Reunions. This month I’ve been in a number of them.
My brother who’s based in Singapore came to Cebu for a visit and to celebrate our mom’s birthday. There was eating and laughter. Family reunion on my side.
The son of my niece Yanyan Natad-Bartolata was christened. Lunch with endless photo booth souvenirs. Family reunion in my late husband’s side.
My sister-in-law from the USA also came home in time for a town fiesta and had her own reunions with colleagues and former classmates. I had dinner with her. Sisterly reunion.
My two boys Renwick and EJ came home for a sneak peek of how we’ve been. Sunday mass together, eating home-cooked meals again, shopping and zipline adventure. My own family’s reunion.
It has been a whirlwind of events in one month and I think I gained weight with all the eating going on. That’s what reunions bring— fun, stories and pounds.
Good thing all these reunions happened where I am, just here in Cebu. It was easy to squeeze them into my work calendar.
Picking the right destination for these events can be a tricky task. If you have to listen to every person’s opinion, you will come out more confused. So usually the venue is somewhere easily accessible to everyone and has the right ambience for everyone for a conducive setting for a reconnection with each other.
Planning for a reunion can be a nightmare especially the notification aspect— how to inform everyone and make sure they come! Some big reunions have to be organized one year beforehand. People need a great deal of time to think about how, when and where it will be held.
I wonder if we also spend some time to think about the greatest reunion where we are intended to be –our glorious reunion with God in heaven. And in His company, we can come face to face with all our dearly departed loved ones. Imagine the grand celebration!
The thing is, we’re not given just one year to prepare. Our entire lifetime on earth is the dress rehearsal. I wrote in my previous column about how to get invited to heaven. That’s the same thing as getting ready for this blessed reunion.
The beautiful thing is that, unlike the earthly reunions we have where we bring food and gifts, this heavenly reunion is the occasion where we are the ones who receive a gift — our own room there!
John 14: 2-4 writes about Jesus’ promise to give us our own room in heaven : “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
But do we really know the way to get to that grand reunion and dwell in our own heavenly room? Is heaven really a place?
Jesus speaks of heaven as a place. It is going to be a prepared place for a prepared people and Jesus has done that for us. It’s like going to a restaurant and making reservations for your party. The restaurant staff puts together your table and lays out the napkins and silverware. They are preparing a place for you and your guests. Jesus ascended into heaven to prepare for us a place in the Father’s house. It is a real place prepared for our homecoming, our reunion.
But note that the reunion is only for prepared people. As I said, reunion organizers inform the participants long before so there’s enough time for people to block off the date in their calendars, prepare gifts or book flights.
God has used Abraham, Moses and the other prophets to prepare us for heaven, but the world didn’t care. Then He sent St. John the Baptist to prepare the hearts of people for the coming of His Son, Jesus. But he was put to death. His head was taken to King Herod.
God is a persistent reunion organizer. He wants the entire world to come to the reunion, so He sent His own Son to come down, take the form of a man to personally hand over to people the invitation to the heavenly reunion. But He was nailed to the cross. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. How would we now find our way to heaven?
God has an immense love for us. He rose Jesus from the dead, raised Him back to the heavens but promised His next return, this time to get only those prepared for the ultimate reunion.
How are you preparing for the next coming of Jesus? Ready, not ready or just waiting?
The Bible is clear on the matter that only those people redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ will enter into those glorious streets and stand before the throne of our Lord and Savior. Redeemed means a renewed life with Jesus as personal Savior. Redeemed means a life living by the Word of God so read the Bible daily. Redeemed means a life full of prayer, thanksgiving and praise to God.
Heaven is a wonderful place for our great reunion with God. What will that day be like? I can only imagine. I just firmly believe that it will eventually be called our home.