By Fr. Joseph B Francis –
Continuing his series on the Apostles’ Creed I Believe, Fr. Joseph Francis relates an incident and dwells on the concept of Heaven.
Some pious soul told me once: heaven would be boring because how many times can one sing alleluia, hosanna and Gloria? Would it not be monotonous? It is perhaps a gross misunderstanding of time and eternity on the one hand and a misreading of what it means to be with an unfathomable God. Time as we know it on earth is a calculation of successive moments which are calculated according to the movement of a chosen object which is in constant and uniform movement.
We arbitrarily divide it into manageable units which are equal and constant. But once we are out of the 4 dimensional world and enter the dimension of Eternity, there is neither space nor time restriction. We are outside of these and every moment will be just one and unique moment full of all reality. It is above all to be with God. But do we appreciate what it means to be with God and as some theologians say to see God “face to face”?
Obviously we cannot see God who is spirit and not matter but we have the facility of the humanity of the Risen Lord with whom we are united; let us never forget even for a moment that the created humanity of Jesus now glorified in resurrection, is one with us and there will be no difference between his humanity and ours as far as humanity goes. Jesus the Risen Lord is able to see in a mysterious and fantastic manner God himself because the Person underneath his humanity is God the Son.
St. Thomas of Aquinas the great medieval theologian says that we see God himself in and through the eyes of the Risen Lord. God is unfathomable and we will never succeed in plumbing the depths of God so the adventure of coming to know and enjoy God will never end and will always be fresh and new.
The “already and not yet” or eschatological aspect of life everlasting: The everlasting never ending life will also be in the company of all we love and cherish; with all the saints and angels; with the whole of transformed universe. We are unable to describe it. St. Paul in the second letter to the Corinthians (12. 3-4) says that he was caught up in a mysterious trance and saw what is indescribable of the glory of heaven.
So human words would be inadequate and it suffices us to say that it would be filled with thrilling joy. We look forward to this life everlasting but we should not forget that it is an eschatological reality which means a combination of inseparable “already and not yet” reality. Eternity is even now foreshadowed for a Christian in his life of Grace. For what is life of Grace if not to be with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a loving relationship with each of these Divine Persons; to be with the Brethren in the Church and in an ecological harmony with the whole of creation? In this fashion we “already” enjoy to some extent what is “not yet” and which is to come in fullness.
This is how this word “eschatological” is used in theology to explain many mysteries of our Christian life e.g., the Eschatological aspect of the Eucharist (Jesus says: he who eats his body and drinks his blood has life everlasting and so in partaking of the Eucharist we “already” have eternal life but “not yet” fully); Salvation (we are “already” saved when I look at from one angle but we are “not yet” finally or fully saved from another angle); Holiness (you are “already” holy from one angle but “not yet” fully holy from another aspect).
Therefore while meditating on “Life Everlasting” we should not forget that we already enjoy this “Life Everlasting” to some extent though not yet fully and it is still to come in fullness. Let us always be thankful to God for the “life” he has given us and not be discouraged at any time by the troubles, trials, sufferings, physical, mental and psychological that we have to undergo in our mortal life and think that everything is an end for us. God is only preparing us in this fashion to grant us life that is everlasting without pain, miseries, sorrows and a life full of joy, peace.