01.31.23 Recap: Heaven Conclusion
- tmaley
- Feb 10, 2023
- 17 min read
Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics
Remember, the recaps I sent out after our meetings are unedited versions with no pictures. The edited version with pictures will be posted on our website by Taylor before next meeting - she will notify everyone.
House rules/notes…
Meetup is www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy Zoom Meeting Logon info is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952
Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can ask in the chat, email the Meetup group, or me directly at ron@hallagan.net.
Unedited recaps of meetings are posted via Meetup after our meeting. The final edited recap is posted within a week by Taylor on our Catholic Catacombs Light website at https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps. Taylor will notify everyone on Meetup with the link.
Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and between Christian denominations, and agree to be respectful at all times. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ; in fact, I personally owe part of my return to the faith to them!
No politics. It would be easy for us to self-destruct, but that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn/understand/apply the Bible and our Catholic faith.
Prison fellowship – opportunities to volunteer one Saturday per month for 2 hours (12-2 or 2-4) serving Catholic prisoners at the Fairfax County Jail. Ask Ron (ron@hallagan.net) or Gina (gmasterson99@gmail.com) for details. Why do this? "I was in prison, and you visited me." – Matt 25:36
Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying with other Catholics during the week? Fellow member Jason Goldberg has started just this at “Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup.” Sign up at: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/
I highly recommend seeing “The Chosen” TV series. We seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is not easy at first. It helps when we can relate to a person that we have seen and heard. They have captured the real Jesus as close as any film I’ve ever seen. https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7.
RSVP Reminder: Please RSVP whether you are attending the meeting or just reading the Recap notes afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give us exposure, which will draw more people to us, which is our way of evangelizing! Please RSVP when you get the Meetup invite weekly.
Our Bible Study Format: 5 min prayers, 10-15 min Catholic topic, 40-45 min on the main topic from weekly List below:
Week 1: Jan 3 - Gospel Week: Zacchaeus, Epiphany, 12 Days of Christmas, Nativity Scene
Week 2: Jan 10 – Bible Week (Gen 🡪Rev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses, meeting #5.
Week 3: Jan 17 – Survey Topics Voted on by Members: We are currently beginning Heaven.
√ 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Christian Comparisons 4) Great Women in the Bible
5) World Religions 6) Book of Revelation 7) Major Heresies and Church Councils
Week 4/: Jan 24/31 – Member Questions
Are Charity and Love synonymous? How are they different? What are the 4 highest forms of Charity?
The History of the Mass going back to Cain & Abel, all leading to the sublime meaning of the Eucharist.
Can you review origin and meaning of the 12 statements of belief in the Creed?
Since you said that Gen 1-3 is likely mostly allegory, how do you think The Fall actually took place?
Who are you ? It seems we all ask that question at some point. Some ask it all the time. Can you answer this?
Week 5 – concluding Heaven
Next Holy Days of Obligation
Lent – Wed, Feb 22 – Thurs April 6; Triduum – Friday, Apr 7–Sun Apr 9; Easter – April 9
Opening Prayer
Dear Lord
Thank you for your promise that where two or three of us are gathered in your name
You are there! We welcome you among us tonight.
We ask your blessing upon ou r lives, our health, our work, our families, and our friends.
We also pray for your blessings on all the people we don’t like. May you heal them of their flaws or heal us of our misunderstanding.
And as You taught us to pray:
Our Father
Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily Bread;
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us all.
Amen.
Notice: Adding In-person Meetings. There have been requests over the past year to have in-person meetings again like we did pre-Covid, and we have been searching various locations and parishes for about six months. We need a place that we can count on every week at the same time, at no cost, and that has media capability/connectivity. Some parishes already have adult bible study, some want to control the agenda, and others cannot meet our media needs.
A few weeks ago, we were invited to become the Adult Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics Program at St. John Neumann parish in Reston, VA. They love our agenda and are providing us guaranteed space and the media we need (at no cost) so that we can continue our Zoom meetings to all of you via Zoom and MeetUp.com.
For those who continue to join us on Zoom, nothing should change except maybe the first meeting if we have any initial glitches. For those who would like to come in person at any time, the address is below. This will begin Tuesday, February 7, from 7-8pm, as usual.
St. John Neumann Catholic Church
11900 Lawyers Road
Reston, VA 20191
Topic Night: Heaven Conclusion
Where we left off…
In the first session on Heaven we discussed how time is different there. Events occur in time sequences but there is no aging, no sin, no sadness, no boredom, no death – no entropy.
