WeOne of the most frequently asked questions we clergy get asked by someone mourning the death of a loved one is: “Will I really see my Mom, my Dad, my spouse, my brother or sister, my very close friend, again? Will we all be together again, really?”

And the answer is a resounding “Yes.”

We use those promising words in the prayers we pray at the funeral Mass or Mass of the Resurrection.

Time and again in both the Old Testament and New Testament, we are given reminders and reassurances that there is a life after life on this earth.

What’s more is that the kind of life, the recompense, that we’ll have after life on this earth will depend on what good we manage to accomplish o this earth.

The great St. Paul was graced by God with a glimpse of the afterlife. Afterward, his followers and friends asked him what it was like.

And St. Paul said: “Eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has in store for those who love Him,”  To which we could all say: “Thanks a lot, St. Paul. That tells us nothing.”

And St. Paul knew that: he was simply saying we don’t have anything to compare heaven or hell to on this earth. But St. Paul goes on to advise his listeners “to console one another with the promises Jesus makes to those who follow Him.”

And that leads us to today’s Gospel, at least the first half of it.

St. John quotes Jesus as telling the apostles about His going to prepare a place for us all.  In fact, in his Father’s house, he says, there are many dwelling places.

Some translations call them mansions.  Just imagine the cleaning service they must have up in heaven.

Maybe that’s what Purgatory is: you have to work on the cleaning crew until you get all cleaned up for heaven yourself. Who knows?

And maybe hell is having to spend eternity on the heavenly cleaning crew and never getting paroled. Who knows?

But the main point of this Gospel so frequently used at the funeral Mass is that yes, Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and if He’s the general contractor, it must be a very specially wonderful place.

I hope mine will be located along a lakeside with a nice boat and dock at the back door. But who knows.

And because there are many dwelling places in the Father’s house, Jesus tells us, then we priests and deacons can confidently console someone mourning the loss of a loved one that yes, indeed, we all really will be together again.

For some that might be kind of scary, because maybe there are people in our lives that we don’t want to be with ever again.

So in heaven, when we meet them again, does this mean lots of scores have to be settled first?

And the answer to that has to be: “No,  because by definition, Heaven is that perfect place where all that hurt or bothered us here on earth won’t matter any more.

I know: you might be wondering if there will be flies and mosquitoes in heaven, and the answer is probably yes, but they won’t bite or pester us.

Heavenly dwelling places: our consolation this 5th Sunday of Easter.

       Thank you.