HEAVEN

The Last Judgment of the Blessed by Fra Angelico

Contents
HEAVEN ......................................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1
Pope John Paul .............................................................................................................................................. 2
Heaven is Fullness of Communion with God ............................................................................................ 2
Sacramental life is anticipation of heaven ................................................................................................ 3
St Josemaria Escriva ...................................................................................................................................... 4
The Way ........................................................................................................................................................ 4
Chapter 1 Character ............................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 4 Holy purity ............................................................................................................................. 4
Chapter 12 Supernatural life................................................................................................................ 4
Chapter 18 Love of God ....................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 21 Our Lady ............................................................................................................................ 4
Chapter 32 Other virtues ..................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 33 Troubles ............................................................................................................................ 4
Chapter 34 Interior struggle ................................................................................................................ 4
Chapter 35 Last things ......................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 36 The will of God .................................................................................................................. 5
Chapter 39 Little things........................................................................................................................ 5
The Furrow .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 3 Cheerfulness.......................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 8 Humility ................................................................................................................................. 6
Chapter 27 Peace ................................................................................................................................ 6
Chapter 28 Beyond Death.................................................................................................................... 6
Friends of God ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 2 Freedom, a gift from God...................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 3 Time is a Treasure ................................................................................................................. 7
Chapter 8 In the Footsteps of Christ .................................................................................................. 8
Chapter 11 For They Shall See God...................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 13 The Christian's Hope ....................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 18 Towards Holiness ............................................................................................................ 14

i
Christ is Passing By ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Chapter 8 Interior struggle .................................................................................................................. 15
Chapter 12 The Ascension of Our Lord .............................................................................................. 16
Chapter 15 On the feast of Corpus Chirsti ......................................................................................... 17
Catholic Catechism...................................................................................................................................... 18
II. HEAVEN ............................................................................................................................................... 18
Catholic Encyclopedia ................................................................................................................................. 20
The name of Heaven ............................................................................................................................... 20
In Holy Scripture it is called: ................................................................................................................... 20
The location of Heaven ........................................................................................................................... 22
Existence of heaven ................................................................................................................................ 22
Supernatural character of heaven and the beatific vision...................................................................... 24
Eternity of heaven and impeccability of the blessed .............................................................................. 28
Essential beatitude.................................................................................................................................. 29
Accidental beatitude ............................................................................................................................... 29
Attributes of beatitude ........................................................................................................................... 30
Francis Fernandez ....................................................................................................................................... 31
In Conversation with God ........................................................................................................................... 31
58. GETTING TO HEAVEN ........................................................................................................................ 31
Book 3 58.1 The only thing that really matters in life is getting to Heaven. .......................................... 31
58.2 Hell exists. We must practice a holy fear of God ............................................................................ 31
58,3 We are to be instruments in the salvation of many people ........................................................... 33
Book 2 82.1 We have been created for Heaven. Fostering hope ........................................................... 33
82.2 What God has revealed about eternal life. ..................................................................................... 34
82.3 The Resurrection of the Body. Thinking about Heaven should lead us to a determined and
cheerful struggle to reach it. ................................................................................................................... 35
Book 2 12.2 Often foster the Hope of Heaven, especially in difficult moments. ................................... 36

ii
HEAVEN
Introduction
The only thing that really matters in life is getting to Heaven. Among all the achievements of our life
only one is really crucial. It is attaining the goal Heaven set for us by God. A Christian life is a
continual journey towards Heaven.

[1] Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. [2] In my Father's house
there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you. [3]
And if I shall go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself; that
where I am, you also may be. [4] And whither I go you know, and the way you know. [5] Thomas
saith to him: Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? (Jn 14. 1 to 5)
When thinking about heaven, where it is and how we get there we first have to consider that before
we can make real progress we have to want to go to heaven.
Heaven is simply a vision of God.
Heaven is the place where God dwells. It is a location that is wholly spiritual in nature. Christianity
defines heaven as being in the presence of God with places prepared for the faithful by Jesus and is
viewed as eternal bliss beyond that which can currently be known. Those who are allowed into
heaven are given new bodies that do not decay and death will be gone. It is also possible there are
different levels of heaven according to the apostle Paul who describes his journey to the third
heaven (2 Cor. 12:2).
The intention of this paper is to set out the Churchs teachings with regard to Heaven based on the
writings of Pope John Paul II, Saint Josemaria Escriva, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and
the Catholic Encyclopedia.

1
Pope John Paul
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).

2
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).

3
St Josemaria Escriva
The Way
Chapter 1 Character
29 The limited, miserable happiness of the egoist who withdraws into his ivory tower, into his
shell is not difficult to attain in this world. But the happiness of the egoist is not lasting.
For this false semblance of heaven, are you going to forsake the happiness which will have no end?
Chapter 4 Holy purity
139 At the time of temptation think of the Love that awaits you in heaven: foster the virtue of hope
this is not a lack of generosity.
Chapter 12 Supernatural life
297 All that, which worries you for the moment, is of relative importance. What is of absolute
importance is that you be happy, that you be saved.
Chapter 18 Love of God
428 If Love, even human love, gives so much consolation here, what will Love not be in heaven?
Chapter 21 Our Lady
512 Mother, Oh Mother! With that word of yours fiat,' be it done' you have made us brothers
of God and heirs to his Glory.
Blessed art thou!
Chapter 32 Other virtues
669 It is good that you serve God as a son, without payment, generously. But don't worry if at
times you think of the reward

Chapter 33 Troubles
692 You suffer in this present life, which is a dream, a short dream. Rejoice, because your
Father-God loves you so much, and if you put no obstacles in his way, after this bad dream he will
give you a good awakening.
Chapter 34 Interior struggle
720 It's hard! Yes, I know. But, forward! No one will be rewarded and what a reward!
except those who fight bravely

Chapter 35 Last things

737 Have you never heard the worldly-minded sadly complain that 'each day that passes is a
step nearer death'?
It is. And I tell you: rejoice, apostolic soul, for each day that pass brings you closer to Life.
738 For 'others', death is a stumbling block, a source of terror. For us, death Life is an
encouragement and a stimulus.

4
For them it is the end: for us, the beginning
748 Courage. Don't you know that Saint Paul tells the Corinthians that each will duly be paid
according to his share in the work?
751 Heaven: 'the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man
to conceive the things that God has prepared for those who love him.'
Don't these revelations of the Apostle spur you on to fight?
752 Always. Forever! Words brought to our lips by our human desire to prolong to make
eternal what is pleasant.
Lying words, on earth, where everything must end.
753 All that this earth can offer us is continually passing away: hardly has pleasure begun than it
is already ended

Chapter 36 The will of God

754 This is the key to open the door and enter the Kingdom of Heaven: qui facit voluntatem
Patris mei qui in coelis est, ipse intrabit in regnum coelorum he who does the will of my Father...
he shall enter

Chapter 39 Little things

819 Because you have been In pauca fidelis, faithful in small things, come and join in your
master's happiness. The words are Christ's. In pauca fidelis!... Now will you neglect little things, if
heaven itself is promised to those who mind them?

5
The Furrow
Chapter 3 Cheerfulness
52 Nobody is happy on earth until he decides not to be. This is the way the path goes: suffering
in Christian terms! the Cross; Gods Will, Love; happiness here and, afterwards, eternally

Chapter 8 Humility
282 The path of humility takes you everywhere... but above all to Heaven

Chapter 27 Peace
863 Fight against your harshness of character, against your selfishness, your spirit of comfort
and your dislikes... We have to be co-redeemers; and, besides, consider carefully that the prize you
receive will bear a very direct relation to the sowing you may have done.
Chapter 28 Beyond Death
882 Time is our treasure, the money with which to buy eternity

891 If at any time you feel uneasy at the thought of our sister death because you see yourself to
be such a poor creature, take heart. Heaven awaits us and consider: what will it be like when all the
infinite beauty and greatness, and happiness and Love of God will be poured into the poor clay
vessel that the human being is, to satisfy it eternally with the freshness of an ever new joy?
892 When encountering the bitter injustice of this life, how the honest soul rejoices remembering
the eternal Justice of its eternal God!
With the knowledge of its own wretchedness, it utters with a fruitful desire that Pauline
exclamation: Non vivo ego its not me living now! Its Christ who lives in me! And He will live for
ever.

Friends of God
Chapter 2 Freedom, a gift from God
26 We will never fully understand Jesus' freedom. It is immense, infinite, as is his love. But the
priceless treasure of his generous holocaust should move us to ask, 'Why, my Lord, have you
granted me this privilege which I can use to follow in your footsteps, but also to offend you?' Thus we
come to appreciate that freedom is used properly when it is directed towards the good; and that it is
misused when men are forgetful and turn away from the Love of loves. Personal freedom, which I
defend and will always defend with all my strength, leads me to ask with deep conviction, though I
am well aware of my own weakness: 'What do you want from me, Lord, so that I may freely do it?'
Christ himself gives us the answer: veritas liberabit vos, the truth will set you free. How great a truth
is this, which opens the way to freedom and gives it meaning throughout our lives. I will sum it up for
you, with the joy and certainty which flow from knowing there is a close relationship between God
and his creatures. It is the knowledge that we have come from the hands of God, that the Blessed
Trinity looks upon us with predilection, that we are children of so wonderful a Father. I ask my Lord
to help us decide to take this truth to heart, to dwell upon it day by day; only then will we be acting as
free men. Do not forget: anyone who does not realise that he is a child of God is unaware of the

6
deepest truth about himself. When he acts he lacks the dominion and self-mastery we find in those
who love Our Lord above all else.
Convince yourselves that to get to heaven we must commit ourselves freely, with a whole-hearted,
constant and voluntary determination. By itself, however, freedom is insufficient: it needs a guide, a
pole-star. 'The soul cannot proceed without someone to guide it; this is why it has been redeemed in
order that it may have as its King, Christ, whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light (Matt 11:30),
and not the devil, whose rule is oppressive.'
Reject the deception of those who appease themselves with the pathetic cry of 'Freedom! Freedom!'
Their cry often masks a tragic enslavement, because choices that prefer error do not liberate. Christ
alone sets us free, for He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
33 Our Holy Mother the Church has always spoken out in favour of freedom and has always
rejected fatalism, both in its ancient and more modern versions. She has pointed out that each soul
is master of its own destiny, for good or ill: 'and those who have been true to the good will go to
eternal life; those who have committed evil, to eternal fire'. I have always been impressed by this
awesome capacity which you and I have, which all of us have, a capacity which indeed reveals the
nobility of our state. 'So true is it that sin is a voluntary evil, that in no way would it be sin if it did not
have its origin in the will. This affirmation is so evident that the few wise men and the many fools
who inhabit the earth are agreed upon it.'
Once again I raise my heart in thanksgiving to my God and Lord, because there was nothing to stop
him from creating us impeccable, irresistibly drawn towards the good. Nevertheless, 'he judged that
his servants would be better if they served him freely'. How great is the love, the mercy of our
Father! Whenever I think of his divine extravagance for us his children, I wish I had a thousand
tongues, a thousand hearts and more, with which to be constantly praising God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Just think: the Almighty, who through his Providence rules the whole
universe, does not want the forced service of slaves; he prefers to have children who are free.
Although we are born proni ad peccatum, inclined to sin, due to the fall of our first parents, he has
placed in the soul of each and every one of us a spark of his infinite intelligence, an attraction
towards the good, a yearning for everlasting peace. And he brings us to understand that we will
attain truth, happiness and freedom if we strive to make this seed of eternal life grow in our hearts
Chapter 3 Time is a Treasure
39 As I talk to you, and we make conversation together with God, Our Lord, I am simply voicing
aloud my personal prayer. I like to remind myself of this very often. You for your part must also make
an effort to nourish your own prayer within your souls, even in situations, such as the one we are in
today, when we find ourselves having to deal with a topic which, at first sight, does not seem very
conducive to a loving dialogue, which is what our conversation with God should aim to be. I say 'at
first sight', because, of course, everything that happens to us, everything that goes on around us,
can and indeed should form a theme for our meditation.
I want to talk to you about time, that passes so swiftly. I am not going to repeat to you the well-
known phrase about one year more being one year less... Nor am I going to suggest that you ask
around what others think of the passage of time. If you were to do so, you would probably hear
something like, 'Oh divine treasure of youth that slips away, never more to return...', though I admit
you may come across other views with a deeper and more supernatural content.

