We all have a very hard time imagining what heaven will be like. This is because our mortal minds simply can’t conceive of the eternal dimension into which we will be born when we pass from this life into the next.
What we do know that we will have a glorified body in heaven and that we will recognize one another. We won’t be just anonymous souls floating around the sky or somehow absorbed into an eternal consciousness. No, I will be Scott and you will be who you are, yet with a glorified body that is no longer subject to sickness or decay. We will have an eternal body, as Jesus showed his disciples in both his transfigured and resurrected body.
Bishop Barron offers some of the most amazing insights into what it will be like to have this glorified body. He draws from a the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the renowned doctor of the Church. I must say, imagining what this is going to be like makes me want to go to heaven NOW!
Bishop Barron shares St. Thomas’ reflections on the glorified body in his homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent. According to Aquinas, it will have the following characteristics:
- Identity – we will recognize one another
- Quality – it will be at the height of its powers; full, integral, powerful, beautiful
- Impassibility/Unchangeability – it will never change or diminish. No threat of sickness and death.
- Agility – the utter submission of the body to the soul. To travel at the “speed of thought.”
- Clarity or Luminosity – filled with light
Listen to the following brief excerpt about the fourth characteristic, agility. If this doesn’t make you want to go to heaven, I’m not sure what will!
I strongly suggest you listen to Bishop Barron’s entire homily. It’s just over 13 minutes in length and will provide inspiration for a lifetime. The promise of a glorified body is the hope we all have as Christians. We can only imagine what heaven will be like, but what a delight to do so when we base our imagining on sound teaching such as this!