From Forums of the Virgin Mary [translated]:
James 2:26 says that “faith without works is dead” and the reason Jesus cursed the fig tree is that it bore no fruit, Mark 11:21.
So if you want to go to Heaven, go out into the world and imitate the life of Christ by doing as many good deeds as you can, out of faith and love of Jesus. (Just smiling at people, exuding kindness, allowing others to be first, can be a work of faith.)
In Matthew 25 it is recorded who will inherit the kingdom prepared by the Father, and mentions these gestures:
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to see me.”
And to complement this, the Bible also speaks of the works that take us away from salvation; in Galatians 5 we see that they are fornication, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, lawsuits, jealousy, anger, contentions, dissensions, partisanship, envy, drunkenness, orgies. (Contentions!)
The sixth clue that the Bible gives us to enter Heaven is what Matthew 13 records, when it says, “unless you become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
Being like a child is not the same as being childish.
Being like a child means being innocent, meek, and humble, and having complete trust in the Father to take care of you, no matter what happens (as a child depends solely on his parents).
No child cares about money, clothes, or promotions at work; what Jesus is saying is that infants have the faith and purity, the “littleness,” the unworldliness, to enter Heaven. This Lent, take a look inside and see where you are worldly, where you are too involved with matters of the earth.
So another clue is that we should be clean and holy.
Because in Revelation 21 it says that nothing unclean will enter Heaven.
Remaining clean in this society dominated by the unclean can only be achieved through constant awareness of the interior self, right-thinking, love over lust, and the sacrament of Confession.
In short, to enter Heaven we must be holy.
And what is the best way to do it in practice?
Put God first in your life.
Have total trust in Jesus no matter what happens.
Go to daily Mass [if you can, or at least when you can], and take Communion.
Pray the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy daily, for the conversion of sinners and for the souls in purgatory. What a time Lent is for this!
Go to Adoration and Confession often. Read the Bible daily.
Forgive others as Jesus did from the Cross to his torturers.
Give alms to the poor and help the dispossessed, if only by listening to them.
Consecrate yourself to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Thank God for everything, even for your crosses.
Be humble.
There you have it — pray always, for what else further you may need to do. No prayer is more important.
+
[resources: Forums of the Virgin Mary, Lenten books, and Michael Brown retreat]