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In Celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King, OTWOMD™ Features the theology of the “Last Things” or Eschatology. The End of the liturgical year always dwells on the life of the church and it’s people. Suffice it to say, we are asked to reflect on our own spiritual lives as we prepare ourselves here on earth for our eternal communion with our Lord, who is Christ, the King of Heaven and Earth. In this part of this series, we will discuss briefly the reality and truth of the existence of Heaven.

HEAVEN
by Pope John Paul II

In three controversial Wednesday Audiences, Pope John Paul II pointed out that the essential characteristic of heaven, hell or purgatory is that they are states of being of a spirit (angel/demon) or human soul, rather than places, as commonly perceived and represented in human language. This language of place is, according to the Pope, inadequate to describe the realities involved, since it is tied to the temporal order in which this world and we exist. In this he is applying the philosophical categories used by the Church in her theology and saying what St. Thomas Aquinas said long before him.

“Incorporeal things are not in place after a manner known and familiar to us, in which way we say that bodies are properly in place; but they are in place after a manner befitting spiritual substances, a manner that cannot be fully manifest to us.” [St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Supplement, Q69, a1, reply 1]

Heaven is Fullness of Communion with God

Heaven as the fullness of communion with God was the theme of the Holy Father’s catechesis at the General Audience of 21 July 1999. Heaven “is neither an abstraction not a physical place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit,” the Pope said.

1. When the form of this world has passed away, those who have welcomed God into their lives and have sincerely opened themselves to his love, at least at the moment of death, will enjoy that fullness of communion with God which is the goal of human life.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “this perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed is called “heaven’. Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfilment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (n.1024).

Today we will try to understand the biblical meaning of “heaven”, in order to have a better understanding of the reality to which this expression refers.

2. In biblical language “heaven”", when it is joined to the “earth”, indicates part of the universe. Scripture says about creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1:1).

Heaven is the transcendent dwelling-place of the living God

Metaphorically speaking, heaven is understood as the dwelling-place of God, who is thus distinguished from human beings (cf. Ps 104:2f.; 115:16; Is 66:1). He sees and judges from the heights of heaven (cf. Ps 113:4-9) and comes down when he is called upon (cf. Ps 18:9, 10; 144:5). However the biblical metaphor makes it clear that God does not identify himself with heaven, nor can he be contained in it (cf. 1 Kgs 8:27); and this is true, even though in some passages of the First Book of the Maccabees “Heaven” is simply one of God’s names (1 Mc 3:18, 19, 50, 60; 4:24, 55).

The depiction of heaven as the transcendent dwelling-place of the living God is joined with that of the place to which believers, through grace, can also ascend, as we see in the Old Testament accounts of Enoch (cf. Gn 5:24) and Elijah (cf. 2 Kgs 2:11). Thus heaven becomes an image of life in God. In this sense Jesus speaks of a “reward in heaven” (Mt 5:12) and urges people to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (ibid., 6:20; cf. 19:21).

3. The New Testament amplifies the idea of heaven in relation to the mystery of Christ. To show that the Redeemer’s sacrifice acquires perfect and definitive value, the Letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus “passed through the heavens” (Heb 4:14), and “entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself” (ibid., 9:24). Since believers are loved in a special way by the Father, they are raised with Christ and made citizens of heaven. It is worthwhile listening to what the Apostle Paul tells us about this in a very powerful text: “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-7). The fatherhood of God, who is rich in mercy, is experienced by creatures through the love of God’s crucified and risen Son, who sits in heaven on the right hand of the Father as Lord.

4. After the course of our earthly life, participation in complete intimacy with the Father thus comes through our insertion into Christ’s paschal mystery. St Paul emphasizes our meeting with Christ in heaven at the end of time with a vivid spatial image: “Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thes 4:17-18).

Sacramental life is anticipation of heaven

In the context of Revelation, we know that the “heaven” or “happiness” in which we will find ourselves is neither an abstraction nor a physical place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit.

