Questions and Answers about Heaven and the Afterlife
I’ve had a lot of questions about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. And it is right to wonder about them! Depictions of Heaven are everywhere, from the imaginative to the philosophical. We cannot hope to understand everything about Heaven but we can say a lot of things definitively based on Scripture and the Catechism.
Q: How is Heaven a state of being?
A: Heaven is not a physical place floating around in the universe somewhere. What we mean by Heaven being a “state of being” is that it will be an existence different than what we know now. Right now we exist in a physical, tangible world, and we don’t often interact with spiritual realities unless we seek them out. In Heaven we will be with God and the angels (who are not physical, only spiritual beings) but also with Jesus in His Glory and the other saints (who are physical and spiritual) so Heaven will exist in a way that angels and humans are living in harmony with one another. It is hard for us to imagine because it is different than our experience in this life.
Q: Is Heaven the same for everyone? Is it whatever we imagine or want it to be, or rather is it whatever God wants it to be?
A: The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Heaven as “this perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity—this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels, and all the blessed…Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1024).
The Catechism goes on to explain that although in Heaven we keep our individuality or our personal identity, but we all share in the same Heaven together, because what Heaven ultimately means is life-with-Christ. In Heaven we will all be in this perfect unity with God and with each other. This means that we will all share in the same reality and we won’t each be imagining a different version of Heaven. However, since God is infinite, we will not exhaust Heaven. No one will be bored in Heaven. It’s not like we’ll all be sitting on clouds singing Gospel songs all day every day. The joys of Heaven outnumber the joys we have on earth.
Q: If Heaven is above human understanding, how do priests say stuff about it?
A: We can talk about Heaven based on what has been revealed to us by Scripture. The book of Revelation gives us a lot of images of Heaven. Jesus Himself talks about the Kingdom of Heaven over and over again in the Gospels. Everything that we say about Heaven is directly or indirectly related to what we have learned from Scripture. We use logical reasoning to determine things that are not explicitly stated. For example, Revelation tells us “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Because of this we can infer that Heaven is a happy place and that we will not be lacking anything or missing out on anything. This passage indicates we will not feel emptiness, sorrow, pain or fear in Heaven. We have to be careful when we talk about Heaven to separate what has been revealed about Heaven and what we imagine about Heaven. Priests should not be giving homilies stating that Heaven is made of cotton candy and everyone rides around on stars and watches the earth like a little TV because those are merely imaginative ideas. Priests can however talk about the bliss and eternal joy we will experience in Heaven, our closeness with God, and our personal purity, because these things come from Scripture.
Q: Will we recognize people in Heaven?
A: We have conflicting accounts of this in Scripture. Matthew 22 Jesus responds to a trick question from the Sadducees about marriage in Heaven. Jesus replies “at the Resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; the will be like the angels in Heaven” which leads us to believe we will not recognize spouses in Heaven (Matthew 22:30). A different story in the Gospel leads us to the opposite conclusion. have the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke. When the rich man dies he goes to Hades and calls out to Abraham who is in Heaven by Lazarus’ side (Luke 16:19-31). We also hear Jesus say “Many will come…and take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 8:11). It seems that will be able to recognize others in Heaven and we will each retain our individuality and uniqueness. The passage regarding marriage perhaps refers less to that we won’t recognize our spouse in Heaven, but more that we will have such perfect love among all our fellow men that we will not hold spousal love in a higher distinction—we will love everyone in Heaven with that beautiful, unconditional love.
Q: Is Heaven growing like the universe to accommodate people?
A: This has a couple different answers. Is Heaven moved by a force that expands as time progresses and as more people die? No. God is outside of time, and knows exactly how many people will eventually be part of the Kingdom of God (Psalm 147:4-5). Therefore, there is no reason for Heaven to expand, because by definition, Heaven is the epitome of perfection and lacks nothing, including “space”. Is Heaven made up of “space” which has the potential to grow in the first place? We don’t know. We know that in Heaven we will coexist with humans, angels and God (Matthew 24:36). But it will be an existence different than what we are used to so it is hard to know how physical matter will be incorporated. Is the Kingdom of God growing in that it is being prepared (John 14:2-4)? Yes.
Q: What do you imagine Heaven like?
A: I imagine Heaven a lot of different ways. The place I most closely associate with Heaven is my family “home away from home”, Beaver Lake. For over 40 years my dad’s family has been camping there for a week every summer. It used to be just my dad and his brothers but since I’ve been alive, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins’ children, travel down to the lake. We pitch tents, put up clotheslines, make really delicious food and basically move in for the week. It is so nice to get to play and laugh with my cousins for a whole week with no obligations to worry about. It is a very relaxing week in one of the most beautiful places in the world (in my humble opinion) and we get a lot of really quality family time. Below is a picture that exemplifies the serenity and beauty that is typical of Beaver Lake. If Heaven were on earth, I think this is what it would look like.
Q: Can atheists go to Heaven?
