Imagining the Unimaginable
THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15
Second Reading: 2 Thes 2:16-3:5
There is forever in the afterlife. It will only be forever in hell or heaven. In the gospel today, we hear about the meeting of the Sadducees and Jesus. The Sadducees are all now interested in getting rid of Jesus by ridiculing and contending with him about the belief in the resurrection. The resurrection is the fulfillment of the old and new testaments. In our faith, it is the foundation of our belief. Jesus is alive. And we experience the Resurrected Jesus whenever we encounter him in contemplation, the highest degree of prayer. Thinking about what heaven is, why heaven exists, and how heaven works.
Heaven is completion. According to the Catechism, heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings; it is the state of supreme, definitive happiness. This is the goal of every human person because God exists and it is the fullest explanation of our life. He wants to share His glory, peace, and love with us. In the words of St. Teresa of Avila, "All things are passing away: God never changes. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices. " With God, there is complete happiness, complete joy, and completion of all things under the loving presence of God. The Catechism further explains, "to live in heaven is to be with Christ." The elect live in Christ, but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their name. We are of God and from God, and this is our identity as Christians. It is the Kingdom of God, a situation where the love of God reigns and wherein everyone is helping, feasting, and caring. Heaven is the reward of the saints because they treasure their hearts in God, for God is the desire of their hearts.
Heaven is a communion. It is an ultimate union with God, and that is difficult to put into words. It is communion with our Creator and with those who lovingly persevere in the gospel of Christ. According to the Catechism, "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. " A life with no more sorrows, grief, and sin but a new life full of joy, bliss, and love. Thus, he created us to share in the communion of love.
Heaven is perfection. To obtain perfection, man should be virtuous, for that is what it means to be human. Virtue comes from the Latin word "vir", which means man. It is the greatest achievement of mankind. According to Pascal, the highest order of achievement is the order of holiness, wherein Jesus is the summit, and only in this order can you fulfill your destiny and your vocation and achieve self-fulfillment. For Heaven to be a state of perfection, it should be glorious, eternal, and beautiful. The state of heaven is perfect because it is where God resides. Eternal happiness can only be found in God, and so anticipating here on earth the glory that is to be revealed in the next life would make us straighten our path and achieve our goal. Heaven is our true home because there is God who can content us with our lives.
Thus, completion, communion, and perfection are what heaven brings. Let us focus our attention on the completion of what Heaven brings after all the burdens, aim for union amid division, and ask for the grace to heal our woundedness that leads to perfection. Why is the reality of heaven not recognized well in society? We look at the state of society and find many immoralities that are not recognized as wrong. We have lost the sense of sin, which is the greatest trick of the Devil. Let us continue to contemplate Heaven, which says to us, there is true peace and joy. Repent and persevere in doing the will of the Lord.
