1.45 Heavens! What on earth would eternal life be like?
Nobody here on earth knows exactly what heaven is like (I Cor. 2:9) I Cor. 2:9: But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.”. What we do know is that heaven is the “place” where God lives. Jesus has reserved a place in heaven for every human being.
Heaven is full of life, light and peace. We will be able to see God forever: this is the fulfilment of our path with him here on earth. We will also meet all the other people who went to heaven before us.
What did God create?
Sacred Scripture says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The Church in her profession of faith proclaims that God is the Creator of everything, visible and invisible, of all spiritual and corporeal beings, that is, of angels and of the visible world and, in a special way, of man. [CCCC 59]
What is heaven?
Heaven is God’s milieu, the dwelling place of the angels and saints, and the goal of creation. With the words “heaven and earth” we designate the whole of created reality.
Heaven is not a place in the universe. It is a condition in the next life. Heaven is where God’s will is done without any resistance. Heaven happens when life is present in its greatest intensity and blessedness—a kind of life that we do not find on earth. If with God’s help we arrive someday in heaven, then waiting for us will be “what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). [Youcat 52]
Heaven is the endless moment of love. Nothing more separates us from God, whom our soul loves and has sought our whole life long. Together with all the angels and saints we will be able to rejoice forever in and with God.
If you have ever observed a couple looking at each other lovingly or seen a baby nursing who looks for his mother’s eyes as though it wanted to store up every smile forever, then you have some inkling of heaven. To be able to see God face to face—that is like one, single, never-ending moment of love. [Youcat 158]
Those who have done good will shine forth as the sun with the angels into life eternal, with our Lord Jesus Christ, ever seeing him and being in his sight and deriving unceasing joy from him, praising him with the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout the limitless ages of ages [St. John of Damascus, Exposition of the orthodox faith, Bk. 4, Chap. 27 (MG 94, 1228)]
