Do Bonds Remain in Heaven?

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salve_maria_1

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I was wondering if there are any Church teachings on this matter, writings from the saints, etc. Do bonds remain in heaven? I’m speaking specifically of friendship. I must assume that we will know them, and I would think that if death separates friends and one is living and one is alive in Christ (in Purgatory or Heaven) that the party that was saved is looking out and praying for the friend on earth. But once one attains the Beatific Vision, will that special bond of friendship, particularly if they were quite close, remain? Or will everyone feel exactly the same towards each other?

I understand love is perfected in Heaven and everyone’s desires are fulfilled in God…I just guess that I’ve always had this static vision of Heaven where everyone is just statically transfixed on God. I know I have absolutely no idea how wonderful Heaven will really be.
 
It’s my understanding that what is meant by the “communion of saints” is that we will all be “bonded”

Like, you’ll still have those close relationships with spouses, family, friends, --you’ll just also love everyone else that much too.
 
I don’t think you can cash your T-bills in Heaven.

Otherwise, ask James. :):)🙂

ICXC NIKA
 
My opinion, which might be incorrect, is that we will all enjoy the bonds we shared with loved ones while on earth, but that our “circle” will be expanded to include everyone. Like gaining hundreds of thousands of new best friends in the blink of an eye. But I believe that those who were dearest to us in this life (spouse, friend, etc.) will be closest to our side as we behold the beatific vision, especially since our dearest person was probably instrumental in getting us to heaven in the first place!
 
Thanks for all the replies so far. (Yes…I realized this could go in the funny thread titles thread when looking at it from a financial point of view…)

I guess what really has me feeling odd about the whole thing is that, for example, I grew up in an abusive household. So my mother, who has been physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive towards me my whole life, should she make it to heaven (and I do wish for that very much- I have no desire that anyone should deprived of Heaven), will be loved by me in exactly the same manner and degree as the friend who has helped me though terrible times and treated me with extreme kindness and love and more than anyone else encouraged me to love and cherish our Holy Faith? I know it must be my extreme deficiencies which engender such feelings, but I can’t seem to shake them right now.

I’ve known very little love in my life, especially personal love from my family. I understand how God can love each of us individually, even if it isn’t something that registers with me emotionally. Our Lady, on the other hand, registers with me emotionally. I was at Mass yesterday and I was gazing at a lovely statue of her near the side and thinking that if she was there in person, I would run up to her and throw my arms around her, regardless of the fact that she is Queen of Heaven, because she is my Mother and my only true mother.

Will I get to love her like that in Heaven? Will I get to be embraced by her? I’m just really struggling with my Asperger’s right now and feeling isolated and hoping that even if I can’t experience or struggle with human interaction/friendships/family right now, at least I will get to experience them in a perfected way in Heaven, right? Do we lose our humanity in being united by God, or is it perfected and sharpened to a degree I can’t even imagine right now?
 
salve_maria said:
Thanks for all the replies so far. (Yes…I realized this could go in the funny thread titles thread when looking at it from a financial point of view…)

I guess what really has me feeling odd about the whole thing is that, for example, I grew up in an abusive household. So my mother, who has been physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive towards me my whole life, should she make it to heaven (and I do wish for that very much- I have no desire that anyone should deprived of Heaven), will be loved by me in exactly the same manner and degree as the friend who has helped me though terrible times and treated me with extreme kindness and love and more than anyone else encouraged me to love and cherish our Holy Faith? I know it must be my extreme deficiencies which engender such feelings, but I can’t seem to shake them right now.

I’ve known very little love in my life, especially personal love from my family. I understand how God can love each of us individually, even if it isn’t something that registers with me emotionally. Our Lady, on the other hand, registers with me emotionally. I was at Mass yesterday and I was gazing at a lovely statue of her near the side and thinking that if she was there in person, I would run up to her and throw my arms around her, regardless of the fact that she is Queen of Heaven, because she is my Mother and my only true mother.

