YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic
youth
285 What is eternal happiness?
Eternal happiness is seeing God and being taken up into
God’s happiness. [1720-1724, 1729]
Photo: …..”Arise! Shine, for
your light has come, the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you. Though darkness covers the earth, and thick
clouds, the peoples, upon you the LORD will dawn, and over you his glory
will be seen. Nations shall walk by your
light, kings by the radiance of your dawning.” –Isaiah 60:1-3
…..285
Pascal's Wager argues that humans all bet with their lives either that God
exists or not. Given the possibility that God actually does exist and
assuming an infinite gain or loss associated with belief or unbelief in said
God (as represented by an eternity in heaven or hell), a
rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe
in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite
loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.).
In God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit there is
unending life, joy, and communion. To be
taken up into it will be an incomprehensible, infinite happiness for us
men. This happiness is the pure gift of
God’s grace, for we men can neither bring it about ourselves nor comprehend its
magnitude. God would like us to decide
in favor of our happiness; we should choose God freely, love him above all
things, do good and avoid evil insofar as we are able. 52, 156-158
“Man is so great that nothing on earth can satisfy him. Only when he turns to God is he
content.” St. John Vianney (1786-1859)
“Only he who made man makes man happy.” St. Augustine (354-430
“We shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2
Arise!
Shine, for your light has come, the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you. Though darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds, the peoples, upon you the LORD will
dawn, and over you his glory will be seen.
Nations shall walk by your light, kings by the radiance of your dawning. –Isaiah 60:1-3
III. CHRISTIAN BEATITUDE
…….1720 The New Testament uses several expressions
to characterize the beatitude to which God calls man:
- the coming of the Kingdom of God;( Compare Matthew 4:17.)16 -
the vision of God: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God"( Matthew 5:8; compare 1 John 2; 1 Corinthians 13:12.)17
- entering into God's rest(Compare Hebrews 4:7-11.)19
There we shall rest and see, we shall see and love, we shall
love and praise. Behold what will be at the end without end. For what other end
do we have, if not to reach the kingdom which has no end?( St. Augustine, De civ. Dei 22,30,5:Patrologia
Latina 41,804.)20 –Catechism
of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
…….1721 God put us in the world to know, to
love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us
"partakers of the divine nature" and of eternal life.( 2 Peter 1:4; compare John 17:3.)21 With beatitude,
man enters into the glory of Christ22 and into the joy of the
Trinitarian life. –CCC
…….1722 Such beatitude surpasses the understanding
and powers of man. It comes from an entirely free gift of God: whence it is
called supernatural, as is the grace that disposes man to enter into the divine
joy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God." It is true, because of the greatness and inexpressible glory of God,
that "man shall not see me and live," for the Father cannot be
grasped. But because of God's love and goodness toward us, and because he can
do all things, he goes so far as to grant those who love him the privilege of
seeing him. . . . For "what is impossible for men is possible
for God."( St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4,20,5:Patrologia
Graeca 7/1,1034-1035.)23 –CCC
…….1723 The beatitude we are promised confronts us
with decisive moral choices. It invites us to purify our hearts of bad
instincts and to seek the love of God above all else. It teaches us that true
happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in
any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science,
technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of
every good and of all love:
“All bow down before wealth. Wealth is that to which the
multitude of men pay an instinctive homage. They measure happiness by wealth;
and by wealth they measure respectability. . . . It is a homage
resulting from a profound faith . . . that with wealth he may do all things.
Wealth is one idol of the day and notoriety is a second. . . .
Notoriety, or the making of a noise in the world - it may be called
"newspaper fame" - has come to be considered a great good in itself,
and a ground of veneration.”( John Henry Cardinal Newman,
"Saintliness the Standard of Christian Principle," in Discourses
to Mixed Congregations (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1906) V,
89-90.)24 --CCC
…….1724
The Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, and the apostolic
catechesis describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven.
Sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we tread them, step by step, by
everyday acts. By the working of the Word of Christ, we slowly bear fruit in
the Church to the glory of God.( Compare
the parable of the sower: Matthew 13:3-23.)25 –CCC
IN BRIEF
…….1729 The
beatitude of heaven sets the standards for discernment in the use of earthly
goods in keeping with the law of God. --CCC
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