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:
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 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.
Pope Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336):DS 1000; cf. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 49.
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, but they retain, or rather find, their true identity,
their own name.
For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there
is the kingdom. (Revelation 2:17)
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.
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.
St. Cyprian, Ep. 58,10,1:CSEL 3/2,665.
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 for ever and ever. |
