Mary Ann Fatula - Heavens Splendor: And the Riches That Await You There

Sr. Mary Ann Fatula, O.P.

Heavens
Splendor

And the Riches
That Await You There

SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS
Manchester, New Hampshire

Copyright 2019 by Sr. Mary Ann Fatula, O.P.

Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Cover by David Ferris Design.

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Scriptural passages are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. All emphasis added.

Excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church , second edition, 2000 by Libreria Editrice VaticanaUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

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ePub ISBN 978-1-622828-517

Contents

Introduction

Heaven. What an amazing word, intimating depths of joy we can only begin to imagine here on earth. If the mere word is so alluring, what must the reality be? Heaven is everything for which we are made, the answer to our inmost yearnings, the fulfillment of our deepest desires.

Though the human mind alone cannot fathom heavens splendor, we can glimpse its magnificence through the insights of the saints. Their writings have the fragrant anointing of the Holy Spirit, who authored the Scriptures from which the saints draw their wisdom. Along with their reflections on heaven, gained from meditating on scriptural passages interpreted in union with the Church, the saints also offer us precious meditations on the mystical life of grace here on earth. These writings, too, give us profound insights on heavens joy.

In this book, we ponder the depth and beauty of the saints perceptions about heaven. If, as St. Paul assures us, the joys of heaven are beyond all that our minds can now imagine (1 Cor. 2:9), it is also impossible truly to contemplate these joys in a hurried manner. Rather than inviting us to a quick read of their insights, the saints draw us to a prayerful pondering of their words in the depths of our souls. They invite us to return again and again to their writings to understand more deeply and to savor more fully the beautiful truths about which they write. As we ponder their insights, we can feel the warmth of the saints love for us, encouraging us to contemplate with them the joys of heaven and to deepen our desire to share in the delight that now fills them.

In the following chapters, with the saints guidance, we will consider first the very heart of heaven, our sharing in the ecstatic love and life of the Blessed Trinity. We will reflect next on the marvelous Communion of Saints, whose love and tenderness we experience here on earth and hope to enjoy forever in heaven. In the third chapter, we will ponder the mysteries of our glorious resurrection, for we have been created to share, body as well as soul, in the joys of heaven. We will then turn to the mystery of death, which the Lord has transformed by His own death and Resurrection into our beautiful gateway into heaven. Finally, we will contemplate how we can begin to live in heaven even now, by adoring the Blessed Trinity dwelling in our souls, by receiving the precious Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist, and by growing in the heavenly virtue of charity.

Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19). May our Blessed Mother be our helper and guide as we consider these beautiful insights of the saints. Even now, we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1) who long for us to share in their bliss. May we feel their closeness to us, and may the Holy Spirit, who anointed them, deepen our longing for heaven. May each of us be blessed one day to join our loved ones and all the angels and saints as they delight in the Divine Persons who are the very heart of heaven.

Delighting in the Trinity

We have been made for heaven; every fiber of our being longs for it. Everything that brings us true and lasting delight on earth we are created to possess beyond all our imagining in heaven: No eye has seen nor ear heard... what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). But what has God prepared for us? An unending life of feasting on nothing less than God: This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God (John 17:3).

We know by faith that God is not a solitary figure but the intimate communion of three Divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who cherish us more dearly than our hearts can conceive and who alone can satisfy our inmost longing for love.

Every one of us has been created to need and to have the most perfect love. Regardless of how much we may be loved or may long to be loved by other human beings, their love, as beautiful as it is, can never be enough for us. The Persons of the Trinity have created us to feast on Their love. They are every

Enter into the

Heaven Is the Blessed Trinity

It is impossible for us creatures to envision by our own powers the bliss that awaits us in heaven. Only the Divine Persons can reveal to us the mystery of Their love and the heavenly joy in being received into Their embrace.

The saints have meditated on Johns

No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (

In this way, we will dwell also in the Holy Spirit, who is the sweet Embrace of the Father and the Son. Meditating on the third Divine Person, who is the Spirit of the Father (see

St. Bernard tells us that the Holy Spirit, the eternal bond of love between the Father and the Son, is also Their intimate

This is the mystery that will enthrall us forever in heaven. Every dearest love story on earth, every experience of true and devoted love that we have been blessed to enjoy, is only a shadow and foretaste of this unfathomable love of the Divine Persons for one another. Every love that is good and beautiful has its source in this mystery of

The psalmist sings, Let your face shine, that we may be saved (

You shall see , and your heart shall rejoice! ( This is the very purpose for which the Divine Persons have created us: that we may share intimately in this rapturous mystery of Their self-giving love for one another.

Our Closeness in Heaven to the Father

In heaven we will

This is all the more a wondrous gift to us because the precious name Father contains the mystery of the Fathers love, not first of all for us, but for His beloved Son. Luke 11:2).

Thomas the Apostle had begged the Lord, Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied (

Our heavenly Gal. 4:6). There, in the Fathers arms, our every ache to know fully and completely who we are, and whose we are, will be completely satisfied.

As members of His Sons Mystical Body, we will delight to hear His Father say tenderly to us : My beloved daughter or My beloved son (see Mark 1:11; Matt. 3:17). We will thrill with joy as we grasp the mystery of our identity and purpose in the Fathers heart. In His tender embrace, every one of us will savor also the irreplaceable blessing we were created to be. We will see with utter clarity that no one is a mistake and that every one of us was created to be unique in all of history. With ecstatic joy, we will ceaselessly thank the Father for treasuring us as His own precious children, for freely choosing and unconditionally loving us from all eternity.