Our Waze to Heaven

The other day, I asked Waze to plot out for me directions to an uncharted region of my driving history. It digitally led me to one dead end, through a narrow rough road where u-turning was almost next to impossible, and finally, on my return, the app almost trapped me in a concrete labyrinth of an unknown subdivision.

Frustrating? Actually, not!

Waze may have its limitations, but every now and then, a message pops out for me on the screen: Weekly Report Summary: YOUR LAST REPORTS HAVE BEEN NOTICED. REPORTS: 3, HELPED: 718, THANKS: 31.

So far this is the highest number I have received for helping people on the road last year. Unlike Facebook, where people get likes and thanks, I am more fulfilled when I HELP others.

But there is another reason why I prefer Waze over Facebook, most if not all of those I have helped are unknown to me. I never really get to know these individuals as they travel through the streets that I have marked for them and help them drive safely to their destinations.

In his recent Apostolic Exhortation, Pope Francis invites us to consider that we are all called by God to holiness. But we each have to find the specific calling that God uniquely addresses to us.

In Gaudete et exultate, the Pope reveals how the road to holiness has been trodden by many saints before us. Each one had left abundant markers to help those who are coming after them.

In their lifetime, these holy persons were not aware what impact their legacy of holiness will have on future generations. This was never on their agenda. What was clear to them was striving to lift up to God every detail of their existence with love and sacrifice.

This does not mean, Pope Francis warns, trying to ‘be exactly’ like these holy individuals. Rather, we must take advantage of their teachings and examples as guides to plot out our personal spiritual itinerary towards Heaven.

Thus, we ought to reject the temptation of feeling discouraged about not being able to do the ‘same’ things that some saints have done. Their lives are not to be an imposition over our life, but to be an encouragement and support for our own journey.

The Holy Father even sets a very encouraging example of how we must live our daily journey:

“This holiness to which the Lord calls you will grow through small gestures. Here is an example: a woman goes shopping, she meets a neighbour and they begin to speak, and the gossip starts. But she says in her heart: “No, I will not speak badly of anyone”. This is a step forward in holiness. Later, at home, one of her children wants to talk to her about his hopes and dreams, and even though she is tired, she sits down and listens with patience and love. That is another sacrifice that brings holiness. Later she experiences some anxiety, but recalling the love of the Virgin Mary, she takes her rosary and prays with faith. Yet another path of holiness. Later still, she goes out onto the street, encounters a poor person and stops to say a kind word to him. One more step. (no. 16)”

Let us therefore, guided by these holy wazers ahead of us, be filled with a confidence and joy that no earthly trial can efface. And as we journey, may we also leave behind our own markers that will help many more to reach their celestial goal.