A: Pope Francis spoke on this subject. He says, “The Lord has redeemed all of us with the Blood of Christ. All of us—not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! We must meet one another doing good”. We see in the Catechism “since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion, but the imputability of the offense can be significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances” (CCC #2125).
I once knew a girl who was a sworn atheist—thought the idea of a Supreme Being to be ridiculous—but she very adamantly believed in the necessity of doing good. She had a very strong moral character. She did not believe in stealing, cheating, killing, treating people unkindly, or anything of the sort. I always told her she’d make a fantastic Catholic if only she would believe in God. But what do we know about God? God is Goodness. Because this girl believed in and lived her life according to a principle of goodness, on some level she is participating in the goodness of the being which we call “God”. Denying the existence of God is an error, but because she lives in virtue, she has the opportunity to get to Heaven. Jesus died for everyone not just Catholics. When we participate in Goodness, Truth and Love in a sincere manner, we participate in God, whether we realize it or not.
Q: What is Purgatory? How do we know its real?
A: Purgatory is the purification of those who are not damned to hell but are not yet pure enough for Heaven. It is the name we give in reference to parts of Scripture that talk about a “purifying fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15). Although it is loosely referenced in Scripture, it is largely based on long-standing tradition, not just in the Christian Church but from the Ancient Jews as well. Without the concept of a state of purification, it would be useless to pray for the dead.
Q: Do some people go straight to Heaven and skip Purgatory?
A: Nothing impure can enter into Heaven (Revelation 21:27). Theoretically, any one with absolutely no sin on their soul should go straight to Heaven. It is rare, but possible. It would make sense then, that if one were to die of a heart attack walking out of a confessional after receiving absolution, that person should go straight to Heaven as their sins are wiped away (as long as they remained without sin in the couple moments between absolution and death). I would also argue baptized infants (before the age of reason) would go straight to Heaven. The problem with definitively declaring x category of people goes straight to Heaven is that no one on earth actually knows. The Church declares that certain people are certainly in Heaven, but we have no way of knowing if they had to go through purification, because we are not omniscient like God. Also, we only know how time functions on this earth. We know that God is outside of time so the phrase “straight to Heaven” is kind of useless to describe what happens after death because we don’t understand fully what that means. We can definitively say that Mary went straight to Heaven because she was without sin. Aside from that it is hard for us to know.
Q: Do you only leave Purgatory when you are ready? What if you have doubts? A: Our understanding of Purgatory it is reserved for those destined for Heaven. After death our understanding will not be as clouded. We will not have doubts about wanting to go to Heaven. We will be either intent on keeping our sinful ways or else longing to be with God. Purgatory is simply the process of “getting our soul all cleaned up” before we meet God face to face.
Q: What is the average time spent in Purgatory?
Purgatory only lasts as long as you are in need of purification. It could take an instant or a century—we don’t know how time will work in Purgatory.
Q: What happens to our souls in Purgatory? Are our sins actually burned?
A: Purgatory is described as a cleansing or purifying fire (1 Corinthians 3:13). Just as you burn a needle to sterilize it before you try to pop a blister, our souls need to be purified with a burning intensity (gross analogy, but true). Probably this is more metaphorical than anything. Our souls are not physical so it will probably not be an actual physical fire.
Q: What is your opinion about Purgatory?
A: In college I read Dante’s Divine Comedy including the “Purgatorio” which is Dante’s imaginary description of Purgatory. The imagery has stuck with me, so I tend to think of Purgatory as this big cliff where there are levels of spiritual growth. If you committed the worst kind of sins, you started at the very base of the mountain/cliff. If you had lesser sins, you began your journey on a higher level, closer to the top. Once you are purified and have overcome the sin, you move up until you ascend the cliff and enter Heaven. I don’t think this is what Purgatory will literally be like—I couldn’t pretend to know—but that is the picture in my imagination.
Q: Can a murderer be forgiven if they wait ‘til the last minute of their life to confess?
A: Certainly. We see that exact scenario happen in the Gospel of Luke. One of the thieves crucified with Jesus repents and asks Jesus to remember him in His kingdom. Jesus replies “Truly I tell you, this day you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Now if a murderer intentionally waits until he is dying so that he can do whatever he wants and then says “oh yeah but I believe in Jesus” as a back-up plan, that probably would be enough to save him. It would have to be a true and sincere conversion of heart, not just empty words.
Q: If people love God can they not go to hell?
A: That’s the idea. However, understand the distinction between love as an emotion and love as an action. If you “love God” because you think that wearing a crucifix is a really awesome fashion trend and makes you look really “swag”, that will not be enough to save you. For John says, “Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (John 2:3-4).If you actively love God in word and deed, and try to follow His commands, the Church believes you will be saved.
Q: What do you personally believe about Hell?
A: I believe it is nothing I want to experience. I believe Hell is the torture that comes from being separated from God. Hell is the absence of love. I can’t think of anything more hellish than a place where there is no love.