beatific vision

Beatific vision is the term used to describe what awaits those who die in God's friendship. It is the "contempltion of God in his heavenly glory."

There has been much ink spilled on the topic of heaven and what awaits us. There has been many movies trying to capture that eternal experience. Poems have been written, songs have been sung, words have poured forth from lips seeking to describe, to encourage, to fathom the deep mystery of the great beyond.

There have been humorous anecdotes, jokes, and the like.




One thing is sure, at least for me, of all the things that have been said about heaven and that will be said about the heavenly experience or reality of life everlasting, I think the psalmist of today really sums up all we need to know for certain, "But in your justice I shall behold your face and when I awake I shall be filled with the sight of your presence."

This is the goal of humanity. This is our destination, the reason for our endurance, the central gravity of what keeps us moving.

In the words of St. Thomas Moore, "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal."

The healing is accompanied through beholding. We shall see face to face. We shall know as we are known, fully and completely.

Heaven is as Jesus tells us, that which does not allow for death, for "they can no longer die" and "for to him all are alive."

Heaven means to be fully alive.

This the beatific vision, it is life itself, aliveness.

The question for us is the following.

How do we live so that we give witness to our desire to be be with God forever?
What chocies do we make that reveals our foundation as being built on the this reality of the beatific vision?

how do we live that lets others in on our hope we have in Christ?

For in the end as the Eagles sang, "Love will keep us alive."

May we bring that hope to each day anew and bring that freshness of life in all that we do.