7
Nor is it my purpose to dwell nostalgically on the brevity of human life. For us Christians the
fleetingness of our journey through life should instead be a spur to help us make better use of our
time. It should never be a motive for fearing Our Lord, and much less for looking upon death as a
disastrous and final end. It had been said in countless ways, some more poetical than others that, by
the grace and mercy of God, each year that ends is a step that takes us nearer to Heaven, our final
home.
When I reflect on this, how well I understand St Paul's exclamation when he writes to the
Corinthians, tempus breve est. How short indeed is the time of our passing through this world! For
the true Christian these words ring deep down in his heart as a reproach to his lack of generosity,
and as a constant invitation to be loyal. Brief indeed is our time for loving, for giving, for making
atonement. It would be very wrong, therefore, for us to waste it, or to cast this treasure irresponsibly
overboard. We mustn't squander this period of the world's history which God has entrusted to each
one of us.
Chapter 4 Working for God
71 To achieve this goal, we must act like souls urged on by Love and never as people under
punishment or a curse. 'Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.' Thus we shall complete our tasks perfectly, using our
time to the full, for we shall be instruments who are in love with God. We shall be conscious of all the
responsibility and trust that God has placed on our shoulders in spite of our own weaknesses. In
every one of your actions, because you are relying on God's strength, you must behave as one
motivated solely by Love.
But let's not close our eyes to reality and content ourselves with a naive and superficial outlook that
could lead us to think that the road ahead is an easy one, and that to follow it we only need to make
a few sincere resolutions and have an ardent desire to serve God. Make no mistake about it. As the
years go by, you will have to face (perhaps sooner than you think) situations that are especially
difficult and which will call for a great spirit of sacrifice and an even greater forgetfulness of self.
Foster then the virtue of hope and boldly make your own that cry of the Apostle: 'For I reckon that
the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be
revealed in us.' Reflect in peace and security on what it will be like to have the infinite Love of God
poured out on this poor creature that we are. The time has come, amid your ordinary occupations, to
exercise your faith, awaken your hope and revive your love; that is, to activate the three theological
virtues, which help us to banish immediately (without dissimulation, deceit or evasion) any
ambiguities in our professional conduct or in our interior life.
Chapter 8 In the Footsteps of Christ
130 As I speak of these things, there comes to mind the dream of that author of the golden age of
Spanish literature I am sure some of you have heard me mention it in other meditations. The
writer sees two roads opening up before him. One of them is broad and smooth, easy to travel, with
many comfortable inns, taverns and other places of beauty and delight. Along this road go great
crowds of people on horseback or in carriages, in a hubbub of music and mindless laughter. One
sees a multitude intoxicated by a joy which is simply ephemeral and superficial, for this road leads to
a bottomless precipice. It is the road taken by the worldly-minded, ever seeking material pleasure,
boasting a happiness that they do not really possess, and craving insatiably for comfort and
pleasure... They are terrified at the thought of suffering, self-denial or sacrifice. They have no wish to
know anything about the Cross of Christ. They think it is sheer madness. But then it is they who are

8
insane, for they are slaves of envy, gluttony and sensuality. They end up suffering far more, and only
too late do they realise that they have squandered both their earthly and their eternal happiness in
exchange for meaningless trifles. Our Lord has warned us about this. 'The man who tries to save his
life shall lose it; it is the man who loses his life for my sake who will secure it. How is a man the
better for it if he gains the whole world at the cost of losing his own soul?'
In that dream there is another path which goes in a different direction. It is so steep and narrow that
the travellers who take it cannot go on horseback. All who take it must go on foot, perhaps having to
zigzag from side to side, but they move steadily on, treading on thorns and briars, picking their way
round rocks and boulders. At times their clothing gets torn, and even their flesh. But at the end of
this road a garden of paradise awaits them, eternal happiness, Heaven. This is the way taken by
holy people, who humble themselves and who, out of love for Jesus, gladly sacrifice themselves for
others. It is the path of those who are not afraid of an uphill climb, who bear the cross lovingly, no
matter how heavy it may be, because they know that if they fall under its weight they can still get up
and continue their ascent. Christ is the strength of these travellers
131 What does it matter that we stumble on the way, if we find in the pain of our fall the energy to
pick ourselves up and go on with renewed vigour? Don't forget that the saint is not the person who
never falls, but rather the one who never fails to get up again, humbly and with a holy stubbornness.
If the book of Proverbs says that the just man falls seven times a day, who are we poor creatures,
you and I, to be surprised or discouraged by our own weaknesses and falls! We will be able to keep
going ahead, if only we seek our fortitude in him who says: 'Come to me all you who labour and are
burdened and I will give you rest.' Thank you, Lord, quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea, because you,
and you alone, my God, have always been my strength, my refuge and my support.
If you really want to make progress in the interior life, be humble. Turn constantly and confidently to
the help of Our Lord and of his Blessed Mother, who is your Mother too. No matter how much the
still open wound of your latest fall may hurt, embrace the cross once more and, calmly, without
getting upset, say: 'With your help, Lord, I'll fight so as not to be held back. I'll respond faithfully to
your invitations. I won't be afraid of steep climbs, nor of the apparent monotony of my daily work, nor
of the thistles and loose stones on the way. I know that I am aided by your mercy and that, at the
end of the road, I will find eternal happiness, full of joy and love for ever and ever.'
Later, in the same dream, our writer discovers a third path. It too is narrow and, like the second, it is
both steep and rugged. Those who travel it walk solemnly and regally in the midst of countless
hardships. Yet they end up falling over the same terrible precipice that the first road leads to. This is
the path of the hypocrites, people who lack a right intention, who are motivated by a false zeal and
pervert divine works by mixing them with their own selfish and temporal ambitions. 'It is folly to
undertake a hard and difficult task just to be admired; to put great effort into keeping God's
commandments with but an earthly reward in mind. Whoever practises virtue for the sake of some
human benefit is like a person who sells off a priceless heirloom for just a few coins. He could have
won Heaven, but he is content instead with fleeting praise... That is why they say that the hopes of
hypocrites are like a spider's web: so much effort goes into weaving it, and in the end it is blown
away by a puff of the wind of death.'
Chapter 11 For They Shall See God
187 I like to say that there are three things that fill us with gladness in this life and which will bring
us the eternal happiness of Heaven: a firm, refined, joyful and unquestioning fidelity to the faith, to
the vocation that each of us has received, and to purity. The person who gets entangled in the

9
brambles along the way (sensuality, pride, etc.) does so because he wants to and, if he doesn't
change, he will be miserable all his life because he will have turned his back on Christ's Love.
As I have already said, we all have our defects. But our defects should never be a reason for us to
turn away from God's Love. Rather should they lead us to cling to that Love, sheltering within his
divine goodness, as the warriors of old did by climbing into their suits of armour. Our defence is the
cry ecce ego, quia vocasti me, here I am, because you have called me. Just because we discover
how fragile we are is no reason to run away from God. What we must do is to attack our defects,
precisely because we know that God trusts us.
Chapter 13 The Christian's Hope
206 Here in the presence of God who is presiding over us right now from the Tabernacle (how
reassuring it is to have Jesus so very close to us!) we are going to meditate today on the virtue of
hope, that gentle gift from God which makes our hearts overflow with gladness, spe gaudentes,
joyful, for if we are faithful an everlasting Love awaits us.
Let us never forget that for all men, and therefore for each and every one of us, there are only two
ways of living on this earth: either we lead a divine life, striving to please God; or we set him aside
and live an animal-like existence, guided to a greater or lesser degree by human enlightenment. I
have never given too much credit to the 'do-gooders' who pride themselves on their unbelief. I love
them truly, as I do all mankind who are my brothers. I admire their good will which in certain aspects
may even be heroic. But I also feel sorry for them because they have the immense misfortune of
lacking the light and the warmth of God, and the indescribable joy which comes from the theological
virtue of hope.
The true Christian, who acts according to his faith, always has his sights set on God. His outlook is
supernatural. He works in this world of ours, which he loves passionately; he is involved in all its
challenges, but all the while his eyes are fixed on Heaven. St Paul brings this out very clearly: quae
sursum sunt quaerite; 'seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of
God. Savour the things of Heaven, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead', to
worldliness, through Baptism, 'and your life is hidden with Christ in God.'
208 But along with these timid and frivolous types, we also find here on earth many upright
individuals pursuing noble ideals, even though their motives are often not supernatural, but merely
philanthropic. These people face up to all kinds of hardship. They generously spend themselves
serving others, helping them overcome suffering and difficulties. I am always moved to respect and
even to admiration by the tenacity of those who work wholeheartedly for noble ideals. Nevertheless,
I consider I have a duty to remind you that everything we undertake in this life, if we see it
exclusively as our own work, bears from the outset the stamp of perishability. Remember the words
of Scripture: 'I considered all that my hands had done and the effort I had spent doing it, and I saw
that all was vanity and a striving after wind, with nothing gained under the sun.'
This precariousness does not stifle hope. On the contrary, once we recognise the insignificant and
contingent nature of our earthly endeavours, the way is then open for true hope, a hope which
upgrades all human work and turns it into a meeting point with God. An inexhaustible light then
bathes everything we do and chases away the dark shadows of disappointment. But if we transform
our temporal projects into ends in themselves and blot out from our horizon our eternal dwelling
place and the end for which we have been created, which is to love and praise the Lord and then to
possess him for ever in Heaven, then our most brilliant endeavours turn traitor, and can even

