads, even when we don’t know where exactly where a choice will take us. But we aren’t left completely alone in making these decisions. Most of the choices we make are a little bit more clear than Frost’s two roads. One leads us closer to God, and one leads us away from him. The road that leads us to God is, perhaps, the road less traveled these days, but it has been traveled. Jesus himself walked this road, as did every saint of our Church and the holy prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament.
This life is a pilgrimage to Heaven. Let’s never lose sight of our goal, and let’s remember that we have many wonderful companions on this journey with us.
The Road Not Taken
Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.