I believe that most Jamaicans, including Christians, believe that earth, and getting the best of it, is heaven. Most of us believe that being rich, having a big home or many homes and a brand new car, a beautiful and intelligent wife who wants to have only two kids, and to be able to travel as much as possible, is heaven here on earth.

Many Christians believe that possessing riches is a sign of God’s favour and a sign of holiness and perfection; but the perfectly happy man is Jesus Christ who suffered and died for us because of love for us. How joyful He was that all of our sins are forgiven. The good news now is that all of us are forgiven of our sins if we love Jesus, the happiest man who ever lived.

Happiness is heaven. Jesus sacrificed his life for others and brought good news for all of us. We all now have a heavenly home awaiting us, if we believe in Christ, if we believe in the soul, if we believe in the interior life and Christ our brother who wants to live with us in His eternal home with many mansions.

Heaven is not a fairy tale, it is for real. It exists for all those who believe in the soul that never dies. But if you do not believe, that’s a problem.

The greatest gift given to me is my thirst for God and my belief that nothing on earth and no one can satisfy me but God Himself. I believe that everyone on earth has that longing for God and for His heavenly kingdom. It is intrinsic to all of us. We are body and soul; we want more than the bodily appetite longs for. We are made in the image and likeness of God. We are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. No matter what we get and how much we get on earth, we are not satisfied only with what the world can give us.

My dear friends, in September I will be 85 years old. I have been a priest for 52 years. I was a Jesuit for 23 years. I have been with Missionaries of the Poor (MOP) for 42 years. I have had wonderful friends and companions, some of them highly accomplished yet longing for happiness that has eluded them.

On a trip to Toronto a week ago I met so many friends and alumni who have done well and have accomplished great things in their lives. They thanked me for my work with the MOP brothers in service of the poorest of the poor. They told me of the great days they had at St George’s College; there was Father Charles McMullen, Father Leo Quinlan, Father Maurice Feres, Father Gerald Fennesy, and Father William Raftery. They told jokes and spoke of the foibles of the priests and teachers and the idiosyncrasies of their fellow students.

Yes, in September I will be 85 years. There are no regrets. I live in the ghetto at 87 Hanover Street. I work in the ghetto; I work with 200 brothers — simple, humble men who love the poor and serve the poor. I don’t want to live in a rich house in upper St Andrew but I condemn no man for being rich. I don’t want to be wealthy; I just want to be like Christ to serve the poor and the most forgotten of people.

I don’t want to be any other than a Jamaican. Violence is all around me but I have received great love and respect from Jamaica. I love Jamaica. I thank God for my life and ministry to the poor. I give thanks for my 85 years as a Jamaican.

I want us Jamaicans to pour out ourselves in service to the least of our brothers and sisters. When we die we will be one community in heaven. Heaven is not a fairy tale, Jesus told us, and He is the way, the truth, and the life. God bless you.