James L. Papandrea - What Really Happens after We Die: How We Know There Will Be Hugs in Heaven!

James L. Papandrea

What Really Happens
after We Die

There Will Be Hugs in Heaven

SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS
Manchester, New Hampshire

Copyright 2019 by James L. Papandrea

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

Cover by Perceptions Design Studio in collaboration with David Ferris Design.

On the cover: The Assumption of the Virgin , by Peter Paul Rubens.

Except where otherwise noted, Scripture quotations have been taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright 1965 and 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the writings of the Church Fathers come from the Ante-Nicene, Nicene, and Post-Nicene Fathers Series. Some of the quotations have been retranslated or updated by the author for readability.

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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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Papandrea, James L., 1963- author.

Title: What really happens after we die: there will be hugs in heaven /

James L. Papandrea.

Description: Manchester, New Hampshire : Sophia Institute Press, 2019.

Includes bibliographical references. Summary: Dr. James Papandrea

gathers here in one place all that is known about the afterlife drawn

from the teachings of Jesus, the Apostles, the Church Fathers, and the

Churchs Magisterium affording a complete, authoritative, detailed

portrait of the state of souls after death Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019037483 ISBN 9781622826384 (paperback) ISBN

9781622826391 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Future life Catholic Church.

Classification: LCC BT903 .P37 2019 DDC 236/.2 dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019037483

For Frank Papandrea (19372018),
Uncle Frank

Emmaus

Under my feet a dusty road, over my shoulder a heavy load,

Miles to go before Im done, and Im losing a race with the
setting sun.

My eyes so full of tears I couldnt see

Who it was that was walking next to me.

He walked on the water, He turned water into wine.

He calmed an angry storm on the sea.

He called a man out of the grave and gave him back his life.

Can He calm the storm inside of me?

Can He calm the storm inside of me?

I need a rest from the weary road, need to put down my heavy load.

My heart on fire all the way, so I begged Him to stay,

And in the breaking of the bread my eyes were clear.

My Savior, my Christ is here.

He walked on the water, He turned water into wine.

He calmed an angry storm on the sea.

He called the blind out of their blindness and gave them back their sight

And He opened up my eyes and set me free

And He calmed the angry storm inside of me.

He opened up my eyes and set me free.

He walked on water, and He walks with me.

From the album Still Quiet Voice , by Jim L. Papandrea

Contents

Appendix A:

Appendix B:

Its a Wonderful Afterlife

Its a Wonderful Afterlife

Johnny laughed to himself or rather, at himself as he pulled on his flannel jacket. Being the boss was supposed to have perks. It was supposed to mean less time out on the road, less time in the truck. It was supposed to mean less work, not more. And wasnt there some vague expectation of the owner of the business getting to wear fancier clothes? He set his lunchbox on the passenger seat and started up the truck. He paused for a moment more, listening to the echo of the diesel engine in the driveway. He reminded himself to be thankful, and then he put it in reverse, and backed into his day.

As the truck pulled into the strip-mall parking lot, a larger-than-usual group of men was milling around in front of the big-box builders store. They all moved in the direction of Johnny and his truck. They moved somewhat humbly, heads a little down, but purposefully. He knew that walk. He had seen his father walk that same way, many years ago, before he was known as Johnny, when everyone called him Juan. He was only one generation away from that walk.

As few words as possible were exchanged all in Spanish about the project for the day. Cinco , Johnny said, as he held up five fingers. Five men climbed into the back of his truck, and without looking at the others still standing there, he pulled out of the parking lot.

Lunchtime came, and the project was behind schedule. Annoyed, Johnny had to make a trip to the store for some last-minute supplies. When he got there, he saw that there were still some men standing by the front door, bouncing on the balls of their feet to keep themselves warm. Coming out of the store, the men looked at Johnny, and he couldnt look away. He nodded and then walked to his truck. But as he backed out of his parking spot, he stopped. What the heck , he thought. He spun the truck around and drove up in front of the door. Tres . Three men got into the truck bed. Johnny sighed. Cinco dos mas . And two more men jumped into the back.

Three oclock came, and the project was back on schedule. Time for a coffee break. Johnny got his coffee to go, but from the drive-through, he could see that there was still a small group of men in front of the store, hoping for work. These were the guys who hadnt given up at one oclock or two. These were the guys who really didnt want to go home and tell their families there was no work that day. With five more men in the back of his truck, Johnny arrived at the site with less than two hours left in the day. But it didnt matter. There were too many workers now, and the project was finished after the last group of men had worked for only half an hour. Johnny gave them some busy work and had everyone clean up the site, and when five oclock finally rolled around, he gathered the men and pulled out his wallet.

Johnny knew exactly which guys had worked all day, and they did too. The first group of five lined up first. Johnny handed each one of them a new hundred dollar bill. The next group of men the ones who started after lunch now lined up, hoping to get half that much. Johnny gave each one of them a new hundred dollar bill. He did the same with the last group of five. One hundred dollars for less than two hours of work. Johnny couldnt look any of the men in the eye. He didnt want to have to try to explain. Just paying it forward.

A couple of men from the first group grumbled that it was not fair. Johnny just shook his head and said, Well... Im the boss.

Every Time a Bell Rings...

As you were reading that story about Johnny and his workers, you probably figured out somewhere along the way that it was a version of Jesus parable of the laborers (Matt. 20:116). This is one of several parables that Jesus begins by saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is like this... These are stories that Jesus used to teach about Gods priorities and the way God does things, and about what Heaven is like, because after all, Heaven is where Gods will is done the way it should be done on earth. The story is an analogy that is, the elements of the story represent more important things. In this case, the landowner represents God, and the laborers represent, well... us people whose lives are dedicated to God in some way. And one meaning that we can get from this parable (because parables often have multiple meanings) is that it doesnt matter that some of us seem to do more for God in our lives than others, or that some of us come to know Jesus later in life. When the work is over, we all get the same reward. Not because weve earned it. Not because its fair. But because we all get more than we deserve. But what is that reward? Its obviously not money. So what does the money represent in the parable? If the Kingdom of Heaven is like this, then the reward must be Heaven itself. But what does that mean?