10
become a means of degrading our fellow creatures. Remember that sincere and well-known
exclamation of St Augustine, who had such bitter experience when God was unknown to him and he
was seeking happiness outside God: 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are
restless till they rest in you!' Perhaps there is no greater tragedy for man than the sense of
disillusionment he suffers when he has corrupted or falsified his hope, by placing it in something
other than the one Love which satisfies without ever satiating.
In my case, and I wish the same to happen to you, the certainty I derive from feeling from
knowing that I am a son of God fills me with real hope which, being a supernatural virtue, adapts
to our nature when it is infused in us, and so is also a very human virtue. I am happy because I am
certain we will attain Heaven if we remain faithful to the end; I rejoice in the thought of the bliss that
will be ours, quoniam bonus, because my God is good and his mercy infinite. This conviction spurs
me on to grasp that only those things that bear the imprint of God can display the indelible sign of
eternity and have lasting value. Therefore, far from separating me from the things of this earth, hope
draws me closer to these realities in a new way, a Christian way, which seeks to discover in
everything the relation between our fallen nature and God, our Creator and Redeemer.
209 Perhaps some of you are wondering, 'What should a Christian hope for?' After all, the world
has many good things to offer that attract our hearts, which crave happiness and anxiously run in
search of love. Besides we want to sow peace and joy at every turn. We are not content to achieve
prosperity just for ourselves. We want to make everyone around us happy as well.
Some people, alas, whose aims are worthy but limited and their ideals only perishable and fleeting,
forget that Christians have to aspire to the highest peaks of all, to the infinite. Our aim is the very
Love of God, to enjoy that Love fully, with a joy that never ends. We have seen in so many ways that
things here below have to come to an end for all of us, when this world ends; and even sooner, for
each individual, when he dies, for we cannot take wealth and prestige with us to the grave. That is
why, buoyed up by hope, we raise our hearts to God himself and have learned to pray, in te Domine
speravi, non confundar in aeternum, I have placed my hope in you, O Lord: may your hand guide me
now and at every moment, for ever and ever.
211 Wherever we may be, Our Lord urges us to be vigilant. His plea should lead us to hope more
strongly in our desires for holiness and to translate them into deeds. 'Give me your heart, my son,'
he seems to whisper in our ear. Stop building castles in the air. Make up your mind to open your soul
to God, for only in Our Lord will you find a real basis for your hope and for doing good to others. If
we don't fight against ourselves; if we don't rebuff once and for all the enemies lodged within our
interior fortress pride, envy, the concupiscence of the flesh and of the eyes, self-sufficiency, and
the wild craving for licentiousness; if we abandon this inner struggle, our noblest ideals will wither
'like the bloom on the grass; and when the scorching sun comes up the grass withers, and the bloom
falls, and all its fair show dies away'. Then, all you need is a tiny crevice and discouragement and
gloom will creep in, like encroaching poisonous weeds.
Jesus is not satisfied with a wavering assent. He expects, and has a right to expect, that we advance
resolutely, unyielding in the face of difficulties. He demands that we take firm, specific steps;
because, as a rule, general resolutions are just fallacious illusions, created to silence the divine call
which sounds within our hearts. They produce a futile flame that neither burns nor gives warmth, but
dies out as suddenly as it began.
You will convince me that you sincerely want to achieve your goals when I see you go forward
unwaveringly. Do good and keep reviewing your basic attitudes to the jobs that occupy you each

11
moment. Practise the virtue of justice, right where you are, in your normal surroundings, even though
you may end up exhausted. Foster happiness among those around you by cheerfully serving the
people you work with and by striving to carry out your job as perfectly as you can, showing
understanding, smiling, having a Christian approach to life. And do everything for God, thinking of
his glory, with your sights set high and longing for the definitive homeland, because there is no other
goal worthwhile.
213 Sometimes, when things turn out the very opposite of what we intended, we cry out
spontaneously: 'Lord, it's all going wrong, every single thing I'm doing!' The time has come for us to
rectify our approach and say: 'With you, Lord, I will make steady headway, because you are strength
itself, quia tu es Deus fortitudo mea.'
I have asked you to keep on lifting your eyes up to Heaven as you go about your work, because
hope encourages us to grasp hold of the strong hand which God never ceases to reach out to us, to
keep us from losing our supernatural point of view. Let us persevere even when our passions rear
up and attack us, attempting to imprison us within the narrow confines of our selfishness; or when
puerile vanity makes us think we are the centre of the universe. I am convinced that unless I look
upward, unless I have Jesus, I will never accomplish anything. And I know that the strength to
conquer myself and to win comes from repeating that cry, 'I can do all things in him who strengthens
me,' words which reflect God's firm promise not to abandon his children if they do not abandon him.
216 Make it a habit to mingle with the characters who appear in the New Testament. Capture the
flavour of those moving scenes where the Master performs works that are both divine and human,
and tells us, with human and divine touches, the wonderful story of his pardon for us and his
enduring Love for his children. Those foretastes of Heaven are renewed today, for the Gospel is
always true: we can feel, we can sense, we can even say we touch God's protection with our own
hands; a protection that grows stronger as long as we keep advancing despite our stumbles, as long
as we begin again and again, for this is what interior life is about, living with our hope placed in God.
Unless we aspire to overcome the obstacles both within and without, we will not obtain the reward.
'"No athlete wins a crown, if he has not fought in earnest;" and the fight would not be genuine if there
were no opponent to fight with. Therefore, if there is no opponent, there will be no crown; for there
can be no victor without someone vanquished.'
Far from discouraging us, the difficulties we meet have to spur us on to mature as Christians. This
fight sanctifies us and gives effectiveness to our apostolic endeavours. As we contemplate those
moments when Jesus, in the Garden of Olives and later mocked and abandoned on the Cross,
accepts and loves the Will of his Father, all the while feeling the enormous weight of the Passion, we
must be convinced that in order to imitate Christ, and be good disciples of his, we must take his
advice to heart, 'If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his
cross, and follow me.' That is why I like to ask Jesus, for myself, 'Lord, no day without a cross!' Then,
through God's grace, our characters will grow strong and we will become a point of support for our
God, over and above our own wretchedness.
Take a nail, for instance. If you meet no resistance when you hammer it into a wall, what can you
expect to hang on it? Likewise, if we do not let God toughen us through sacrifice, we will never
become Our Lord's instruments. On the other hand, if we decide to accept difficulties gladly and
make use of them for the love of God, then in the face of what is difficult and unpleasant, when
things are hard and uncomfortable, we will be able to exclaim with the apostles James and John,
'Yes, we can!'

12
219 The struggle of a child of God cannot go hand in hand with a spirit of sad-faced renunciation,
sombre resignation or a lack of joy. It is, on the contrary, the struggle of the man in love who,
whether working or resting, rejoicing or suffering, is always thinking of the one he loves, for whose
sake he is happy to tackle any problems that may arise. Besides, in our case, being united with God,
we can call ourselves victors because, I insist, he does not lose battles. My own experience is that
when I strive faithfully to meet his demands, 'he gives me a resting place where there is green
pasture, leads me out to the cool water's brink, refreshed and content. As in honour pledged, by sure
paths he leads me; dark be the valley about my path, hurt I fear none while he is with me; thy rod,
thy crook are my comfort.'
To win the battles of the soul, the best strategy often is to bide one's time and apply the suitable
remedy with patience and perseverance. Make more acts of hope. Let me remind you that in your
interior life you will suffer defeats and you will have ups and downs may God make them
imperceptible because no one is free of these misfortunes. But our all powerful and merciful Lord
has granted us the precise means with which to conquer. As I have already mentioned, all we have
to do is to use them, resolving to begin again and again at every moment, should it prove necessary.
I would like to see you going to the holy Sacrament of Penance, the sacrament of divine forgiveness,
every week, and indeed whenever you need it, without giving in to scruples. Clothed in grace, we
can cross mountains, and climb the hill of our Christian duty, without halting on the way. If we use
these resources with a firm purpose and beg Our Lord to grant us an ever increasing hope, we will
possess the infectious joy of those who know they are children of God: 'If God is with us, who can be
against us?' Let us be optimists. Moved by the power of hope, we will fight to wipe away the trail of
filth and slime left by the sowers of hatred. We will find a new joyful perspective to the world, seeing
that it has sprung forth beautiful and fair from the hands of God. We will give it back to him with that
same beauty, if we learn how to repent
221 How marvellous it will be when we hear Our Father tell us, 'Well done, my good and faithful
servant, because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy
of your Lord!' Let us be full of hope! This is the great thing about being a contemplative soul. We live
by Faith, Hope and Love, and Hope makes us powerful. Do you remember what St John says? 'I am
writing to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have
conquered the evil one.' God is urging us on, for the sake of the eternal youthfulness of the Church
and of all mankind. You have the power to transform everything human into something divine, just as
King Midas turned everything he touched into gold!
Do not ever forget that after death you will be welcomed by Love itself. And in the love of God you
will find as well all the noble loves which you had on earth. Our Lord has arranged for us to spend
this brief day of our earthly existence working and, like his only-begotten Son, 'doing good'.
Meanwhile we have to be on our guard, alert to the call St Ignatius of Antioch felt within his soul as
the hour of his martyrdom approached. 'Come to the Father,' come to your Father, who anxiously
awaits you.
Let us ask Holy Mary, Spes Nostra, our hope, to kindle in us a holy desire that we may all come
together to dwell in the house of the Father. Nothing need disturb us if we make up our minds to
anchor our hearts in a real longing for our true fatherland. Our Lord will lead us there with his grace,
and he will send a good wind to carry our ship to the bright shores of our destination

13
Chapter 18 Towards Holiness
316 May the Mother of God and our Mother protect us, so that each one of us may serve the
Church in the fullness of faith, with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and with our contemplative life. May
each one of us joyfully honour the Lord by carrying out his own duties, those which are properly his;
each one of us, in his job or profession and fulfilling the obligations of his state in life.
Love the Church; serve the Church with the conscious gladness of one who has committed himself
to this service for Love's sake. And if we should see anyone travelling without hope, like the two men
on the road to Emmaus, let us approach them full of faith not in our own name but in Christ's
name to reassure them that Jesus' promise cannot fail, for he is always watching over his Spouse
and he will never abandon her. The darkness will pass away, because we are children of the light
and have been called to life everlasting.
'And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, or mourning, or
cries of distress, no more sorrow; those old things have passed away. And he who sat on the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. He said to me, Write it down, for these words are most sure and
true. And he added, It is done. I am Alpha, I am Omega, the beginning of all things and their end;
those who are thirsty shall drink it is my free gift out of the spring whose water is life. He who wins
the victory shall possess all this; I will be his God, and he shall be my son.'

14
Christ is Passing By
Chapter 8 Interior struggle
76 "Put up with your share of difficulties, like a good soldier of Jesus Christ," St Paul tells us. A
Christian's life is a fight, a war, a beautiful war of peace and completely different from human warfare
which results from division and often hatred. The war of the sons of God is a war against their own
selfishness. It is based on unity and love. "Though we live in the world, we are not carrying on a
worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy
strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God." The
Apostle is referring to our relentless fight against pride, against our tendency to do evil and our
exaltation of self.
On this Palm Sunday, when our Lord begins the week which is so decisive for our salvation, let us
put aside the more superficial aspects of the question and go right to the core, to what is really
important. Look: what we have to try to do is to get to heaven. If we don't, nothing is worthwhile.
Faithfulness to Christ's doctrine is absolutely essential to our getting to heaven. To be faithful it is
absolutely essential to strive doggedly against anything that blocks our way to eternal happiness.
I know that the moment we talk about fighting we recall our weakness and we foresee falls and
mistakes. God takes this into account. As we walk along it is inevitable that we will raise dust; we are
creatures and full of defects. I would almost say that we will always need defects. They are the
shadow which shows up the light of God's grace and our resolve to respond to God's kindness. And
this chiaroscuro will make us human, humble, understanding and generous.
Let's not deceive ourselves: in our life we will find vigour and victory and depression and defeat. This
has always been true of the earthly pilgrimage of Christians, even of those we venerate on the
altars. Don't you remember Peter, Augustine, Francis? I have never liked biographies of saints which
naively but also with a lack of sound doctrine present their deeds as if they had been
confirmed in grace from birth. No. The true life stories of Christian heroes resemble our own
experience: they fought and won; they fought and lost. And then, repentant, they returned to the fray.
We should not be surprised to find ourselves defeated relatively often, usually or even always in
things of little importance which we tend to take seriously. If we love God and are humble, if we
persevere relentlessly in our struggle, the defeats will never be very important. There will also be
abundant victories which bring joy to God's eyes. There is no such thing as failure if you act with a
right intention, wanting to fulfil God's will and counting always on his grace and your own
nothingness.
77 However, a powerful enemy is lying in wait for us, an enemy which counters our desire to
incarnate Christ's doctrine in our lives. This enemy is pride, which grows if we do not reach out for
the helping and merciful hand of God after each failure and defeat. In that case the soul remains in
the shadows, in an unhappy darkness, and thinks it is lost. Its imagination creates all sorts of
obstacles which have no basis in fact, which would disappear if it just looked at them with a little
humility. Prompted by pride and a wild imagination, the soul sometimes creates painful calvaries for
itself. But Christ is not on these calvaries, for joy and peace always accompany our Lord even when
the soul is nervous and surrounded by darkness.

