But though it is easier to describe heaven as a place of rest, that is not the whole description of it. Heaven is also a place of joy, and of joy the most complete, the most pure, the most satisfying that the human heart can possess. Joy in seeing and loving God, or, as it is called, in the Beatific Vision. This it is in which consists essentially the Christian idea of heaven. I say the Christian idea, for our faith teaches us to look forward to a happiness very different from what we could have expected by nature. Of course natural reason teaches us to look forward to a future life, but it promises no other knowledge of God but such as is possible to our own natural powers when fully developed. But Christianity promises us a knowledge of God to which our natural powers, however enlarged, could never aspire. It teaches us that we shall see Him as He is—not only think about Him and commune with Him and adore Him, but actually look upon His unveiled Divinity, gaze upon Him face to face. It is not of our Lord's glorified humanity that I speak. That, too, we shall see, and that will be a sight of unspeakable beauty and joy; but we shall see more: we shall look upon and into the Divine Essence. Now to our natural powers this is impossible. A blind man can know a great deal about the sun. He may hear it described, he may reason about it, he may feel its effects, but he cannot lift up his eyes to heaven and see it. So, naturally speaking, we have not the faculty whereby to see God. "No man hath seen God at any time," says St. John. "Whom no man hath seen, or can see, who inhabiteth the light inaccessible," says St. Paul. [Footnote 24]
[Footnote 24: St. John i. 18; I. Tim. vi. 16.]
Clearly there must be some great change in us, something given to us that does not belong to us as men, in order to enable us to see God, and the Holy Scripture tells us what that change shall be: "We shall be like to Him, for we shall see Him as He is," says St. John. [Footnote 25]
[Footnote 25: I. Ep. St. John iii. 2.]
We ourselves shall become divine and godlike. The human intellect shall be marvellously strengthened by a gift which the Church calls the light of glory, which shall enable us to look upon God and live. We are told in Scripture that God walked in the garden of Eden and talked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. This high companionship was broken by the fall. Man was reduced to the rank that essentially belonged to him, and was deprived of that which had been accorded to him of grace. But by baptism he acquires once more a right to that familiar intercourse with God, and in heaven he enters upon its enjoyment. For this reason heaven is called our fatherland. It is our lost inheritance recovered. There we ourselves shall be the sons of God, and God will be our Father. Think what is the relation of an affectionate son to a good and wise father. What submission with equality—what complete sympathy and community of interest—what intimate communication of thought and feeling! So, O Christian soul! shall it be between you and God. God will be your God, and you will be His child. Thou shalt dwell in His home, and all that He hath shall be thine. "All things are yours, the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; for all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." [Footnote 26]
[Footnote 26: 1 Cor. iii 23.]
Yes, God himself shall be yours. You shall look around you and see His towering altitudes, and count them as your own. You shall look deep down into the depths of His wisdom and be wise as God is. You shall find yourself upborne by His power and goodness, enveloped by His glory, and adorned with His beauty. Oh! my brethren, is not this joy? Tell me, tell me, young men, tell me, children, tell me truly, one and all, what have been the happiest moments of your life? Was it the moments you have spent in sin? Was it the hour of some earthly success or triumph? Or was it not rather at some hour when God was near to you, and you felt the music of His voice and the perfume of His breath—some time when you were praying, or when you had made a good confession or communion, or when you were listening to a sermon? I know it was. I know there are times when every man has felt the words of the Psalmist: "What have I in heaven? and besides Thee what do I desire upon earth? Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever." [Footnote 27]
[Footnote 27: Ps. lxxxii. 26.]
What are all the attainments of learned men to Him who is all-wise? What are all the conceptions of genius to Him who is all-beautiful, or the moral excellencies of good men to Him who is all-holy? Yes, the thought of God is the source of the purest and highest pleasure on earth. That thought has ravished the saints with ecstasy, and made the martyrs laugh at their torments. And if merely to think about God in this life can make us so happy, what must it be to see Him in the life to come? To know God and to love Him, to know Him as we are known by Him, to love Him with our whole souls, to possess Him without the fear of losing Him, to take part in His counsels, to enter into His will, and to share in His blessedness—this is a joy, perfect and supreme; and this is the joy of heaven. This is the joy offered to you. This is all-satisfying. The soul can desire nothing more. This is permanent, for heaven is eternal. This is always new, for God is riches and beauty inexhaustible and infinite. Oh, my brethren, do not envy those who were near our Lord's person when He was upon earth. I know it is natural to do so. I know it is natural to say, "If I could but have seen His face, or heard the sound of His voice;" but no! yours is a still happier lot. Do not envy Magdalene, who kissed His feet, nor St. John, on whose breast He leaned, nor the Blessed Virgin, who bore Him in her arms. Is it not permitted to the poorest and the weakest of you to see Him, not in His humility, but in his glory—to converse with Him and dwell with Him in the land of the living? Oh! blessed are they that dwell in Thy house! The world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and do it! Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God! One would have thought that this was enough. To be free from all the trials and sufferings of this present life, and to enjoy the fullest happiness a human soul is capable of—one would think that were heaven enough, and that no more could be added. But the bounty of God has added another element to the happiness of heaven. Heaven is a place of glory—not of rest only, but of glory also. "Glory, honor and peace," says the apostle, "to every man that doeth well." Heaven is the place of God's glory, and it is also the place of the glory of the saints. Even here the good are honored —the really good. True, for a while they may be despised and persecuted, but, in the long run, nothing is honored so much as virtue. During the lifetime of Nero and St. Paul, Nero was a powerful emperor, praised and flattered by his courtiers, and St. Paul a friendless and despised prisoner; now, Nero is abhorred as the wicked tyrant, and St. Paul honored by all men as the saint and hero. But this is not enough. In heaven the honor of the saints will be magnificent. God himself will honor them. This is one reason for the last judgement, that God may publicly give honor to the good. "Whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify," says the Almighty; [Footnote 28] and they who are saved will be admitted to heaven with respect and solemnity, as those whom the King delights to honor.
[Footnote 28: 1 Ki. ii. 30.]