In the second session we discussed that between this lifetime and Judgment Day is a time that we are without our bodies. Purgatory also occurs during this time, for those of us needing purification. Finally, we discussed what an “out of body experience” might be like and compared it to dreaming (except real).
In our third session, we completed Dante’s journey through Heaven, but it was a journey as Heaven is now – that is: with us still on earth, with many in Heaven without their bodies, and with the souls in Purgatory. This is how it will be until Judgement Day, after which there will be a “new Heaven and new earth.”
When is Judgment Day?
JD could happen next month, next century, or next millennium – we don’t know. Like Jesus says about our own deaths, the end comes like a thief in the night, so just be ready. That is what we are all doing here, since talking about God, learning about His will for us, and engaging Him in our daily lives, is all about being ready.
But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. (Mark 13:32)
We will receive our glorified bodies to attend Judgment Day, kind of like our Judgment Day attire. So, we will have our new bodies to enter the New Age, which we will need anyway to fully experience our new life on this New Earth .
Q: How will we be judged?
We are the judges. The Church teaches that judgment day is a judgment we write for ourselves in this life. Whatever we do here – however we choose to define our lives here – are the cards we play at the end of this life, and those determine everything.
The cards we hold will be our earthly accomplishments and our Christ-like accomplishments. Jesus could not have made it any clearer that the measuring stick that He uses does not count worldly possessions, achievements, or recognition – so we will have to discard those cards. Rather, He will only count love, service to others, good will towards our enemies, and forgiveness – both the seeking of it from Him and the giving of it to others – just as God has done with us. Those cards we can play.
Q: There’s are also wild cards available any time you want to draw one in this lifetime. What is it?
Forgiveness. It’s free for the asking, too. You can retain these in your hand and play them in the end. Oftentimes, they make all the difference.
The New Age: With so much focus on Judgement Day and what comes before we run the risk of spending too much time on these things and not enough on what comes after Judgment Day. Since Judgement Day should be completed in a “day,” shouldn’t we consider how we might spend the rest of eternity after that?
Scripture tells us that the Second Coming of Christ will usher in a New Age – the New Jerusalem, a New World, Paradise, a New Heaven – where our eternal beings and doings will be like nothing we’ve ever known before.
"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9).
That there will be heavenly places is not new. The Church has taught this since apostolic times. Heavenly places will be similar to our current places in this universe, only better. As Jesus said, “I make all things new.” - Rev 21:5
The Bible says that at the end of the Messianic Age – which is the time we are in now – there will be Judgment Day and then the New Age will begin.
Beatific Vision
When the Church talks about Heaven and seeing God, they often use the term Beatific Vision.
Q: Beatific comes from the word beatitude. What is does beatitude mean?
Happy; perfect happiness; bliss, also blessed. The Eight Beatitudes could more correctly start with, “Happy are those who…” instead of “Blessed are…” Happy of course refers to eternal happiness first, but can also bring temporal happiness.
Q: What will our glorified bodies be like?
The best of ourselves, physically and otherwise.
It will be like Christ’s glorified body, which remember was “the firstfruits” of human salvation.
Recall the resurrected Christ during those 40 days between the Resurrection and Ascension. He walked through doors but still ate with his Apostles. This means the physical laws of nature will not apply like they do now. In other words, the laws of physics will be subject to our wills.
We will be able to enjoy food and drink without getting full or drunk (and no waste – haha). But it will be better than anything we’ve had here – recall the wine at Cana.
We will be able to hike anywhere we like without any worry or fear, we can have cookouts, learn musical instruments if we want, attend concerts, and then read by the fireplace with a glass of the finest brandy from the southwest of France.
You see, when Jesus said he came to offer us life to the full (John 10:10), or “life more abundantly,” what do you think this means?
It means your body at its healthiest, that won’t get sick, or broken, or grow old. And a body that is FINALLY subject to our wills.
“Life to the full” doesn’t only refer to our bodies, but to life - our lives! It means living. It means you will have many things, activities, hobbies, gatherings, the arts, wine tastings – fill in the blank – to do, because it will be life to the full!
Q: What is the Beatific Vision, specifically?
The Beatific Vision is the adventure of meeting God, which angels and humans experience in Heaven.