It is always necessary to maintain a certain restraint in describing these “ultimate realities” since their depiction is always unsatisfactory. Today, personalist language is better suited to describing the state of happiness and peace we will enjoy in our definitive communion with God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church sums up the Church’s teaching on this truth: “By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has “opened’ heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ” (n. 1026).

5. This final state, however, can be anticipated in some way today in sacramental life, whose centre is the Eucharist, and in the gift of self through fraternal charity. If we are able to enjoy properly the good things that the Lord showers upon us every day, we will already have begun to experience that joy and peace which one day will be completely ours. We know that on this earth everything is subject to limits, but the thought of the “ultimate” realities helps us to live better the “penultimate” realities. We know that as we pass through this world we are called to seek “the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1), in order to be with him in the eschatological fulfilment, when the Spirit will fully reconcile with the Father “all things, whether on earth or in heaven” (Col 1:20).

Life Everlasting
by Rev. William G. Most

In commenting on the judgment, we spoke of Purgatory and Hell. Now we consider Heaven. The Second Epistle of Peter 1:4 says by grace we are “sharers in the divine nature.” We learn from John 1:1 that the Father speaks a Word. It is not a vibration in the air, but it is substantial, it is the Second Divine Person, coming from the Father by as it were an infinite stream of knowledge. Between Father and Son arises love, which again is substantial, is the Third Person, the Holy Spirit, coming forth by a stream of infinite love. Only a being that is part divine could as it were plug into these infinite streams. Grace in this life gives us the basic ability to do that.

As we saw in speaking of hell, death breaks the bond between our spiritual intellect and the material brain. Then the lights go on, and one knows God greatly even without seeing Him. The soul, if properly purified, and if all debts to the objective order are paid, will finally reach that vision, that seeing of God. We are all finite, limited receptacles, trying to take in the Infinite. In this life our capacity for that can grow indefinitely, with increases of sanctifying grace. In heaven, whatever capacity the soul has will be completely filled, fully satisfied. Since the vision is infinite, it can never become dull. Further, St. Augustine says (City of God 10:7) that the angels participate in God’s eternity. Eternity for God is timeless. Things do not just go on and on, He takes in everything in one view, as it were. Similarly the soul in that vision does not just go on and on: it simply is unbelievably fulfilled, happy, satisfied. St. Augustine said well (Confessions 1:1): “You have made us for yourself, and restless are our hearts until they rest in you.”

When the glorified body at the resurrection is joined to the soul, it too will share in its own way in the reward the person has earned. It will be as we said, on the pattern of the glorified body of Christ.

The Blessed too will be united with others there, especially those close and dear to them in this life. Thus, as a secondary source of blessedness they will have eternal fellowship with Our Lady and all the saints.

Question and Answer on Heaven

Who are rewarded in heaven?

Those are rewarded in heaven who have died in the state of grace and have been purified in purgatory, if necessary, from all venial sin and all debt of temporal punishment; they see God face to face and share forever in His glory and happiness.

(a) The happiness of heaven consists in the beatific vision ant! the consequent joy of the blessed. This happiness is not postponed to the end of the world but begins as soon as all venial sin and the temporal punishment for sin have been remitted.

(b) The body participates in this happiness only after the resurrection at the end of the world.

(c) The blessed rejoice in the company of Our Saviour, the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the angels and saints, and the friends they knew on earth who have attained the reward of eternal life.

(d) There is no sorrow or pain in heaven; the joy is complete, though unequal, throughout an eternity.

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(1) Taken from: L’Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English [Heaven: 28 July 1999, 7]
(2) Taken from The Basic Catholic Catechism PART FIVE: The Apostles’ Creed IX - XII Twelfth Article of the Creed: “And life everlasting. Amen.” By William G. Most. (c)Copyright 1990 by William G. Most
(3) The Baltimore Catechism, no. 3, Lesson 14
Source - Eternal Word Television Network