Will I get to love her like that in Heaven? Will I get to be embraced by her? I’m just really struggling with my Asperger’s right now and feeling isolated and hoping that even if I can’t experience or struggle with human interaction/friendships/family right now, at least I will get to experience them in a perfected way in Heaven, right? Do we lose our humanity in being united by God, or is it perfected and sharpened to a degree I can’t even imagine right now?
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Our humanity will be perfected, absolutely. Think about why you love Mary. She was the first Christian, and she is the most perfect, full of grace human being. We will be totally conformed to Christ, our earthly relationship difficulties will be overcome, and we will all be made perfect. For myself, I have several broken relationships that my only hope for reconciliation is not in this life.
Heaven is outside of time, so my own personal opinion is that we will be allowed to witness the coronation of Mary with all the saints as we enter Heaven. I imagine that would be part of the fulfillment and joy we experience in Heaven, seeing Jesus crown His mother. I don’t see why that celestial event would be inaccessible to us, considering there is no time in eternity. I have imagined witnessing that moment, and the utter joy all the saints would experience, and how we would all be celebrating and adoring the Trinity.
I also have imagined that we will all have an important role in the heavenly liturgy. Those talents God gives us to build His Kingdom on earth won’t just evaporate when we die. Whether it would be when we enter Heaven, or at the resurrection of the body, I like to think that God would have special roles to fulfill in order to make His worship glorious. Human beings are happiest when we work together and play together in peace and harmony, so I imagine much of the happiness of heaven will include honorable service and teamwork with our loved ones and new best friends.
Now this is all my imaginings, and I do not claim to be correct. But it gives me comfort to think about Heaven in such a way.
 
GEddie said:
I don’t think you can cash your T-bills in Heaven.

Otherwise, ask James. :):)🙂

ICXC NIKA
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Well, I was starting to doubt their value here on earth, with this bit of added information, I suppose I will just go ahead and sell mine now.
 
Salve Maria asks** : “Do bonds remain in heaven? …specifically [Bonds] of friendship. … I would think that if death separates friends and one is living and one is alive in Christ (in Purgatory or Heaven) that the party that was saved is looking out and praying for the friend on earth.”**

First, not all Bonds exist in Heaven.
Jesus answered a question from the Pharisees.
It was the story of the woman whose Husband died before he could father a child, and his 6 brothers, one-by-one married her but also died child-less. Which one of them would be her Husband in Heaven?
Jesus said that Life in Heaven has NO such Bonds.
I think that it might also mean that father-son and mother-daughter bonds don’t exist in Heaven (among the Heavenly creatures).
But this has nothing to do with the Bond between a person in Heaven and his/her earthly Bonds to friends and relatives.

As far as someone in Heaven related to someone on Earth, that is a very different situation.
People here on Earth pray to God that a person in Heaven (usually a Saint, but often a Friend or Relative) intercede with God to help them in some way.

For many Centuries, this has been “standard” Catholic practice.
A Church-sanctioned Saint is fully aware when I ask for Intercession.
A non-Sanctioned saint (everyone else) is aware when I pray for them to Intercede with God for me.

The Odds are, a Catholic Saint will probably have a lot more PULL with God, in getting your Prayer offered up on the Altar in Heaven … but, any person in Heaven can ask God for your Help.

The role for a Poor Soul in Purgatory is similar, but even MORE of a 2-way street.
I offer up Merits to a Soul … and that Soul gets some relief from his Sentence in Purgatory.
This means that either (1) his Time in Purgatory is reduced, or (2) the Punishment becomes less intense.
And, in return, the Poor Soul can (and usually does, if I ask) offer Prayers to God in my name, giving me Merit.
Thanks guys.
 
I had read this in the Catholic Encyclopedia:

“We are created for love and friendship, for indissoluble union with our friends. At the grave of those we love our heart longs for a future reunion. This cry of nature is no delusion. A joyful and everlasting reunion awaits the just man beyond the grave.”

And on accidental beatitude (in addition the Beatific Vision):

Besides the essential object of beatitude the souls in heaven enjoy many blessings accidental to beatitude. We shall mention only a few:

…They delight greatly in the company of Christ, the angels, and the saints, and in the reunion with so many who were dear to them on earth…
…After the resurrection the union of the soul with the glorified body will be a special source of joy for the blessed…
…They derive great pleasure from the contemplation of all those things, both created and possible, which, as we have shown, they see in God, at least indirectly as in the cause. And, in particular, after the last judgment the new heaven and the new earth will afford them manifold enjoyment. (See GENERAL JUDGMENT.)…

This seems to indicate to me that we will NOT just be my unfortunate mental image of static happy robots worshiping the Blessed Trinity, but will rather be experiencing something more full of life, more dynamic, than we can even imagine, and that we will ever love and cherish those friends that we had while on this earth. I guess I can try to understand this by thinking on how happy it makes me to see my friends full of joy, and how much more this will be when we are in the state of perfect joy. So it seems to me that friendships, both with those we knew here on earth and those we will know in Heaven, will contribute greatly to our accidental beatitude. I suppose I could be wrong, but that’s my interpretation.
 
I am reading The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin and he has a section about how the love we have on earth - especially spiritual friendships and love - continues on in heaven. He quotes St. Catherine and St. Bernard.

I’m sorry it’s too long for me to type it all out, but it really is a wonderful, hope-filled section and I encourage everyone to read the entire book! 👍
 
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