15
There is another hypocritical enemy of our sanctification: the idea that this interior struggle has to be
against extraordinary obstacles, against fire-belching dragons. This is another sign of pride. We are
ready to fight, but we want to do it noisily, with the clamour of trumpets and the waving of standards.
We must convince ourselves that the worst enemy of a rock is not a pickaxe or any other such
implement, no matter how sharp it is. No, its worst enemy is the constant flow of water which drop by
drop enters the crevices until it ruins the rock's structure. The greatest danger for a Christian is to
underestimate the importance of fighting skirmishes. The refusal to fight the little battles can, little by
little, leave him soft, weak and indifferent, insensitive to the accents of God's voice.
Let's listen to our Lord: "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is
dishonest in very little is dishonest also in much." It is as if he were saying to us: "Fight continuously
in the apparently unimportant things which are to my mind important; fulfil your duty punctually; smile
at whoever needs cheering up, even though there is sorrow in your soul; devote the necessary time
to prayer, without haggling; go to the help of anyone who looks for you; practice justice and go
beyond it with the grace of charity.
These and many others are the inspirations we feel inside us every day, little silent reminders
encouraging us to outdo ourselves in the supernatural sport of overcoming our self. May the light of
God show us the way to understand his directions. May he help us to fight and be with us in victory.
May he not leave us when we fall but always help us to get up and return to the struggle.
We cannot take it easy. Our Lord wants us to fight more, on a broader front, more intensely each
day. We have an obligation to outdo ourselves, for in this competition the only goal is to arrive at the
glory of heaven. And if we did not reach heaven, the whole thing would have been useless.
Chapter 12 The Ascension of Our Lord
126 The feast of our Lord's ascension also reminds us of another fact. The same Christ, who
encourages us to carry out our task in the world, awaits us in heaven as well. In other words, our life
on earth, which we love, is not definitive. "We do not have a permanent dwelling-place here, but we
seek that which is to come," a changeless home, where we may live forever.
Still, we must be careful not to interpret the Word of God within limits that are too narrow. Our Lord
does not expect us to be unhappy in our life on earth and await a reward only in the next life. God
wants us to be happy on earth too, but with a desire for the other, total happiness that only he can
give.
In this life, the contemplation of supernatural reality, the action of grace in our souls, our love for our
neighbour as a result of our love for God all these are already a foretaste of heaven, a beginning
that is destined to grow from day to day. We Christians cannot resign ourselves to leading a double
life: our life must be a strong and simple unity into which all our actions converge.
Christ awaits us. We are "citizens of heaven," and at the same time fully-fledged citizens of this
earth, in the midst of difficulties, injustices and lack of understanding, but also in the midst of the joy
and serenity that comes from knowing that we are children of God. Let us persevere in the service of
our God, and we will see the growth in numbers and in sanctity of this christian army of peace, of
this co-redeeming people. Let us be contemplative souls, carrying on an unceasing dialogue with our
Lord at all hours from the first thought of the day to the last, turning our heart constantly toward
our Lord Jesus Christ, going to him through our Mother, Holy Mary, and through him to the Father
and the Holy Spirit.

16
If, in spite of everything, Jesus' ascension into heaven leaves a certain taste of sadness in our souls,
let us go to his Mother, as the Apostles did. "They returned to Jerusalem... and they prayed with one
mind... together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus."
Chapter 15 On the feast of Corpus Chirsti
151 When thinking about all this, I should like us to take stock of our mission as Christians. Let's
turn our eyes to the holy Eucharist, toward Jesus. He is here with us, he has made us a part of
himself: "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." God has decided to stay in
the tabernacle to nourish us, strengthen us, make us divine and give effectiveness to our work and
efforts. Jesus is at one and the same time the sower, the seed and the final result of the sowing: the
bread of eternal life.
The miracle of the holy Eucharist is being continually renewed and it has all Jesus' personal traits.
Perfect God and perfect man, Lord of heaven and earth, he offers himself to us as nourishment in
the most natural and ordinary way. Love has been awaiting us for almost two thousand years. That's
a long time and yet it's not, for when you are in love time flies.
I remember a lovely poem, one of the songs collected by Alfonso X the Wise. It's a legend about a
simple monk who begged our Lady to let him see heaven, even if only for a moment. Our Lady
granted him his wish and the good monk found himself in paradise. When he returned, he could not
recognize the monastery his prayer, which he had thought very short, lasted three centuries.
Three centuries are nothing to a person in love. That's how I explain Christ waiting in the Eucharist It
is God waiting for us, God who loves man, who searches us out, who loves us just as we are
limited, selfish, inconstant, but capable of discovering his infinite affection and of giving ourselves
fully to him.
Motivated by his own love and by his desire to teach us to love, Jesus came on earth and has
stayed with us in the Eucharist. "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the
end": that's how St John begins his account of what happened on the eve of the passover when
Jesus "took bread and after he had given thanks, broke it, and said, This is my body which is given
up for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying: This
is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
152 It is the simple and solemn moment of the establishment of the new alliance. Jesus dissolves
the old economy of the law and reveals to us that he himself will be the content of our prayer and
life. Just look at the joy which invades today's liturgy: "Let the anthem be clear and strong and full of
joy." It is a great christian celebration which sings about a new era: "The old pasch is by the new
replaced; the substance hath the shadow chased and rising day dispels the night."
This is a miracle of love. "This is truly the bread for God's children." Jesus, the first son of the eternal
Father, offers us himself as food. And the same Jesus is waiting to receive us in heaven as "his
guests, his co-heirs and his fellows," for "those who are nourished by Christ will die the earthly death
of time, but they will live eternally because Christ is life everlasting."
Eternal happiness begins now for the Christian who is comforted with the definitive manna of the
Eucharist. The old life has gone forever. Let us leave everything behind us so that everything will be
new, "our hearts, our words and our actions."

17
This is the Good News. News, because it speaks to us of a deep love which we never could have
dreamed of. Good, because there is nothing better than uniting ourselves to God, the greatest Good
of all. It is Good News, because in an inexplicable way it gives us a foretaste of heaven.
153 Jesus hides in the blessed Sacrament of the altar because he wants us to dare to approach
him. He wants to nourish us so we become one single thing with him. When he said, "Apart from me
you can do nothing," he was not condemning Christians to ineffectiveness or obliging them to seek
him by a difficult and arduous route. On the contrary. He has stayed here with us, he is totally
available to us.
When we meet together around the altar to celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass, when we
contemplate the sacred host in the monstrance or adore it hidden in the tabernacle, our faith should
be strengthened; we should reflect on this new life which we are receiving and be moved by God's
affection and tenderness.
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and
the prayers." That is how the Scriptures describe the life of the early Christians. They were brought
together by the faith of the Apostles in perfect unity, to share in the Eucharist and to pray with one
mind. Faith, bread, word.
In the Eucharist Jesus gives us a sure pledge of his presence in our souls; of his power, which
supports the whole world; of his promises of salvation, which will help the human family to dwell
forever in the house in heaven when time comes to an end. There we shall find God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit: the Blessed Trinity, the one and only God. Our whole faith is brought
into play when we believe in Jesus, really present under the appearances of bread and wine.
161 We must finish these minutes of prayer. Savouring in the intimacy of your soul the infinite
goodness of God, realize that Christ is going to make himself really present in the host, with his
body, his blood, his soul and his divinity. Adore him reverently, devoutly; renew in his presence the
sincere offerings of your love. Don't be afraid to tell him that you love him. Thank him for giving you
this daily proof of his tender mercy, and encourage yourself to go to communion in a spirit of trust. I
am awed by this mystery of Love. Here is the Lord seeking to use my heart as a throne, committed
never to leave me, provided I don't run away.
Comforted by Christ's presence and nourished by his body, we will be faithful during our life on earth
and then we will be victors with Jesus and his Mother in heaven. "O death, where is your victory? O
death, where is your sting?... Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ."

Catholic Catechism
II. HEAVEN
1023 Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with
Christ. They are like God for ever, for they "see him as he is," face to face:598
By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of
God, the souls of all the saints and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's holy Baptism
(provided they were not in need of purification when they died, or, if they then did need or will need
some purification, when they have been purified after death,) already before they take up their
bodies again and before the general judgment - and this since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ into heaven - have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly Kingdom and

18
celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death
of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive
vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.599
1024 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 fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.
1025 To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." The elect live "in Christ,"600 but they retain, or rather
find, their true identity, their own name.601
For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.602
1026 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.
1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all
understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast,
wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: "no eye has seen, nor
ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."603
1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his
mystery to man's immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this
contemplation of God in his heavenly glory "the beatific vision":
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing
the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, to delight in the joy of immortality
in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God's friends.604
1029 In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God's will in relation to other men
and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him "they shall reign forever and ever."605

19
Catholic Encyclopedia
The name of Heaven
Heaven (Anglo-Saxon heofon, O.S. hevan and himil, originally himin) corresponds to the Gothic
himin-s. Both heaven and himil are formed from himin by a regular change of consonants: heaven,
by changing m before n into v; and himil, by changing n of the unaccented ending into l. Some derive
heaven from the root ham, "to cover" (cf. the Gothic ham-n and the German Hem-d). According to
this derivation heaven would be conceived as the roof of the world. Others trace a connection
between himin (heaven) and home; according to this view, which seems to be the more probable,
heaven would be the abode of the Godhead. The Latin coelum (koilon, a vault) is derived by many
from the root of celare "to cover, to conceal" (coelum, "ceiling" "roof of the world"). Others, however
think it is connected with the Germanic himin. The Greek ouranos is probably derived from the root
var, which also connotes the idea of covering. The Hebrew name for heaven is thought to be derived
from a word meaning "on high"; accordingly, heaven would designate the upper region of the world.
In the Holy Bible the term heaven denotes, in the first place, the blue firmament, or the region of the
clouds that pass along the sky. Genesis 1:20, speaks of the birds "under the firmament of heaven".
In other passages it denotes the region of the stars that shine in the sky. Furthermore heaven is
spoken of as the dwelling of God; for, although God is omnipresent, He manifests Himself in a
special manner in the light and grandeur of the firmament. Heaven also is the abode of the angels;
for they are constantly with God and see His face. With God in heaven are likewise the souls of the
just (2 Corinthians 5:1; Matthew 5:3, 12). In Ephesians 4:8 sq., we are told that Christ conducted to
heaven the patriarchs who had been in limbo (limbus patrum). Thus the term heaven has come to
designate both the happiness and the abode of just in the next life. The present article treats as
heaven in this sense only.
In Holy Scripture it is called:
the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3),
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
the kingdom of God (Mark 9:46),
And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee with one eye to enter into the
kingdom of God, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire:
the kingdom of the Father (Matthew 13:43),
Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear,
l et him hear.
the kingdom of Christ (Luke 22:30),
That you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel.
the house of the Father (John 14:1 to 5),
Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. [2] In my Father's
house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a

20
 place for you. [3] And if I shall go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will
take you to myself; that where I am, you also may be. [4] And whither I go you know, and the
way you know. [5] Thomas saith to him: Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can
we know the way?
city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12.22),
But you are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to the company of many thousands of angels,
the holy place (Hebrews 9:12),
Neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the
holies, having obtained eternal redemption
paradise (2 Corinthians 12:4),
That he was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words, which it is not granted to man
to utter.
life (Matthew 7:14),
How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it
life everlasting (Matthew 19:16),
And behold one came and said to him: Good master, what good shall I do that I may have
life everlasting?
the joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:21),
His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
crown of life (James 1:12),
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive
a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.
crown of justice (2 Timothy 4:8),
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive
a crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.
crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4),
And when the prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never fading crown of glory.
incorruptible crown (1 Corinthians 9:25),
And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they
indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one
great reward (Matthew 5:12),
Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the
prophets that were before you
inheritance of Christ (Ephesians 1:18),