The primary object of the Beatific Vision is our indirect, face to face, gaze upon God himself, with no intermediary. We say “indirect” because no created being can fully comprehend the omnipotence and omnipresence of God. God reveals to us all that we are able to apprehend.
The secondary object of the Beatific Vision comprises everything we may have a reasonable interest in knowing. The first of these include all the mysteries that the soul believed while on earth; the second is being able to rejoice in the company of those who had been separated from us at death. Why? Because everyone there is the community of saints, the body of Christ. There is not “us" without the “other.” The Trinity is a community of love, and we are made in His image!
Joy. We tend to see our relationship with God as a Parent-child relationship, and there is some truth to that because we are trying to learn how to use our spiritual gifts and love like God the Father does. Sometimes, it’s “tough love” because that’s what we need. But in Heaven we are no longer in this position. We have graduated into spiritual adults, and the relationship God will elevate respectively. God knows joy more than anyone – He invented it – and He wants us to know that joy, too. Good times will roll.
Q: What is creation, and what are Heavenly places?
Just like we discussed that there is a different kind of time in Heaven – sequences of events without entropy – we also discussed heavenly “places." that we will experience after Judgment Day.
As mentioned repeatedly in Scripture, the earth will be renewed/perfected, as will the rest of creation (the universe).
One thing we know for sure about God is that He is a creator; and, because He is perfect, He wastes nothing. Whether we are inventing, here and now, manufacturing, building cabinets, or creating art, it involves a certain amount of trial and error, with leftovers to be disposed of or re-used. A carpenter has wood shavings, etc. God has no waste, ever. Also with God, creation is not a one-time event. Since He created their very existence, He sustains that existence also, often creating processes and beings that themselves contribute to ongoing creation.
In other words, the unfolding of the material universe is part of ongoing creation, and all of it will be brought to completion – whatever God’s vision of that is – in the end.
Since God wastes nothing, we can presume the “New Earth" that is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible will involve the renewal of this earth, for why would God throw away (waste?) part of his creation billions of years in the making when he already has this one? Moreover, the Bible specifically calls it the new “earth,” not some other place.
Biblical Verses Heaven
Questions often come up asking me to clarify what the Bible says about Heaven. This is important because everything the Church teaches must be supported in Scripture and/or in Apostolic Tradition.
The word Heaven appears 275 times in the New Testament and over 500 times in the Old Testament. I have selected twenty passages below that seemed most relevant to our topic tonight, listed chronologically except for the last three. The hope is that by seeing these together, you can get a better sense of the amazingness of what is to come. Let’s consider the relevance of each one, and try to extrapolate what future activity it could imply. For activities there will be.
Old Testament
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen 1:1)
"Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it." (Deuteronomy 10:14)
Therefore, my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices… because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor let your holy ones see decay. You show me the path of life; in Your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:9-11)
“In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality, but another path leads to death.” (Proverbs 12:28)
"On this mountain the Lord swallows up death forever. On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. Let us be glad and rejoice in our salvation." (Isaiah 25:7-9)
"For behold, I shall create a new heaven and a new earth..." (Isaiah 65:17)
"Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you." (Jeremiah 32:17)
“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake – some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 2:2-3)
After he had died, they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way. When he was near death, he said, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.” (Maccabees 7:9-14)
New Testament
"For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." (Matthew 22:30-32)
"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)
"People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God." (Luke 13:29)
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever... and I will raise him up on the last day ..." (John 6:51,71)
"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." (John 10:28)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (more abundantly).” (John 10:10-11)
"Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." (John 11:23)
Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward." (John 13:36)
“In my Father's house are many dwelling places (residences/rooms). If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1-4)
“Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 15:20)
First fruits refers to the very first fruits of the annual harvest. When Jesus was recruiting the Apostles, recall he said, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.” He came to lead fallen humans back to Heaven, and he would lead the way. In the quote above, firstfruits refer to Jesus as the first human of the harvest – to successfully enter Heaven. It also tells us that Jesus is being human in every way, including his glorified body after his resurrection and including taking his human body with him to Heaven at his Ascension.
“For we know that should the tent that is our earthly home be destroyed, we have a building from God, not a house made with hands, but eternal in the heavens.” (2 Cor 5:1)
"According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4) "But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." (2 Peter 3:13)
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him." (1 John 3:2)
"All these people (Patriarchs and their descendants) were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (Heb 11:13, 15,16)
"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God." (Revelation 21:3)
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away..." (Rev 21:1)
"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed.” (Rev 22:1-3)
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." (Matt 6:10)
"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9).
