Good morning kids. Do any of you have a dog? Raise your hand if you have a dog. How about a cat? Raise your hand if you have a cat. Does anyone have a pet that’s not a dog or cat? No snakes, right? Deacon Jim doesn’t like snakes. Does anyone have both a dog and a cat? Now that can be interesting!

So, let’s talk about what it’s like to have a pet. If you don’t have a pet, imagine that you do. When your dog or cat lives with you, they make you happy right? If you’re sad, your cat or dog can cheer you up. When you come home, your pet is usually so happy to see you, right? They run up to you which makes you feel good, and they love you and you love them.

Now, if your dog or cat decided to live somewhere else, how would you feel? Would you be sad? I bet you would because your pet is part of your family and belongs with you, right? Your family is more complete when you are all together.

So, in a sense, Jesus believes the same about us. While we are not dogs or cats, He wants us all to be with Him, and I can prove it to you. Jesus wants all of us to live as a family with Him… forever. Yup, forever. How do I know that? Well, it says it right here in the Gospel reading from today. Do you want me to read that part to you again? Ok, I will.

First, Jesus says, “Father, they are your gift to me.” You see, Jesus is praying to his Father, who is God, and saying that all of us are a gift or present that the Father gave Jesus. Everyone loves a gift, right? So does Jesus, and that gift He loves is us! That’s point nuber 1 in how I know Jesus wants us to live with Him in heaven forever.

Point number 2 is this: in the Gospel reading today, Jesus then says, “I wish that where I am they also may be with me.” Ok, so where is Jesus? He’s in heaven, right? That’s right, so if He wants us with Him, that means with Him in heaven.

OK, point number 3. Right after Jesus tells His Father that He wants us in heaven with Him, Jesus then says, “that they may see my glory that you gave me.” When Jesus says, “that they may see my glory” He means that we may see His love for us face to face with our whole family! How great is that? His glory is His love for us.

That’s how I know He wants us with Him in heaven. If, however, we were not with Him in heaven, he would be sad. But when we are with Him in heaven, He is very happy. In fact, that’s what He wants for us and our whole family – to be with Him forever. And He wants that for every family in the whole wide world too.

That is amazing. That is incredible. That is a whole lot of love!

Parents, the same message is for all of us, but with an added responsibility. It is our job to make sure that happens by teaching our kids about Jesus and heaven. And you are doing that today by bringing your children to Holy Mass. You and we are doing that when we pray together at home. We are doing that when we say grace before a meal. We are doing that when they see us reading the Bible or a book about our faith. We are doing that when we partake in the Sacraments or go to Eucharistic Adoration.

They are watching us all the time… which is good! Good because we can keep leading them to Jesus Christ and to heaven! Keep up the good work!