“What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

 

This is a good starting point when we ask the question: “What is heaven like?” We have many images of heaven. But they cannot adequately express the true reality of what life in heaven will be.

The central truth concerning heaven, as stated in the Catholic Catechism, is union with God. 

The Catechism explains that “perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity . . . is called ‘heaven.’ Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (CCC 1024). It also states that “heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ” (CCC 1026).

 

This union with God begins on earth, in time and at the moment of our baptism and it is completed when we die in Christ, so as to live in Christ for all eternity. It is a union of perfect love. This is the pearl of great price, which Jesus speaks of in the scriptures. If we are living in union with God in the present moment, don't let anything or anyone distract us by offering us a fake pearl. For this union with God is our ticket to eternal union with God. Otherwise we will be like Esau who sold his birth right, his inheritance, for a pot of broth.