21
 The eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what the hope is of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints
eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15).
And therefore he is the mediator of the new testament: that by means of his death, for the
redemption of those transgressions, which were under the former testament, they that are
called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
The location of Heaven
Where is heaven, the dwelling of God and the blessed?
Some are of opinion that heaven is everywhere, as God is everywhere. According to this view the
blessed can move about freely in every part of the universe, and still remain with God and see
everywhere. Everywhere, too, they remain with Christ (in His sacred Humanity) and with the saints
and the angels. For, according to the advocates of this opinion, the spatial distances of this world
must no longer impede the mutual intercourse of blessed.
In general, however, theologians deem more appropriate that there should be a special and glorious
abode, in which the blessed have their peculiar home and where they usually abide, even though
they be free to go about in this world. For the surroundings in the midst of which the blessed have
their dwelling must be in accordance with their happy state; and the internal union of charity which
joins them in affection must find its outward expression in community of habitation. At the end of the
world, the earth together with the celestial bodies will be gloriously transformed into a part of the
dwelling-place of the blessed (Revelation 21). Hence there seems to be no sufficient reason for
attributing a metaphorical sense to those numerous utterances of the Bible which suggest a definite
dwelling-place of the blessed. Theologians, therefore, generally hold that the heaven of the blessed
is a special place with definite limits. Naturally, this place is held to exist, not within the earth, but, in
accordance with the expressions of Scripture, without and beyond its limits. All further details
regarding its locality are quite uncertain. The Church has decided nothing on this subject.
Existence of heaven
There is a heaven, i.e., God will bestow happiness and the richest gifts on all those who depart this
life free from original sin and personal mortal sin, and who are, consequently, in the state of justice
and friendship with God. Concerning the purification of those just souls who depart in venial sin or
who are still subject to temporal punishment for sin, see PURGATORY. On the lot of those who die
free from personal sin, but infected with original sin, see LIMBO (limbus pervulorum). On the
immediate beginning of eternal happiness after death, or eventually, after the passage through
purgatory, see PARTICULAR JUDGMENT. The existence of heaven is, of course, denied by
atheists, materialists, and pantheists of all centuries as well as by those rationalists who teach that
the soul perishes with the body in short, by all who deny the existence of God or the immortality of
the soul. But, for the rest, if we abstract from the specific quality and the supernatural character of
heaven, the doctrine has never met with any opposition worthy of note. Even mere reason can prove
the existence of heaven or of the happy state of the just in the next life.
We shall give a brief outline of the principal arguments. From these we shall, at the same time, see
that the bliss of heaven is eternal and consists primarily in the possession of God, and that heaven
presupposes a condition of perfect happiness, in which every wish of the heart finds adequate
satisfaction.

22
God made all things for His objective honour and glory. Every creature was to manifest His Divine
perfections by becoming a likeness of God, each according to its capacity. But man is capable of
becoming in the greatest and most perfect manner a likeness of God, when he knows and loves His
infinite perfections with a knowledge and love analogous to God's own love and knowledge.
Therefore man is created to know God and to love Him. Moreover, this knowledge and love is to be
eternal; for such is man's capability and his calling, because his soul is immortal. Lastly, to know
God and to love Him is the noblest occupation of the human mind, and consequently also its
supreme happiness. Therefore man is created for eternal happiness; and he will infallibly attain it
hereafter, unless, by sin, he renders himself unworthy of so high a destiny.
God made all things for His formal glory, which consists in the knowledge and love shown Him by
rational creatures. Irrational creatures cannot give formal glory to God directly, but they should assist
rational creatures in doing so. This they can do by manifesting God's perfections and by rendering
other services; whilst rational creatures should, by their own personal knowledge and love of God,
refer and direct all creatures to Him as their last end. Therefore every intelligent creature in general,
and man in particular, is destined to know and love God for ever, though he may forfeit eternal
happiness by sin.
God, in his infinite justice and holiness, must give virtue its due reward. But, as experience teaches,
the virtuous do not obtain a sufficient reward here; hence they will be recompensed hereafter, and
the reward must be everlasting, since the soul is immortal. Nor can it be supposed that the soul in
the next life must merit her continuance in happiness by a continued series of combats; for this
would be repugnant to all the tendencies and desires of human nature.
God, in His wisdom, must set on the moral law a sanction, sufficiently appropriate and efficacious.
But, unless each man is rewarded according to the measure of his good works, such a sanction
could not be said to exist. Mere infliction of punishment for sin would be insufficient. In any case,
reward for good deeds is the best means of inspiring zeal for virtue. Nature itself teaches us to
reward virtue in others whenever we can, and to hope for a reward of our own good actions from the
Supreme Ruler of the universe. That reward, not being given here, will be given hereafter.
God has implanted in the heart of man a love of virtue and a love of happiness; consequently, God,
because of His wisdom, must by rewarding virtue establish perfect harmony between these two
tendencies. But such a harmony is not established in this life; therefore it will be brought about in the
next.
Every man has an innate desire for perfect beatitude. Experience proves this. The sight of the
imperfect goods of earth naturally leads us to form the conception of a happiness so perfect as to
satisfy all the desires of our heart. But we cannot conceive such a state without desiring it. Therefore
we are destined for a happiness that is perfect and, for that very reason, eternal; and it will be ours,
unless we forfeit it by sin. A natural tendency without an object is incompatible both with nature and
with the Creator's goodness. The arguments thus far advanced prove the existence of heaven as a
state of perfect happiness.
We are born for higher things, for the possession of God. This earth can satisfy no man, least of all
the wise. "Vanity of vanities", says the Scripture (Ecclesiastes 1:1); and St. Augustine exclaimed:
"Thou hast made us for Thyself (O God) and our heart is troubled till it rests in Thee."
We are created for wisdom, for a possession of truth perfect in its kind. Our mental faculties and the
aspirations of our nature give proof of this. But the scanty knowledge, that we can acquire on earth

23
stands in no proportion to the capabilities of our soul. We shall possess truth in higher perfection
hereafter.
God made us for holiness, for a complete and final triumph over passion and for the perfect and
secure possession of virtue. Our natural aptitudes and desires bear witness to this. But this happy
goal is not reached on earth, but in the next life.
We are created for love and friendship, for indissoluble union with our friends. At the grave of those
we love our heart longs for a future reunion. This cry of nature is no delusion. A joyful and
everlasting reunion awaits the just man beyond the grave.
It is the conviction of all peoples that there is a heaven in which the just will rejoice in the next life.
But, in the fundamental questions of our being and our destiny, a conviction, so unanimous and
universal, cannot be erroneous. Otherwise this world and the order of this world would remain an
utter enigma to intelligent creatures, who ought to know at least the necessary means for reaching
their appointed end.
Very few deny the existence of heaven; and these few are practically all atheists and epicureans.
But surely it cannot be that all the rest have erred, and an isolated class of men such as these are
not the true guides in the most fundamental questions of our being. For apostasy from God and His
law cannot be the key to wisdom.
Revelation also proclaims the existence of heaven. This we have already seen in the preceding
section from the many names by which the Bible designates heaven; and from the texts of Scripture,
still to be quoted on the nature and peculiar conditions of heaven.
Supernatural character of heaven and the beatific vision
(1) In heaven the just will see God by direct intuition, clearly and distinctly. Here on earth we
have no immediate perception of God; we see Him but indirectly in the mirror of creation. We get our
first and direct knowledge from creatures, and then, by reasoning from these, we ascend to a
knowledge of God according to the imperfect likeness which creatures bear to their Creator. But in
doing so we proceed to a large extent by way of negation, i.e., by removing from the Divine Being
the imperfections proper to creatures. In heaven, however, no creature will stand between God and
the soul. He himself will be the immediate object of its vision. Scripture and theology tell us that the
blessed see God face to face. And because this vision is immediate and direct, it is also exceedingly
clear and distinct. Ontologists assert that we perceive God directly in this life, though our knowledge
of Him is vague and obscure; but a vision of the Divine Essence, immediate yet vague and obscure,
implies a contradiction. The blessed see God, not merely according to the measure of His likeness
imperfectly reflected in creation, but they see Him as He is, after the manner of His own Being. That
the blessed see God is a dogma of faith, expressly defined by Benedict XII (1336):
We define that the souls of all the saints in heaven have seen and do see the Divine Essence by
direct intuition and face to face [visione intuitiv et etiam faciali], in such wise that nothing created
intervenes as an object of vision, but the Divine Essence presents itself to their immediate gaze,
unveiled, clearly and openly; moreover, that in this vision they enjoy the Divine Essence, and that, in
virtue of this vision and this enjoyment, they are truly blessed and possess eternal life and eternal
rest" (Denzinger, Enchiridion, ed. 10, n. 530--old edition, n, 456; cf. nn. 693, 1084, 1458 old, nn. 588,
868).

24
The Scriptural argument is based especially on 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (cf. Matthew 18:10; 1 John
3:2; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, etc.). The argument from tradition is carried out in detail by Petavius ("De.
theol. dogm.", I, i, VII, c. 7). Several Fathers, who seemingly contradict this doctrine, in reality
maintain it; they merely teach that the bodily eye cannot see God, or that the blessed do not fully
comprehend God, or that the soul cannot see God with its natural powers in this life (cf. Francisco
Surez, "De Deo", l. II, c. 7, n. 17).
(2) It is of faith that the beatific vision is supernatural, that it transcends the powers and claims of
created nature, of angels as well as of men. The opposite doctrine of the Beghards and Beguines
was condemned (1311) by the Council of Vienne (Denz., n. 475 old, n. 403), and likewise a
similar error of Baius by Pius V (Denz., n. 1003 old, n. 883). The Vatican Council expressly
declared that man has been elevated by God to a supernatural end (Denz., n. 1786 old, n. 1635;
cf. nn. 1808, 1671 old, nn. 1655, 1527). In this connection we must also mention the
condemnation of the Ontologists, and in particular of Rosmini, who held that an immediate but
indeterminate perception of God is essential to the human intellect and the beginning of all human
knowledge (Denz., nn. 1659, 1927 old, nn. 1516, 1772).
That the vision of God is supernatural can also be shown from the supernatural character of
sanctifying grace (Denz., n. 1021 old, n. 901); for, if the preparation for that vision is supernatural.
Even unaided reason recognizes that the immediate vision of God, even if it be at all possible, can
never be natural for a creature. For it is manifest that every created mind first perceives its own self
and creatures similar to itself by which it is surrounded, and from these it rises to a knowledge of
God as the source of their being and their last end. Hence its natural knowledge of God is
necessarily mediate and analogous; since it forms its ideas and judgments about God after the
imperfect likeness which its own self and its surroundings bear to Him. Such is the only means
nature offers for acquiring a knowledge of God, and more than this is not due to any created
intellect; consequently, the second and essentially higher way of seeing God by intuitive vision can
but be a gratuitous gift of Divine goodness.
These considerations prove, not merely that the immediate vision of God exceeds the natural claims
of all creatures in actual existence; but they also prove against Ripalda, Becaenus, and others
(Recently also Morlias), that God cannot create any spirit which would, by virtue of its nature, be
entitled to the intuitive vision of the Divine Essence. Therefore, as theologians express it, no created
substance is of its nature supernatural; however, the Church has given no decision on this matter.
Cf. Palmieri, "De Deo creante et elevante" (Rome, 1878), thes. 39; Morlais, "Le Surnaturel absolu",
in "Revue du Clerg Franais", XXXI (1902), 464 sqq., and, for the opposite view, Bellamy, "La
question du Surnaturel absolu", ibid., XXXV (1903), 419 sqq. St. Thomas seems to teach (I.12.1)
that man has a natural desire for the beatific vision. Elsewhere, however, he frequently insists on the
supernatural character of that vision (e.g. III.9.2 ad 3um). Hence in the former place he obviously
supposes that man knows from revelation both the possibility of the beatific vision and his destiny to
enjoy it. On this supposition it is indeed quite natural for man to have so strong a desire for that
vision, that any inferior kind of beatitude can no longer duly satisfy him.
(3) To enable it to see God, the intellect of the blessed is supernaturally perfected by the light of
glory (lumen gloriae). This was defined by the Council of Vienne in 1311 (Denz, n. 475; old, n. 403);
and it is also evident from the supernatural character of the beatific vision. For the beatific vision
transcends the natural powers of the intellect; therefore, to see God the intellect stands in need of
some supernatural strength, not merely transient, but permanent as the vision itself. This permanent

25
invigoration is called the "light of glory", because it enables the souls in glory to see God with their
intellect, just as material light enables our bodily eyes to see corporeal objects.
On the nature of the light of glory the Church has decided nothing. Theologians have elaborated
various theories about it, which, however, need not be examined in detail. According to the view
commonly and perhaps most reasonably held, the light of glory is a quality Divinely infused into the
soul and similar to sanctifying grace, the virtue of faith, and the other supernatural virtues in the
souls of the just (cf. Franzelin, "De Deo uno", 3rd ed., Rome, 1883, thes. 16). It is controverted
among theologians whether or not a mental image, be it a species expressa or a species impressa,
is required for the beatific vision. But by many this is regarded as largely a controversy about the
appropriateness of the term, rather than about the matter itself. The more common and probably
more correct view denies the presence of any image in the strict sense of the word, because no
created image can represent God as He is (cf. Mazzella, "De Deo creante", 3rd ed., Rome, 1892,
disp. IV, a. 7, sec. 1). The beatific vision is obviously a created act inherent in the soul, and not, as a
few of the older theologians thought, the uncreated act of God's own intellect communicated to the
soul. For, "as seeing and knowing are immanent vital actions, the soul can see or know God by its
own activity only, and not through any activity exerted by some other intellect. Cf. Gutherlet, "Das
lumen gloriae" in "Pastor bonus", XIV (1901), 297 sqq.
(4) Theologians distinguish the primary and the secondary object of the beatific vision. The
primary object is God Himself as He is. The blessed see the Divine Essence by direct intuition, and,
because of the absolute simplicity of God, they necessarily see all His perfections and all the
persons of the Trinity. Moreover, since they see that God can create countless imitations of His
Essence, the entire domain of possible creatures lies open to their view, though indeterminately and
in general. For the actual decrees of God are not necessarily an object of that vision, except in as
afar as God pleases to manifest them. Therefore finite things are not necessarily seen by the
blessed, even if they are an actual object of God's will. Still less are they a necessary object of vision
as long as they are mere possible objects of the Divine will. Consequently the blessed have a
distinct knowledge of individual possible things only in so far as God wishes to grant this knowledge.
Thus, if God so willed, a blessed soul might see the Divine Essence without seeing in it the
possibility of any individual creature in particular. But in fact, there is always connected with the
beatific vision a knowledge of various things external to God, of the possible as well as of the actual.
All these things, taken collectively, constitute the secondary object of the beatific vision.
The blessed soul sees these secondary objects in God either directly (formaliter), or in as far as God
is their cause (causaliter). It sees in God directly whatever the beatific vision discloses to its
immediate gaze without the aid of any created mental image (species impressa). In God, as in their
cause, the soul sees all those things which it perceives with the aid of a created mental image, a
mode of perception granted by God as a natural complement of the beatific vision. The number of
objects seen directly in God cannot be increased unless the beatific vision itself be intensified; but
the number of things seen in God as their cause may be greater of smaller, or it may very without
any corresponding change in the vision itself.
The secondary object of the beatific vision comprises everything the blessed may have a reasonable
interest in knowing. It includes, in the first place, all the mysteries which the soul believed while on
earth. Moreover, the blessed see each other and rejoice in the company of those whom death
separated from them. The veneration paid them on earth and the prayers addressed to them are
also known to the blessed. All that we have said on the secondary object of the beatific vision is the
common and reliable teaching of theologians. In recent times (Holy Office, 14 Dec., 1887) Rosmini

26
was condemned because he taught that the blessed do not see God Himself, but only His relations
to creatures (Denz., 1928-1930 old, 1773-75). In the earlier ages we find Gregory the Great
("Moral.", l. XVIII, c. liv, n. 90, in P.L., LXXVI, XCIII) combating the error of a few who maintained that
the blessed to not see God, but only a brilliant light streaming forth from Him. Also in the Middle
Ages there are traces of this error (cf. Franzelin, "De Deo uno", 2nd ed., thes. 15, p. 192).
(5) Although the blessed see God, they do not comprehend Him, because God is absolutely
incomprehensible to every created intellect, and He cannot grant to any creature the power of
comprehending Him as He comprehends Himself. Francisco Surez rightly calls this a revealed truth
("De Deo", l. II, c. v, n. 6); for the Fourth Council of the Lateran and the Vatican Council enumerated
incomprehensibility among the absolute attributes of God (Denz., nn. 428, 1782 old nn. 355,
1631). The Fathers defend this truth against Eunomius, an Arian, who asserted that we comprehend
God fully even in this life. The blessed comprehend God neither intensively nor extensively not
intensively, because their vision has not that infinite clearness with which God is knowable and with
which He knows Himself, nor extensively, because their vision does not actually and clearly extend
to everything that God sees in His Essence. For they cannot by a single act of their intellect
represent every possible creature individually, clearly, and distinctly, as God does; such an act
would be infinite, and an infinite act is incompatible with the nature of a created and finite intellect.
The blessed see the Godhead in its entirety, but only with a limited clearness of vision (Deum totum
sed non totaliter). They see the Godhead in its entirety, because they see all the perfections of God
and all the Persons of the Trinity; and yet their vision is limited, because it has neither the infinite
clearness that corresponds to the Divine perfections, nor does it extend to everything that actually is,
or may still become, an object of God's free decrees. Hence it follows that one blessed soul may see
God more perfectly than another, and that the beatific vision admits of various degrees.
(6) The beatific vision is a mystery. Of course reason cannot prove the impossibility of such a
vision. For why should God, in His omnipotence, be unable to draw so near and adapt Himself so
fully to our intellect, that the soul may, as it were, directly feel Him and lay hold of Him and look on
Him and become entirely immersed in Him? On the other hand, we cannot prove absolutely that this
is possible; for the beatific vision lies beyond the natural destiny of our intellect, and it is so
extraordinary a mode of perception that we cannot clearly understand either the fact or the manner
of its possibility.
(7) From what has been thus far said it is clear that there is a twofold beatitude: the natural and
the supernatural. As we have seen, man is by nature entitled to beatitude, provided he does not
forfeit it by his own fault. We have also seen that beatitude is eternal and that it consists in the
possession of God, for creatures cannot truly satisfy man. Again, as we have shown, the soul is to
possess God by knowledge and love. But the knowledge to which man is entitled by nature is not an
immediate vision, but an analogous perception of God in the mirror of creation, still a very perfect
knowledge which really satisfies the heart. Hence the beatitude to which alone we have a natural
claim consists in that perfect analogous knowledge and in the love corresponding to that knowledge.
This natural beatitude is the lowest kind of felicity which God, in His goodness and wisdom, can
grant to sinless man. But, instead of an analogous knowledge of His Essence He may grant to the
blessed a direct intuition which includes all the excellence of natural beatitude and surpasses it
beyond measure. It is this higher kind of beatitude that it has pleased God to grant us. And by
granting it He not merely satisfies our natural desire for happiness but He satisfies it in
superabundance.

27
Eternity of heaven and impeccability of the blessed
It is a dogma of faith that the happiness of the blessed is everlasting. This truth is clearly contained
in the Holy Bible (see Section I); it is daily professed by the Church in the Apostles' Creed (credo . . .
vitam aeternam), and it has been repeatedly defined by the Church, especially by Benedict XII (cf.
Section III). Even reason, as we have seen, can demonstrate it. And surely, if the blessed knew that
their happiness was ever to come to an end, this knowledge alone would prevent their happiness
from being perfect.
In this matter Origen fell into error; for in several passages of his works he seems to incline to the
opinion that rational creatures never reach a permanent final state (status termini), but that they
remain forever capable of falling away from God and losing their beatitude and of always returning to
Him again.
The blessed are confirmed in good; they can no longer commit even the slightest venial sin; every
wish of their heart is inspired by the purest love of God. That is, beyond doubt, Catholic doctrine.
Moreover this impossibility of sinning is physical. The blessed have no longer the power of choosing
to do evil actions; they cannot but love God; they are merely free to show that love by one good
action in preference to another. But whilst the impeccability of the blessed appears to be
unanimously held by theologians, there is a diversity of opinion as to its cause. According to some,
its proximate cause consists in this that God absolutely withholds from the blessed His co-operation
to any sinful consent. The beatific vision does not, they argue, of its very nature exclude sin directly
and absolutely; because God may still displease the blessed soul in various ways, e.g., by refusing a
higher degree to beatitude, or by letting persons whom that soul loves die in sin and sentencing
them to eternal torment. Moreover, when great sufferings and arduous duties accompany the beatific
vision, as was the case in the human nature of Christ on earth, then at least the possibility of sin is
not directly and absolutely excluded.
The ultimate cause of impeccability is the freedom from sin or the state of grace in which at his death
man passes into the final state (status termini), i.e. into a state of unchangeable attitude of mind and
will. For it is quite in consonance with the nature of that state that God should offer only such co-
operation as corresponds to the mental attitude man chose for himself on earth. For this reason also
the souls in purgatory, although they do not see God, are still utterly incapable of sin. The beatific
vision itself may be called a remote cause of impeccability; for by granting so wondrous a token of
His love, God may be said to undertake the obligation of guarding from all sin those whom He so
highly favours, whether by refusing all co-operation to evil acts or in some other manner. Besides,
even if the clear vision of God, most worthy of their love, does not render the blessed physically
unable, it certainly renders them less liable, to sin.
Impeccability, as explained by the representatives of this opinion, is not, properly speaking, extrinsic,
as is often wrongly asserted; but it is rather intrinsic, because it is strictly due to the final state of
blessedness and especially to the beatific vision. This is substantially the opinion of the Scotists,
likewise of many others, especially in recent times. Nevertheless the Thomists, and with them the
greater number of theologians, maintain that the beatific vision of its very nature directly excludes
the possibility of sin. For no creature can have a clear intuitive view of the Supreme Good without
being by that very fact alone irresistibly drawn to love it efficaciously and to fulfil for its sake even the
most arduous duties without the least repugnance. The Church has left this matter undecided. The
present writer rather inclines to the opinion of the Scotists because of its bearing on the question of
the liberty of Christ. (See HELL under the heading Impenitence of the Damned.)

