If some friends asked us to go with them to a place we had never visited before, we most likely would ask some questions before responding.

 

We would want to know where the place was located, what it was like, and something about the area. We would want to know why they were going there and how long they intended to stay. We would ask about the cost of the trip and what attractions might be nearby. We might ask if other people might join us on the trip.

 

In addition to asking these questions, we most likely would search the internet to get some information, pictures, and reviews about the place.

 

Such information would help us to decide how to respond. We probably would not feel comfortable or safe going to a place that we knew nothing about.

 

Yet all of us have been invited to go to a place that we know very little about and we have said, “Yes, we want to go.” That place is heaven. We all want to go there at the end of our lives.

 

But what do we know about heaven? How would we respond if someone asked us the questions mentioned earlier, questions that we ourselves would ask if invited to a place we have never visited?

 

We might respond by saying that heaven is the place where we look upon the face of God and are reunited with our deceased relatives and friends.

 

Heaven is where we meet Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the holy people mentioned in the scriptures and canonized by the Church. It is a heavenly meet and greet.

 

Heaven is where we are rewarded if we have lived according to the Gospel and the place from which sinners are excluded.

 

Heaven is where we join the celestial choir of angels and saints in continually praising and worshipping God.

 

Heaven is where the Lord has a home prepared for us. As he said, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places… I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

 

Heaven, according to popular imagery, is where we are rewarded with angelic wings, a harp, and a cloud to rest upon, as we watch history unfold before us.

 

Certainly, all those responses would give us some understanding of heaven. However, this Sunday’s First Reading (Isaiah 25:6-10a) offers us a wonderful, warm, and inviting description of the place we have been invited to go.

 

“On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines…he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face; the reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.”

 

Heaven is described in terms to which we can relate from our human experience. It is a joyous feast of fellowship featuring wonderful, rich food and choice wines. A feast where every tear has been dried and every accusation has been removed. A feast where no one is enduring sorrow, worry, or pain of any kind.

 

Heaven is like an ideal family gathering at Thanksgiving or Christmas where the table is surrounded with beloved relatives and friends feasting on good food and drink, enjoying each other’s company, conversation and love, and rejoicing in the presence of God, the host and provider of the feast.

 

Such a description of heaven would certainly motivate us to say YES to the Lord’s invitation to go to that place we had never been before!

 

© 2026 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski