I’ll see you at the Top!
Homily preached May 29, 2022
by Monsignor Michael Deering

Ten years ago, we lost a great motivational speaker …

a wonderful guy by the name of Zig Ziglar … who died in November of 2012.

This man put on numerous “Success Rallies” and “Born to win Seminars”.

He authored 25 “self-help” books and recorded countless audiotapes …

all filled with homespun advice on career advancement and moral uplift.

Zig was a Christian man who had a great enthusiasm for life and his one desire was to motivate everyone to make use of all their God-given abilities to achieve their full potential in whatever vocation & profession they chose for themselves

During my many years in sales, I was one of his devotees … I read his books, listened to his tapes and even got to hear him speak in person at a Rally in Chicago.

One of my most favorite books of Zig’s is the one entitled, “See you at the Top”.

If you have any interest in self-improvement and particularly if you’re a person in the Sales profession, then do get a hold of this book and read it, again and again.

It’s loaded with pearls of wisdom and encouragement that inspire you to go out and put all your God-given talents and abilities to good use … with the result that you’ll naturally realize an increased amount of happiness and success.

You’ll find several sales platitudes in this book … things like:

“Get rid of Stinkin’ Thinkin!”       and “Get a Check-up from the neck up”

and    “Avoid hardening of the Attitudes”.

But the best part of Zig’s message is recognizing that his underlying theme of getting to the top isn’t just about getting to the top of business; it’s actually about getting to the top of life ... where the very top is ... Eternal Life … in Heaven. 

As we discussed last Sunday … it seems that … in this competitive world of ours, the main emphasis in many people’s lives is on … getting to the top.

People want to be … at the top of their game … at the top of their class …

at the top of their company.

But real wisdom comes in realizing that one day all of us will leave this world and in doing so we’ll leave behind our school, our sport, our company and our money.

We don’t get to take any of our material prizes with us when we die …

they remain here on earth and they will one day pass away themselves.

The only prize that is enduring is God ... who lives forever and ever. 

As we pointed out last week ... it’s not about being #1 ... it’s about being one with #1!

There’s really only one #1 ... the Eternal One ... who is God!

If you’re one with Him ... you’ll be #1 forever!

Understanding this should help us set priorities in how we spend our days on Earth.  

God gave us a solid tip for establishing our priorities when he gave us the First Commandment and declared that He is #1, and nothing should come before Him.

“I am the Lord your God ... you shall have no strange God’s before me!”

Can you imagine what a wonderful world this would be...

 if everyone followed ... just that one Commandment!

Yes, if everyone just admitted that God is the only ... long term ... #1...

then we’d all make it our priority to be one with Him!

One obstacle to this happening is the fact that God is pure Spirit ...

and so we are not able to see the One who is #1 with our human eyes. 

When we make it to Heaven, St. Paul says ... we will see Him as He is!

But right now ... He’s not visible to us.

So how do we know He exists?

God, who is pure Spirit, is readily detected now with ... “the eyes of faith”.

Paul refers to this in our Second Reading from his Letter to the Ephesians, writing,   

“May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened that you may know …

the riches of glory in His inheritance among the holy ones.”

Paul wants us to see ... and strive for ... the prize … the eternal prize …

which is the riches of glory ...

that we will experience ... when we’re there in Heaven …

enjoying our inheritance with God and all the Saints!

When Paul speaks of the eyes of our hearts, he’s referring to us experiencing

the reality of our invisible God … in the depths of our being.

It’s there in our heart that God speaks to us with His Holy Spirit.

You know what it’s like to feel blessed, healed, forgiven, strengthened, and loved

... you’ve felt it in your heart ... that’s God ... the unseen God! 

But just to make His Presence absolutely clear to us ...

God … sometimes uses supernatural Experiences to help us.

Today’s celebration of the Ascension of Jesus is a prime example of this.

Luke tells us that on the day the Apostles saw Jesus for the last time,

Jesus “was taken up into heaven.”

Where did Jesus go?       He ascended into Heaven.

This is a truth that we proclaim each week when we profess our Creed and say:

    “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

Why did Jesus return to Heaven?      To be with the Father!

Notice that all throughout the Gospels, Jesus doesn’t spend a lot of time

 talking about himself.    Rather, He spoke about … the Father!

For example, in our Gospel today, Jesus says to the Apostles:

“Behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.”

Here Jesus is referring to the sending of the God’s Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, which we will celebrate next Sunday on the Feast of Pentecost.

And notice that Jesus didn’t waste much time in going home to the Father.

After rising from the dead, He remained here only 40 days.

Then He left this world for Heaven. .

This clearly shows us that Heaven is not here.

Unfortunately, many people try to find Heaven here.

But Heaven is not here. Where is Heaven? Heaven is with the Father.

That’s why Jesus ascended from the Earth into Heaven … to be with the Father.

Home for Jesus is being with the Father.

By leaving the Earth and ascending to be with the Father,

Jesus clearly showed us where our focus in life should be …

 not on the things of this earth but on the things that are above … at the Top!

Jesus wants to see each of us at the Top … where the Top means Heaven.

That’s where we’ll be with Him ... and with the Father.

So, the Title of Zig Ziglar’s book “See you at the Top” is precisely the message that Our Lord left with all of us as He left this world and ascended to the Father!

How many times Jesus says in the Gospels, “Come, follow Me!”

Well, that certainly implies that He wants to lead us somewhere!

Where does Jesus want to lead us?      

To the Top!      To Heaven … where we’ll be home with the Father!

That explains why all of us have this built-in yearning to one-day go to Heaven.

Heaven is Jesus’ home … He’s home there with the Father.

Heaven is our home too … and we arrive there by following the Son.

In the book, “See you at the Top”, there’s a picture in most every chapter ...

showing a salesman with his brief case in hand looking up a staircase.

On each of the six stairs is the name of an attribute that will help you get to the top.

They are:     Self-Image, Relationships, Goals, Attitude, Work and Desire.  

These are powerful attributes to help you be successful in Sales.

And there’s a door at the top of the stairs labeled with many desirable goals ...

such as: Health ... Wealth ... Happiness ... Friends ... Peace ... and Security.

Underneath this picture is the question:

“Will you stare up the steps ... or step up the stairs?     In other words ...

Are you going to go after what you say you want with desire and determination ...

or are you just going to gaze at how things could be and wish you had them?

That same question applies to all of us on our journey to Heaven.

Will you ... just stare up at ... the Gates of Heaven ...

or will you ... step out in faith ... every day with the desire and the discipline

that will bring you to the Top to enter through the Gates of Heaven?

Just as the Door at the top of the steps was labeled: Peace, Happiness and Security

Those same Prizes will also be found on The Gates of Heaven,

but there … they are eternal!    which makes them much more precious.

As we celebrate the Feast of Our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven,

     let’s pray for the grace and focus to keep God #1 ...

while taking the steps to follow Jesus … up to ... our Heavenly Home.

And along the way, let’s never forget Jesus’ warm invitation, “Come follow me” ...

that reminds us to say to Him every day:

“Lord please help me … for the goal of my life … is to see you at the Top!”