Forever 21

Preparing students for Heaven and Harvard

11/14/2021

Mk 13:24-32 Jesus said to his disciples: "In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. "And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. "Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not  ass away. "But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

One of our mottos at Trinity Catholic School is, “We educate our students to get into Harvard and Heaven.” Now, of those two great destinations, which do you think it is harder to prepare students for? You might think it’s harder to get them into Harvard than to get into Heaven – Heaven should be easy, right? – but not necessarily. Why not? Well, because young people, especially teenagers, think they will never die, so it is not necessary to think about getting into Heaven because they will live forever. That is why they love to shop at stores called “Forever 21.”

Recently, I was preparing for Mass and the altar servers were putting on their vestments as well. I had celebrated my 52nd birthday and was feeling a little old. So, I asked one of the servers: “Do you think 52 is very old?” The server was trying to be diplomatic so he answered, “Not at all, 52 is not old.” Then I asked him, “Do you think you will ever be 52?” Without hesitation, he shot back, “No way!”

That answer was a little less diplomatic but a much more honest. It also revealed his real thinking about being 52: it was old, and by contrast he would stay young forever. If you will be “Forever 21” you want to get into Harvard, but if you are “Forever 21” you have no need for Heaven. And that is why it is harder to prepare students for Heaven than for Harvard.

In the gospel today, Jesus is also trying to prepare his apostles for Heaven more than for Harvard, because that is the harder lesson to learn. Our Lord uses some rather dramatic language to make his point. He says: “In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” In a sense, Jesus was trying to scare the hell out of them so he could scare the Heaven into them. Just like I was trying to help my little altar server see he would not always stay young, so Jesus was helping his little altar servers (also known as apostles) to realize both they and the world they inhabit would end one day.

And therefore, they should prepare for a better world, namely, Heaven. But Jesus had his work cut out for him because the Jews of the first century – like the Americans of the 21st century – were more interested in an earthly paradise rather than a heavenly one. In every age, therefore, people work a lot harder to go to Harvard then to go to Heaven. Jesus was the Headmaster and Teacher of the first Catholic school, where his apostles were the students, and his goal was exactly the same as that of Trinity Catholic School: to prepare his students for Harvard and Heaven, but more so for Heaven.

My friends, thank you for the opportunity to celebrate Masses here at Sacred Heart and share with you what a treasure we have in Trinity Catholic School, as well as at Christ the King and Immaculate Conception. Of course, our students have high achievements in academics, and I love to watch them in Quiz Bowl and Spelling Bee competitions. But other schools have smart students, too. And naturally, we emphasize being kind and loving your neighbor and doing community service. But other school love their neighbors and care about their community, too.

And we encourage our students to explore extracurricular activities like band and cheer and dance and choir and drama. Recently, Trinity students participated in a entrepreneur’s competition at UAFS, and Fr. Daniel, who has an MBA, helped interview and prepare them. I think they were more scared of Fr. Daniel than UAFS professors! But other schools have extracurricular activities, too.

But just as Jesus worried more about his apostles getting into Heaven than into Harvard, so, too, Trinity helps her students to prepare for Heaven even more than for Harvard. How so? Well, the students attend weekly Mass and receive Holy Communion. They go to confession at least twice a year in Advent and again in Lent. Fr. Daniel is available for confessions every week on Thursdays, and believe it or not, he gets some customers in the confessional! And once a year, they make a spiritual retreat, which your parish of Sacred Heart is hosting this year. Thank you so much!

My friends, my point in this sermon is pretty simple, namely, the spiritual side of the education of the whole child is what makes Trinity and other Catholic schools so unique but also so necessary. Otherwise, we leave our precious children only preparing for Harvard and never preparing for Heaven. Worse still, we leave them lumbering under the illusion that they will be “Forever 21” and will never turn 52.

Praised be Jesus Christ!