What All Signs Point To

A story is told that in the church of St. Dominic in Naples, Christ spoke to Thomas Aquinas as the saint knelt before a crucifix: "You have spoken well of me, " He said. "What will you have as a reward?" Replying as concisely and to the point as always, St. Thomas answered: "I will have only Thyself." The angelic doctor's desire encapsulates the essence of Heaven: having the Lord.

"This is eternal life, that they know You the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (Jn 17:3). Knowledge of the Lord is certainly not limited to the afterlife. God desires a relationship with us during the entirety of our existence, so in a very real sense if knowing God is eternal life, then one's eternal life begins here in this world. One can find himself in Heaven while still living in this vale of tears.

However, in another sense, the Church speaks of the beatific vision occurring to the righteous soul after death. In this vision, the knowledge of God finds a much deeper dimension for the redeemed. For they "see the divine essence with an intuitive vision and even face-to-face, without the mediation of any creature by way of object of vision; rather the divine essence immediately manifests itself to them plainly, clearly, and openly, and in this vision they enjoy the divine essence" (Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus).

No longer is the soul's knowledge of the divine like that of Moses who caught a glimpse of the Lord's back as He passed by (c.f. Ex 33:22-23). With the beatific vision, the soul's knowledge resembles that of the Son who, being united to the Father, speaks with Him face-to-face. The only way for a man to completely partake in the divine nature as St. Peter invites us to (c.f. 2 Pt 1:4) is by participating in this blessed vision. Indeed, like a log that can only ignite by its close proximity to the embers, so too the soul can only reach its destiny in becoming one with the celestial Fire by an unobstructed gaze into the burning Bush. "Your face, Lord, do I seek" (Ps 27:8) says the psalmist, alongside every soul destined for Heaven, "hide not Your face from me" (Ps 27:9).

In light of the doctrine of the beatific vision, the idea of Heaven as a mere fantasy of earthly delights that the just man anticipates after death is exposed as a fraud; it wholly misses the mark of what Heaven is for the Christian. The reality of Heaven as revealed by the Church is not an extension of the pleasures of earth ad infinitum. It is not the long-awaited reward for the just man who has put off cashing out in this life so as to receive a profit with added interest later on. Heaven is that supernatural progression of an authentic, loving relationship with Christ that leads us into ecstatic union with the Father.

Whereas for the Christian, the delights of this world act as mere signs foreshadowing the true delight to be had in God, Heaven is the place where these signs find their fulfillment. In Heaven alone are the meaning, purpose, and perfection of all things, of all events, of all creatures encountered fully. If material pleasures exist in Heaven, they will only exist in the same way that street signs exist showing the traveler in what direction and how much further to travel in order to arrive at a given destination. It is the imbecile who mistakes the metal of the signpost for the destination itself, only the fool who cares for the sign and does not bother about what the sign points to.

Perhaps this is the great difference between Heaven and Hell: Heaven is where all signs are grounded in the meaning, purpose, and perfection of God; Hell is where all signs- being suspended in nothingness- lack all fulfillment and satisfaction because the One who can make them comprehensible is absent.

Unfortunately, man has been conditioned by sin to solely embrace signs to the neglect of valuing their meaning, their purpose, their telos. This might be why some souls run whole-heartedly into Hell. "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'"(C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity). All that are in the latter category are in Hell because they have deliriously chosen to grasp at signs without giving any awareness to the Sign-Giver. They have followed a destiny that was not meant for them by God's will. For the damned man the sign suffices.

The Christian must be wary lest he fall in this lot. Oftentimes, he too is allured by the sign more so than its Referent. It takes a reconditioning of his heart to reorient itself to the Good, the True, and the Beautiful- the perfections that are rooted in the infinity of God. If he is not substantially drawn towards God, he too might find Heaven a not altogether pleasant place. As "nothing unclean shall enter it" (Rv 21:27), one can find it more comfortable being dirty than to take the necessary steps to enter the satisfying joy of Heaven. A reassessment of what his heart loves is needed to bring, first, an awareness of what is filthy in him and then, a desire to tidy up.

Let the nonbeliever think Heaven is something less than seeing God; let him have his endless drink, let him have his 10,000 virgins, let him have his debauchery with impunity, let him have all the signs he desires; but let the disciple have all signs' Referent and say, "I will have only Thyself, O Lord." This is not merely the desire of the great saints who have achieved an extraordinary love of God, it must be the desire of each soul that wills to enjoy Heaven.