“And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds”

After death and judgment, heaven or hell are the only two places that we will end up for all eternity. Let us first start with heaven. We hear the word “heaven” thrown around a lot. We say that something or someone is “heavenly” but nothing can truly compare to heaven. Heaven is perfection and there is nothing on this earth that is perfect except for the Most Blessed Sacrament.
 
What is heaven? The Catechism says, “Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they ‘see him as he is,’ face to face” [1] Let that sink in for a moment. In heaven, we will be like God and finally get to see Him face to face. Some may say that God would get boring after a while. I would ask those people if they have a favorite song, movie, book, or work of art. How many times have they listened to, watched, read, or stared at it? I would then ask how many times they found something new or different about that particular thing which made it better. We might eventually get tired of those things because they are finite. But God is infinite! This means that no matter how long we look at or listen to God, we will always find something new. To be in heaven is to be with Christ and live in Him “For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.” [2] At Mass, during the elevation the priest says the doxology: Through Him, With Him, and in Him. At Mass we unite ourselves to Christ in those ways.
 
As mentioned earlier, there is nothing on earth that can compare to heaven except for the Eucharist. This is because Jesus is fully present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. When we receive Him at Holy Communion, we become one with Him and cannot get any closer unless we are in heaven. Regarding heaven, the Catechism says, “This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description.” [3] Mass is heaven on earth. Also, in the Eucharist, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer it reveals the end of times knowing that we are apart of the Lord’s mystery of salvation which has been accomplished, once and for all, in Christ who was crucified, died and rose from the dead. [4] “Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.” [5]
 
When a soul is in heaven, they see God and are with Him, but the deeper and greater glory is that in the perfection of Heaven, we get to be in communion with perfection. We get to live within the triune life of God along with the angels, the saints, and our Blessed Mother. “Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.” [6]
 
How is being with God in heaven even a possibility and why does God allow us to be with Him in heaven? The answer to the first question is because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [7] In perfect obedience to His Father, Christ opened heaven to all. By uniting ourselves to Christ in Baptism and offering ourselves to the cross, we too can come to share in His glory. Regarding the second question, God truly loves us and created us to be with Him. He loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us (Cf. John 3:16) and by His death we are saved from eternal death and damnation. Parents will do anything for their children. We are God’s children and He has done everything to make sure that we can be with Him.

[1] CCC 1023
[2] CCC 1025
[3] CCC 1027
[4] Cf. CCC 2771
[5] CCC 1326
[6] CCC 1024
[7] Cf. CCC 1026