28
Essential beatitude
We distinguish objective and subjective beatitude. Objective beatitude is that good, the possession
of which makes us happy; subjective beatitude is the possession of that good. The essence of
objective beatitude, or the essential object of beatitude is God alone. For the possession of God
assures us also the possession of every other good we may desire; moreover, everything else is so
immeasurably inferior to God that its possession can only be looked upon as something accidental
to beatitude. Finally, that all else is of minor importance for beatitude is evident from the fact that
nothing save God alone is capable of satisfying man. Accordingly the essence of subjective
beatitude is the possession of God, and it consists in the acts of vision, love, and joy. The blessed
love God with a twofold love; with the love of complacency, by which they love God for His own
sake, and secondly with the love less properly so called, by which they love Him as the source of
their happiness (amor concupiscentiae). In consonance with this twofold love the blessed have a
twofold joy; firstly, the joy of love in the strict sense of the word, by which they rejoice over the infinite
beatitude which they see in God Himself, precisely because it is the happiness of God whom they
love, and secondly, the joy springing from love in a wider sense, by which they rejoice in God
because He is the source of their own supreme happiness. These five acts constitute the essence of
(subjective) beatitude, or in more precise terms, its physical essence. In this theologians agree.
Here theologians go a step farther and inquire whether among those five acts of the blessed there is
one act, or a combination of several acts, which constitutes the essence of beatitude in a stricter
sense, i.e. its metaphysical essence in contradistinction to its physical essence. In general their
answer is affirmative; but in assigning the metaphysical essence their opinions diverge. The present
writer prefers the opinion of St. Thomas, who holds that the metaphysical essence consists in the
vision alone. For, as we have just seen, the acts of love and joy are merely a kind of secondary
attributes of the vision; and this remains true, whether love and joy result directly from the vision, as
the Thomists hold, or whether the beatific vision by its very nature calls for confirmation in love and
God's efficacious protection against sin.
Accidental beatitude
Besides the essential object of beatitude the souls in heaven enjoy many blessings accidental to
beatitude. We shall mention only a few:
In heaven there is not the least pain or sadness; for every aspiration of nature must be finally
realized. The will of the blessed is in perfect harmony with the Divine will; they feel displeasure at the
sins of men, but without experiencing any real pain.
They delight greatly in the company of Christ, the angels, and the saints, and in the reunion with so
many who were dear to them on earth.
After the resurrection the union of the soul with the glorified body will be a special source of joy for
the blessed.
They derive great pleasure from the contemplation of all those things, both created and possible,
which, as we have shown, they see in God, at least indirectly as in the cause. And, in particular, after
the last judgment the new heaven and the new earth will afford them manifold enjoyment. (See
GENERAL JUDGMENT.)
The blessed rejoice over sanctifying grace and the supernatural virtues that adorn their soul; and
any sacramental character they may have also adds to their bliss.

29
Very special joys are granted to the martyrs, doctors, and virgins, a special proof of victories won in
time of trial (Revelation 7:11 sq.; Daniel 12:3; Revelation 14:3 sq.). Hence theologians speak of
three particular crowns, aureolas, or glorioles, by which these three classes of blessed souls are
accidentally honoured beyond the rest. Aureola is a diminutive of aurea, i.e. aurea corona (golden
crown). (Cf. St. Thomas, Supp:96.)
Since eternal happiness is metaphorically called a marriage of the soul with Christ, theologians also
speak of the bridal endowments of the blessed. They distinguish seven of these gifts, four of which
belong to the glorified body light, impassibility, agility, subtility (see RESURRECTION); and three
to the soul vision, possession, enjoyment (visio, comprehensio, fruitio). Yet in the explanation
given by the theologians of the three gifts of the soul we find but little conformity. We may identify the
gift of vision with the habit of the light of glory, the gift of possession with the habit of that love in a
wider sense which has found in God the fulfilment of its desires, and the gift of enjoyment we may
identify with the habit of love properly so called (halitus caritatis) which rejoices to be with God; in
this view these three infused habits would he considered simply as ornaments to beautify the soul.
(Cf. St. Thomas, Supp:95)
Attributes of beatitude
There are various degrees of beatitude in heaven corresponding to the various degrees of merit.
This is a dogma of faith, defined by the Council of Florence (Denz, n. 693 old, n. 588). The Bible
teaches this truth in very many passages (e.g., wherever it speaks of eternal happiness as a
reward), and the Fathers defend it against the heretical attacks of Jovinian. It is true that, according
to Matthew 20:1-16, each labourer receives a penny; but by this comparison Christ merely teaches
that, although the Gospel was preached to the Jews first, yet in the Kingdom of Heaven there is no
distinction between Jew and Gentile, and that no one will receive a greater reward merely because
of being a son of Judah. The various degrees of beatitude are not limited to the accidental blessings,
but they are found first and foremost in the beatific vision itself. For, as we have already pointed out,
the vision, too, admits of degrees. These essential degrees of beatitude are, as Francisco Surez
rightly observes ("De beat.", d. xi, s. 3, n. 5), that threefold fruit Christ distinguishes when He says
that the word of God bears fruit in some thirty, in some sixty, in some a hundredfold (Matthew
13:23). And it is by a mere accommodation of the text that St. Thomas (Supp:96, aa. 2 sqq.) and
other theologians apply this text to the different degrees in the accidental beatitude merited by
married persons, widows, and virgins.
The happiness of heaven is essentially unchangeable; still it admits of some accidental changes.
Thus we may suppose that the blessed experience special joy when they receive greater veneration
from men on earth. In particular, a certain growth in knowledge by experience is not excluded; for
instance, as time goes on, new free actions of men may become known to the blessed, or personal
observation and experience may throw a new light on things already known. And after the last
judgment accidental beatitude will receive some increase from the union of soul and body, and from
the sight of the new heaven and the earth.

30
Francis Fernandez
In Conversation with God
58. GETTING TO HEAVEN
Book 3 58.1 The only thing that really matters in life is getting to Heaven.
Among all the achievements of our life only one is really crucial. It is attaining the goal - Heaven - set
for us by God. We must be ready to give up everything, if necessary, to achieve this goal. We must
also be ready to set aside anything that even gets in the way of our achieving it, no matter how
valuable or appealing it may seem. Everything else has to be subjected to that one supreme
objective in our life - possessing God. If anything becomes an obstacle rather than an aid to this end,
then we must be prepared either to set things straight or to put the obstacle aside completely.
Eternal salvation - our own or our neighbour's - comes first. Our Lord tells us so in the Gospel of the
Mass:1 If thy hand is an occasion of sin to thee, cut it off! ... And if thy foot is an occasion of sin to
thee, cut it off! ... And if thine eye is an occasion of sin to thee, pluck it out! . .. It is better to enter into
the kingdom of Heaven maimed, lame or lacking an eye, than being physically sound to be cast into
hellfire, where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. It is better to lose something as
necessary as one's hand, one's foot or one's eye than to lose Heaven, which is our supreme good,
implying as it does the beatific vision of God for all eternity. How much truer this is, if, as is usually
the case, what we need to put aside with no more than a bit of determination on our part is
something that would otherwise not result in any significant harm to us.
By employing these very graphic images Our Lord teaches us that it is our positive duty not even to
run the risk of offending him; we have the serious duty of avoiding or setting aside proximate
occasions of sin, for he that loves the danger shall perish in it.2 Anything that entices and draws us
closer to sin must be energetically excised from our lives. We cannot toy with our own salvation or
with the salvation of our neighbour.
Often the obstacles we have to set aside will not be tremendously significant ones. In the life of a
Christian who is striving to please God in all things, this will usually be the case. What will have to be
set aside and cut out are our minor whims and preferences. We shall take prudent steps to correct
small breaches of temperance where Our Lord asks us to mortify our taste or our appetite, to control
our temper or our moods, to overcome any excessive concern we may have about our health or
comfort ... All of these more or less habitual failings need very much to be taken into account, even
though they may not be more than venial sins. They slow our pace and can trip us up or worse:
they can gradually lead to or bring about more serious falls.
If our struggle is generous, if our goal in life is clear in our sight, we will be decisive not to say
ruthless, in striving to correct these situations so that they cease to be obstacles and are turned into
advantages. This is what Our Lord often did with his Apostles. From Peter's hot-headed impetuosity
He formed solid rock on which He would build his Church. From the vehement impatience of John
and James (whom He dubbed sons of thunder) He fashioned the apostolic zeal of untiring
preachers. From Thomas's scepticism he moulded a strikingly articulate testimony to his divinity.
What has been previously a crippling liability becomes a powerful asset.
58.2 Hell exists. We must practice a holy fear of God.
A Christian's life ought to be a continual journeying toward Heaven. Everything should strengthen
our steps along this path sorrows and joys, work and rest, successes and failures. In important

31
financial matters or other great practical enterprises we naturally have to be alert, carefully studying
even the smallest details, so it makes even more sense to do so in regard to the most significant of
all undertakings our salvation. At the end of our journey on this earth we will face but one choice:
either Heaven (passing through Purgatory first if we require to be purified) or hell, that place of
unquenchable fire which Our Lord so explicitly spoke about many times.
Christ would not have taken such pains to reveal the existence of hell with such clarity if it were not
real, or if it were not really possible for men to end up there. He certainly would not have warned us
so frequently, telling us: be watchful! The devil never relents in his attempt to win over any man or
woman still journeying in this world towards his or her definitive goal. The devil never relinquishes
his claim upon anyone, quite regardless of position or God-given mission.
The reality of eternal punishment for those who do evil and die in mortal sin had already been
revealed in the Old Testament.3 And in the New Testament Jesus Christ spoke of the punishment
prepared for the devil and his angels,' for those wicked servants who do not fulfil their Lord's will,5
for the foolish virgins who find themselves without the oil of good works when the Bridegroom
arrives,6 for those who come to the marriage feast without the wedding garment,7 for those who
offend their brothers seriously,8 or who choose not to help them in their material or spiritual need ...9
The world is compared to a field in which both wheat and weeds are growing until the time when
God takes up his sickle and clears his field. The wheat will be stored in his barns while the weeds
will be burnt with unquenchable fire.1
Hell was not some sort of symbol for use in preaching or in moral exhortation in past moments of
history to a humanity which had yet to evolve. It is a stark reality revealed to us by Jesus Christ. It
is, unfortunately, one so objectively real that Our Lord was moved to give us the spirited command
as we read in the Gospel of the Mass to put away from us anything, no matter how important it
might seem, rather than eventually find ourselves there forever. Hell is a truth of faith constantly
affirmed by the Church's Magisterium. The Second Vatican Council refers to it, in repeating the
eschatological characteristics of the Church, we should .. . watch constantly so that ... we may ...
not, like the wicked and slothful servants (cf Matt 25:26) be ordered to depart into eternal fire (cf Matt
25:41), into the outer darkness where 'men will weep and gnash their teeth' (Matt 22:13 and
25:30).11 Hell's existence is a truth of faith, defined by the Magisterium of the Church.12
It would be a serious mistake not to meditate upon or to consider this transcendental topic from time
to time or to ignore it in preaching, in teaching catechetics or in one's personal apostolate. Nor can
the Church omit, without serious mutilation of her essential message, as John Paul II warns, a
constant catechesis on .. . the four last things of man: death, judgement (universal and particular),
hell and heaven. In a culture which tends to imprison man immanently in the earthly life, which he is
more or less successful at getting through, the pastors of the Church are asked to provide a
catechesis which will reveal and illustrate with the certainty of faith what comes after the present life
beyond the mysterious gates of death, an eternity of joy in communion with God or the punishment
of separation from him forever.13 Our Lord wants us to be motivated by love, but given our human
weakness the result of original sin and of our own personal sins He has preferred to show us
just where sin leads, so that we would have a further motive to reject sin the holy fear of God
which is the fear of being separated from our Supreme Good, our true Love. The saints have highly
esteemed the personal revelations they have received from God regarding hell's existence as well
as the magnitude and unending nature of its punishments. ... This vision was one of the most signal
favours the Lord has bestowed upon me, writes Saint Teresa of Avila. It has been of the greatest
benefit to me, both in taking from me all fear of the tribulations and disappointments of this life and

