By DON FIER
As we continue our examination of the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) on the Four Last Things — Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell — we recall from last week that at the exact instant man’s immortal soul separates from his body in death, it appears before Christ for the Particular Judgment. This definitive judgment will be confirmed at the end of time in the General Judgment when our risen bodies are eternally reunited with our souls.
The particular judgment is “the judgment of immediate retribution which each one after death will receive from God in his immortal soul in accord with his faith and his works,” as defined by the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “This retribution consists in entrance into the happiness of heaven, immediately or after an appropriate purification, or entry into the eternal damnation of hell” (n. 208).
The examination of evidence, pronouncement of verdict, and execution of sentence occur simultaneously and immediately before an all-knowing and all-powerful God as our whole life flashes before our eyes.
Following the order of the Catechism, we will first consider Heaven, the final destination for all who die in the state of sanctifying grace. Let us start with a definition: “Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (CCC, n. 1024). It is a “communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels, and all the blessed” (ibid.).
Of the happiness that the blessed in Heaven will experience, St. Paul says: “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).
In what does happiness consist? In an excellent little volume entitled The Afterlife (TAL), Fr. Federico Suarez, a 20th-century Opus Dei priest, defines happiness as “that perfect state characterized by the accumulation and possession of every desirable good and the absence of all evil….It does not lack anything essential to it and . . . does not include anything superfluous. It is fulfillment itself” (p. 74).
Is it possible to attain perfect happiness on this side of death? As Fr. Suarez goes on to demonstrate: “[Perfect happiness] cannot be found among the living on earth because, even if we grant the possibility of eradicating all evil, it is impossible to attain the fulfillment which consists in possessing everything that man could possibly desire, with the complete perfection of all his human faculties” (ibid., p. 75).
Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, in his book entitled Life Everlasting: A Theological Treatise on the Four Last Things, offers further explanation:
“It is impossible for man to find that true happiness, which he desires naturally, in any limited good: pleasures, riches, honor, glory, power, knowledge. Our mind, noticing at once the limits of these goods, conceives a higher good and carries us on to desire that higher good. . . . Our will, illumined by our intelligence, has a depth without measure, a depth which only God can fill” (pp. 216-217). “Final and perfect happiness,” says St. Thomas Aquinas, “can consist in nothing else than the vision of the Divine Essence” (Summa Theologiae I-II, Q. 3, art. 8).
Created in the image and likeness of God, our supernatural destiny is to return to Him — only everlasting communion with Him in heavenly beatitude can satisfy the deepest longing that resides in the innermost recesses of our being.
The overarching and defining goal for each of us, then, in our quest for happiness, must be to become “citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19). Our life’s journey will have been a reprehensible and detestable failure — no matter what level of success we achieve in terms of wealth, power, and fame — if we do not reach Heaven.
What will the happiness of Heaven be like after the particular judgment, during that period of time before our bodies and souls are reunited at the general judgment? It will consist of three marvelous realities: 1) the beatific vision of God; 2) loving relationships with fellow saints and angels; and 3) participation in the unceasing heavenly liturgy.
First, in what theologians refer to as essential happiness, we will enjoy the beatific vision, the “face to face” vision of God with the eyes of our soul — we will “see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). “Because of his transcendence,” teaches the Catechism, “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” (CCC, n. 1028).
Second, we will be able to communicate with family members and friends who reach Heaven, all the saints to whom we were devoted while on Earth, and the angels. There will no longer be any rivalries, envy, or misunderstandings. Our memory will become clearer and our knowledge will increase exponentially. We will be enlightened with knowledge as pertains directly to us of those still living (i.e., we will be given knowledge of loved ones who are asking for our intercessory prayers).
Third, as described in the Book of Revelation, we will continually give praise and honor to the Lamb upon the throne: “Our high priest celebrates it unceasingly in the heavenly liturgy, with the holy Mother of God, the apostles, all the saints, and the multitude of those who have already entered the kingdom” (CCC, n. 1187).
The happiness of Heaven has three dimensions: It is eternal — everlasting and unending; it is constant, without interruption or diminishment; and it is stable and certain — beyond all fear.
It is impossible in this life for us to grasp what eternity is, but the following analogy will serve to gain some perspective. Think of a bird that flies over a lofty mountain range once every thousand years. Each time it passes over, the bird dislodges a few grains of earth. Eternity would just be starting when the bird has passed over the mountain enough times to wear it to the ground.
What, then, will change for the blessed in Heaven after the general judgment? The happiness and joy they experience, already beyond imagining, will be further heightened when their bodies and souls are eternally reunited. The bodies of the blessed, now glorified, will no longer be limited by time and space, no longer subject to sickness or pain. As we saw in an earlier column (see volume 148, n. 13; April 9, 2015), they will be distinguished by four transcendent qualities: impassibility, subtility, agility, and clarity.
Pray Regularly
To reach Heaven, however, requires a vigorous, sustained, and determined effort, “for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many” and “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt. 7:13-14).
To attain heavenly beatitude, we must seek always to do the will of God, pray regularly, and ask and will to arrive there safely. We must strive mightily not to be seduced by the fleeting pleasures of this world and especially pray daily for the grace of final perseverance, for it is at the hour of death that the Devil mounts his most ferocious attack. But important to remember is that God sends no one to Hell; people freely choose to go there.
Also good to remember is that although all who reach Heaven are as completely happy as they can possibly be, the capacity for happiness is determined by the level of charity attained during life on Earth.
By analogy, it is helpful to mentally visualize the capacity for happiness for two souls who reach Heaven as being symbolized by a thimble and a large wooden barrel. It is true that both have achieved their goal — both will be filled to overflowing and as happy as possible given their capacity. However, the amount of happiness possible will be much greater for the soul whose capacity is symbolized by the large wooden barrel.
The more perfectly and continually we love God and neighbor while on our earthly pilgrimage, the greater will be our capacity for happiness.
It is for this primary reason that we should strive for as high a place in Heaven as possible: to be able to know and love God as perfectly as possible for all eternity. Secondarily, as preached more than once by a wise pastor, if one aims for a high place in Heaven and misses his goal, there remains a reasonable chance that he will still attain the glory of Heaven, perhaps after a time of purification. However, if one’s attitude is do as little as possible and aim for a low place in Heaven, what happens if he misses?
Next week we will consider the temporary place or condition of those who die in God’s grace and friendship, and are thus assured of eternal salvation, but are in need of purification before they enter into the joy of Heaven.
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(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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