Paradise

Paradise is the state of perfect and unending happiness where the elect, fully united to God, share his life and his joy forever. It is also called heaven, the dwelling of God and of the blessed. It is the end for which man was created, and his total accomplishment.

To see God face to face

The heart of heavenly happiness is to see God as he is. The Lord promised it to the pure of heart: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 On earth, we know God through his works and in faith; in paradise, we will see him directly, face to face. The Church names this contemplation the beatific vision, for it makes blessed those who receive it. “Now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then it will be face to face.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 To see God thus surpasses the powers of every creature: it is God himself who raises the soul by his grace to make it able to contemplate him.

The happiness that fills all

Man is made for God, and God alone can fill his heart. In paradise, this desire finds at last its full satisfaction: God gives himself entirely, and the soul is filled without measure and without end. This happiness surpasses all that we can imagine here below. “What the eye has not seen, what the ear has not heard, this is what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

The shared joy

The happiness of paradise is a communion. The blessed live in the joy of God and in the joy of one another: it is the communion of saints brought to its term, the city where God dwells with his own. “Behold the dwelling of God with men; he will dwell with them, and they will be his people.” Revelation 21:3 The souls of the just taste this happiness immediately after the judgment; at the end of time, when the bodies rise, their joy will overflow onto the glorified flesh, and the whole man, body and soul, will live of God.