32
also in strengthening me to put up with them and to give thanks to the Lord, who, as I now believe,
has delivered me from such terrible and never- ending torments. 14
Let us see in our prayer today if there is anything in our lives, small as it may be, that might be
distancing us from our Lord and which we are not struggling against as we ought. Let us examine
ourselves to see whether we do in fact flee from all proximate occasions of sin; whether we
frequently ask the Blessed Virgin to grant us a profound dread of all sin, even venial sin, which
causes such harm to the soul and separates us from her Son, our only unqualified Good.
58,3 We are to be instruments in the salvation of many people.
The consideration of our last end should lead us to be faithful in dealing with the little occurrences of
each day so as to acquire Heaven through our daily tasks and the things that happen to us, and set
aside whatever could present itself as an obstacle along our way. The consideration of our last end
should also induce us to carry out an unremitting apostolate, helping those around us to find God so
that they may serve him in this world and be happy with him forever in the next. This is the greatest
expression of charity and respect for others that we can possibly have.
The first way to help others is to be aware of the consequences of our own actions and omissions in
order to avoid becoming an occasion of scandal or an obstacle to them. The Gospel of the Mass
also includes these words of Jesus: It were better for a man if a millstone were hung about his neck
and he were thrown into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Shortly
before this, Jesus had said: It is impossible that scandals should not come; but woe to him through
whom they come 15 There are few words in the Gospel as strong as these, few sins as serious as
those that bring about the ruin of a soul, for scandal destroys God's greatest work the Redemp-
tion, with the resultant loss of souls. Scandal kills our neighbour's soul, robbing him of the life of
grace, which is more precious than the life of the body. These little ones are for Jesus, primarily
children. In them the innocence of God is reflected in an exceptional way. The little ones, however,
are also the immense multitude of simple souls those less spiritually formed and, for this very
reason, more easily scandalized.
Faced with so many daily causes of scandal in the world, Our Lord asks his followers to make
atonement and reparation for so much evil. He wants us to be living examples as followers of his
who attract others to become good Christians by appropriately, affectionately and prudently
exercising fraternal correction, which helps others to amend their faults. It can also help them to
remedy situations which are dangerous for their souls, motivating them to have recourse to the
sacrament of Penance in which their straying steps can be redirected. The reality of hell's existing,
which faith teaches us, is a call to the apostolate, for us to be instruments in the salvation of many
people.
Let us invoke the Blessed Virgin: Iter para tutum!,16 prepare a safe way for us and for all men, a
safe way that leads to a destination which is the eternal happiness of Heaven.
Book 2 82.1 We have been created for Heaven. Fostering hope.
During this forty-day period between Easter and the of Our Lord, the Church asks us to keep our on
Heaven, our final dwelling place, to which Our Lord is calling us. This invitation becomes more
pressing we approach the day on which Jesus went up to the right hand of his Father.
Our Lord had promised his disciples that in a little while he would be with them forever. Yet a little
while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Our Lord has kept his promise in this

33
period when he stays close to his loved ones. But this presence will not end when he goes up with
his glorious body to his Fathers house by his Passion and Death he has prepared for us place in his
Father's house, where there are many mansions. I will come again, he tells them, and will take to
myself that where I am you may be also.
The Apostles, who had been saddened by the prediction of Peter's denials, are comforted by the
hope of Heaven. The return to which Our Lord is referring includes his second coming at the end of
the world, and meeting with each soul when it leaves the body. Our death will be just that: a meeting
with Christ, whom we have tried to serve throughout our lifetime. He will bring us to the fulness of
glory, the meeting with his Heavenly Father, who is also our Father. There in Heaven, where we
have a place prepared for us, Jesus awaits us, the same Jesus who is with us, who awaits us in
prayer and with whom we have often been in intimate friendly conversation.
From our regular conversations with Our Lord is born the desire to be with him. Faith sweetens
much of the bitterness of death. Our love for Jesus completely changes the meaning of that last
moment which comes for everybody. Those in love try to see each other. People in love have eyes
only for their love. That's logical, isn't it? The human heart feels this need I would be lying if I denied
my eagerness to contemplate the face of Jesus Christ. 'Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram!' I will seek
your countenance, 0 Lord 5
The thought of Heaven will help us to be detached from the things of this world and to overcome
difficult situations. We make God very happy when we foster that theological virtue of hope, which is
united with faith and love. There will be times when we need it a lot. At the time of temptation think of
the love that awaits you in Heaven: foster the virtue of hope this is not a lack of gen-erosiry.6 It
will be likewise at moments of great sorrow and trial, and when we find it very hard to be faithful or
persevering in our work or apostolate. The reward is a big one, and it is just around the corner, not
long from now.
Meditating on Heaven, which is our destination, ought to spur us on to be more generous in our daily
struggle, because hope of the reward comforts the soul unto doing good works.?
The thought of that final meeting of love to which we are called will help us to be on our guard in big
things and little things, giving them the finishing touch, as if each one were to be the last before
going to meet our Heavenly Father.
82.2 What God has revealed about eternal life.
Words are altogether inadequate for describing our life in Heaven, that life which God has promised
to his children. The Church reminds us that we will be with Christ and 'we shall see God' (cf 1 John
3:2), and it is in these promises and marvellous mysteries that our hope essentially consists. Our
imagination may be incapable of caching these heights, but our heart does so, instinctively and
completely.8
What we now but poorly discern by revelation, and can barely imagine in our present state, will one
day become a joyful reality. In the Old Testament, the happiness of Heaven is portrayed by evoking
the Promised Land, which Is reached after a very long, hard journey through the desert. There, in
our new and permanent resting place, are to be found all benefits;9 there, the exhaustion caused by
such a long and difficult pilgrimage will come to an end.
Our Lord spoke to us in many ways of the incomparable happiness awaiting those who, in this life,
love God with deeds. Eternal happiness is one of the truths which our Lord preached with most

34
insistence ... For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.1 Later, at the Last Supper, he says:
Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hart given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my
glory which thou hadst given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world 11
Everlasting happiness is compared to a banquet which God prepares for men; a banquet at which all
the longings of the human heart for happiness will be unimaginably satisfied.12
The Apostles often talk to us of that happiness which awaits us. St Paul teaches that now we see
God in a mirror dimly, but then face to face,13 and that the happiness which we will enjoy there is
indescribable.14
The happiness of eternal life lies principally in the direct, immediate vision of God. It involves not
only a perfect intellectual knowledge of God, but also a sharing of life with God, One and Triune. To
see God is to live with him, and to be happy with him. And so, from this loving contemplation of the
three divine Persons, an unlimited joy will arise in us. All the hunger for happiness and love of our
poor heart will be satisfied unendingly, eternally. Let us imagine what Heaven will be like. 'Eye has
not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the mind of man to imagine the things that God
has prepared for those who love him. Can you imagine what it will be like to arrive there, and meet
God, and see that beauty which pours into our hearts and satisfies without satiating our desire? I ask
myself many times a day: what will it be like when all the beauty, all the goodness, all the infinite
wonder of God pours into this poor clay vessel that I am, that we are. And then I understand well
why the Apostle wrote: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard' ... It is worth every effort, my children, it is
indeed worthwhile.15
82.3 The Resurrection of the Body. Thinking about Heaven should lead us to a determined
and cheerful struggle to reach it.
Apart from the immense joy of beholding God and of seeing and living with the risen, glorified Christ,
there is also an accidental, happiness, by means of which we will enjoy those created goods to
which we aspire: the company of those blessed whom we most loved down here members of our
family and friends; and also the glory of our risen bodies, because our risen body will be identical in
all respects to our present body. St Paul tells us that this perishable nature must put on the
imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immorta14.16 This body, not another one the
same, or very similar. The Trent Catechism says it is of vital importance to be fully convinced that
the identical body, which belongs to each one of us during life, shall, though corrupt and dissolved
into its original dust, be raised up again to life.17 St Augustine states clearly that this flesh will rise,
the same which was buried The flesh which now falls ill and suffers, this same flesh will rise again.
18 Our personality will continue to be the same, and we will have our own body, but vested with
glory and splendour, if we have been faithful. Our body will have the properties characteristic of
glorious bodies: agility and subtlety, that is, not subject to the limitations of space and time;
impassibility he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither
shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore;19 and finally, brightness and beauty.
I believe in the resurrection of the body, we say in the Apostles' Creed. Our bodies in Heaven will
have characteristics which are different from the present ones, but they will continue being bodies
and will occupy a space,2 as the glorious body of Christ and Our Lady do now. We do not know
where that place is, nor how it comes about. The present earth will have been transformed: Then I
saw a new Heaven and a new earth; for the first Heaven and the first earth had passed away . . .

35
Behold I make all things new.21 Many Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and also many saints,
have thought that the renewal of the whole created order arises from revelation itself.
Now that the day of Our Lord's Ascension is close, the thought of Heaven should lead us to a more
determined and cheerful struggle to get rid of the obstacles which separate us from Christ. It also
encourages us to seek in the first place the goods which last instead of craving for those that perish.
The thought of Heaven gives great serenity. Nothing here is irreparable, nothing is definitive, all
wrongs can be righted. The only definitive defeat would be to miss the door which leads to Life. Our
Lady is there too, waiting for us.
Book 2 12.2 Often foster the Hope of Heaven, especially in difficult moments.
St Bede, commenting on today's passage of the Gospel, says that Our Lord, in a loving concession
allowed Peter, James and John to enjoy for a very short time the contemplation of the happiness
that lasts forever, so as to enable them to bear adversity with greater fortitude.8 There is no doubt
that the memory of those moments beside Our Lord on the mountain helped those apostles through
many difficult moments in their lives.
Man's existence is a journey towards Heaven, our dwelling place.9 It is a journey which is, at times,
harsh and laborious because we often have to go against the current of opinion and we will have to
struggle against many enemies both inside and outside of ourselves. But God wants to strengthen
us with the hope of Heaven, in a special way at the more difficult moments or when the weakness of
our condition makes itself more felt. At the time of temptation think of the Love that awaits you in
heaven: foster the virtue of hope this is not a lack of gen-erosity.10 There, all is repose, joy and
delight; all serenity and calm, all peace, splendour and light. It is not a light such as we enjoy now,
and which, compared with that light, is no more than a lamp placed beside the sun ... For there is no
night, or twilight, heat or cold, or any change in one's way of being, but a state such as can be
understood only by those who are worthy to possess it. There, there is no old age, or sickness, or
anything allied to corruption, because it is the place and the home of immortal glory.
And above all this the everlasting presence and possession of Christ, of the angels ... everyone
perpetually of like mind, without any fear of Satan or the snares of the devil or the threats of hell or of
death.11
Our life in Heaven will definitively be exempt from any possible fear. We will not have the worry of
losing what we have, and we will not want to have anything different. Then, truly, we will be able to
say with St Peter, Master, it is well that we are here! The glimpse of glory that the Apostle had will be
fully ours in eternal life. We are going to think about what heaven will be like. 'Eye has not seen, nor
ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man those things that God has prepared for those
who love hint' Can you imagine what it will be like to arrive there and meet God, to see that beauty,
that love which is poured out into our heats, which satisfies without satiating? I ask myself many
times each day, 'What will it be like when all the beauty, all the goodness, all the infinite wonder of
God is poured into this poor earthenware vessel that I am, that all of us are?' Then I will understand
those words of the Apostle, 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard ... ' It is worthwhile my children, it is
worthwhile.12
The thought of the glory that awaits us should act as a spur in our daily struggle. Nothing is of such
value as gaining Heaven: and always bearing in mind this determination to die rather than to fail to
reach the end of the way, if God ever causes you to suffer from thirst as he guides you through this
life, it is because he will give you drink in plenty in the next life, without any fear of it ever failing you.

36
37