"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body..." (Philippians 3:20-21)
Apostolic Fathers
“Our bodies will rise again and they will certainly be the same flesh certainly in their entirely.” - Tertullian AD 210
Entirety not only means our skeletons and nervous systems, but our identities.
The intellectual giant, Augustine (AD 400), wrote that God was a wonderful artisan who would restore our bodies and ensure nothing undignified or indecorous would remain.
CCC/New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
“We are born for higher things which defines all man’s efforts.”
“Heaven presupposes a condition of perfect happiness, in which every wish of the heart finds complete satisfaction.”
*****
We can see that our citizenship in Heaven awaits us, a kingdom with great cities, a new earth no longer cursed, glorified bodies that can do amazing things, the Beatific Vision which is God-like knowledge and happiness, friends and family, and Jesus Christ himself. That’s just for starters. What else might await us?
Q: What might be another reason why renewing this particular earth in Heaven might make ‘perfect' sense?
God guarantees human happiness in Heaven – on a macro level and individual level. When you think of your happiest times, is there not a sense of familiarity surrounding those memories? Christmas at home as a child, or Thanksgiving each year with family, or a particular year in school, or a hiking trip, sporting events, an art museum visit, or traveling someplace brand new with the family or with best friends? What would jolt us – in a bad way – is if these memories were suddenly placed into totally unfamiliar surroundings.
If human happiness can be identified with any surroundings at all, it would be this earth – our home. This earth with all its flora and fauna and, yes, even many of our own human creations – clothes, cars, coliseums, Cabernet Sauvignon – would be connected to our happiest moments. Why would God throw these out?
Moreover, remember we too are part of His creation. Did he not also create us to create? We are in his image and likeness, no? If so, then there is every reason to believe that God may retain the best of our own creations.
Let’s go deeper…
In this life, by virtue of our spiritual natures and heightened by Baptism, we know God and his goodness. We already have tastes of happiness that in this life remain out of our reach: joy, pleasure, happiness, freedom, excitement, accomplishment, laughter, uniqueness, adventure, beauty, hiking, camping, traveling, architecture, music, poetry, art, reading, writing, teaching, eating/tastes/smells, sights (colors), athletics/sports and even games, perhaps even motherhood and fatherhood.
Two possible extrapolations:
Those interested in motherhood and fatherhood (who never had the opportunity or would like to do it again, or do it over?) – how many babies do you suppose died throughout human history that never had that parenthood experience? How would you like to be the child who grows up in Heaven?
Here's one that combines travel, mankind’s best creative efforts, and architecture. Our best cities. We “live" in them, work in them, play in them, we are familiar with them. Transformed, of course, but still our cities.
What about people in Heaven who died a thousand, two thousand, three or four thousand years before us?
What about the ancient cities of Rome at the height of the Empire? The streets of old Paris, the Parthenon with its marble columns, China of the Ming Dynasty, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, or the Great Pyramids of Egypt back when they were built?
And, BTW, wouldn’t the people of those ages be happier and more familiar in their own surroundings?
Perhaps we will be able to travel to see them, as they lived back then.
… and vice-versa
Incredible?
Yes, it will be. Once again…
“No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Cor 2:9)
Q: What language will be spoken?
One, which could also mean we each speak our own language and all understand one another as though we were all speaking one language. Recall the Tower of Babel and its reversal at Pentecost.
There was one language after the fall of man, and then God confused the languages of mankind when they rebelled against Him at the Tower of “Babel.”
What reversal took place when Peter spoke to thousands visiting Jerusalem after the Pentecost? All the foreigners understood him in their own languages.
Perfect communication is a Heavenly attribute.
Nature
Of course, we have always felt closer to God in nature, because that part of creation is closer to Him by their virtue of being an extension of His original creation. So you can be sure that the colors, smells, and experiences there will be like we already know except heightened
Love
In everything we do in heaven, love will be the center of it. It will be the premise for existence, like the air we breathe.
Conclusion
So, the conclusion is: What are your desires? What would you like to do? How would you elevate these desires to a higher level? That’s our starting point.
Our wildest imaginations are probably not even the midpoint.
Closing Prayer
Lord, thank you for accompanying us on our trip to the Heaven you are preparing for us.
We know you have much in store for us and we are very grateful for it.
Please guide us the rest of our days until we arrive!
Hail Mary…
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