St. John Vianney’s Insights on Following Jesus to Heaven

06-01-2025Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A.

As we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension today, I would like to share some insights from a homily given by St. John Marie Vianney (1786-1859) on this same feast day.

When Jesus ascended to heaven 40 days after his resurrection, he left his apostles here on earth commissioned to go forth and make “disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). Even more broadly beyond his apostles, he left behind his Church, the Catholic Church we’re in now, to continue that mission until his Second Coming at the end of time. Jesus knew what his apostles and his Church would endure after he was gone and, therefore, he gave warnings to prepare them, but always encouraged them with promises of rewards for their faithfulness. St. John Vianney begins his homily with a paraphrase of the warning Jesus gave multiple times throughout scripture, along with the promises that come with it.

Yes, my children, you will be the object of contempt and hatred of the wicked; you will fall a victim to their rage; the people will hate you and bring you before the princes of the earth, so that you may be condemned to the most dreadful chastisements, to the most cruel and ignominious of deaths; but do not be discouraged, rather rejoice, for a great recompense awaits you in heaven.

While daunting, the warning is simple and applicable to any point in history. To be a follower of Jesus is to live a counter-cultural life and, because of that, be willing to be subjected to ridicule by those who do not follow Jesus and those who are unfamiliar with the truths contained in his Church. For his apostles and the earliest Christians, that ridicule often extended to the extreme of martyrdom through the cruelest means of torture. Given Jesus’ ominous warnings and the uncertainty of what the future would hold, it is reasonable to assume the apostles experienced feelings of fear and anxiety after Jesus ascended to heaven, leaving them alone in the physical sense. So, what gave them the courage and strength to proceed with their mission of bringing Christ's message to the world? St. John Vianney says it was the second part of Jesus’ message, the promise of heaven and eternal life with their loving God. He says the martyrs were animated by the words of those who cry out from heaven:

“O how vastly God has rewarded us for the little good which we have done! Yes, we behold Him, this tender, loving Father; yes, we praise Him, this most amiable Saviour; yes we thank Him, this loving Redeemer, throughout all eternity. O blessed eternity!” they exclaim, “what sweetness and joys thou dost give us to taste!”

Without knowing precisely what heaven will be like, St. John Marie deduces four logical conclusions about what we will experience when we arrive:

1^st – When we experience anything beautiful on earth, our hearts may be captivated by the beauty for some time, but eventually, we tire or become bored with  it, and we move on to the next thing. We move from one thing to another without ever being fully, truly satisfied. In heaven, we will encounter the splendor and beauty of God, which will be so great that nothing will be able to distract our gaze from it for all eternity. We will be captivated by God's glory and love without interruption and finally be fully and truly satisfied, no longer desiring to look anywhere or upon anything else.

2^nd – We will finally understand what the angels have experienced all along and why they perpetually sing songs of praise and joy. St. John Marie says, “No mortal is capable of understanding what the blessed feel at all this.”

3^rd – Whenever we experience pleasure in this life, we anticipate its end or seek to preserve it. Like the way we experience beauty, we can never be fully content in pleasures. In heaven, we can rest in our pleasure and joy because we know it will never decrease or diminish.

4^th – In heaven, we will finally feel gratification for everything we have suffered in life. Every tear that has been shed and every mortification that has been endured will be rewarded, and we will feel joy for the suffering we endured. It is through Christ and the cross that our suffering has meaning and has merited our salvation.

St. John Marie expands on this fourth quality more, as it specifically speaks to the issue of martyrdom or persecution, whether for the early Christians or for us today. If the souls of the damned suffer the pains of hell in proportion to their sins, then the souls in heaven are rewarded in proportion to the suffering they endured in this life. In other words, the more pain you suffer now, particularly on behalf of Jesus, the more pleasure and joy you will experience for eternity. Pain that you do not suffer directly because of Jesus can still be joined to his cross as a sacrifice offered back to the Father, which helps us achieve the same result through his saving grace. Our reward is not just proportional to our suffering, but also to our virtue. St. John Marie uses the examples of modesty and chastity. The more modest a person is regarding their appearance on earth, the more beauty they will gaze upon in heaven, and chaste souls will lie “upon a bed of roses, the perfume of which causes them a continual ecstasy."

At this point in his homily, St. John Marie is hopeful that his listeners feel as motivated by the thought of heaven as the apostles and gives them practical advice for staying the course. He says not to be attached to the things of this life — even the good things. You may be thinking about making money to buy a house here, but you must also be thinking about working toward your place in heaven. We must be good examples to our children in word and deed and remember that good intentions are not enough if our actions do not match. Given the time St. Vianney lived, the language in his advice to the family unit would not be as well received today. Still, essentially, he urges all members of the family to be at the service of one another, pray for one another, and be a domestic Church for the children, teaching them all they need to know to obtain heaven for themselves. Speaking to young people, the saint tells them not to concern themselves with their appearance and to practice chastity and modesty. They ought to cheerfully obey their parents. Finally, he appeals to his audience to always strive to please God rather than please the world. All it takes is one mortal sin to lose the eternal sweetness of heaven to hell, and it simply isn't worth it. “It is only too true that if we would only do as much for God as we do for the world we should all be saints.”

On this Ascension Sunday, contemplate Jesus ascending to his heavenly home with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Do you want to follow him there? Imagine yourself as one of the apostles, likely facing a brutal and bloody martyrdom for being a follower of Jesus and a promoter of his Church. Would the promise of heaven be enough to give you the strength and courage to face persecution? If what we suffer on earth for Jesus is rewarded proportionally, are you encouraged to embrace your suffering more joyfully? Where are you motivated to change and grow if our virtue on earth is rewarded proportionally? Finally, while most reading this are likely not currently in danger of true martyrdom, there are some places in the world where Christians are being killed simply for being Christian. Pray for them and join your suffering to the cross as a sacrifice for them. May the angels and saints welcome them home into the eternal presence and beauty of the Blessed Trinity.