Family relationships in heaven

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Heaveniswaiting

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I read on the internet that family relationships will end here on earth and that when we die and go to heaven we will no longer be a family. ( father, mother, brother sister…etc)

I find this kinda sad because for example my mother lost her mom to cancer when she was only 20 years old. I know she’s always missing her mom even though she is old now and I have always wished that when she is in heaven and reunited with her mother that they are able to have the same daughter-mother relationship again…

Does anyone else find this kind of sad and unfair?
 
I understand it in that the love between parent and child will be seen in a new glorious light and enjoyed more fully than possible on earth but won’t exclude other people
So it will be made perfect
 
I’ve lost almost all of my dear family members. This very issue has haunted me for over 70 years, just getting worse as the years pass. We can only trust in the Word of Jesus, do our best to live as He asked, receive the sacraments as often as possible, and keep at it when we feel as though we’re on a treadmill. His Word is one of the few things that we can trust. Let us all pray for greater understanding and trust in Him, that we do His Will.
 
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You ‘read on the internet’ where?

Do you think that Mary is no longer Jesus’ mother in heaven?

It is not Catholic teaching that there will be no family relationships in heaven. We are all ‘one family’ but most certainly the fact that on earth you had one particular woman as your mother will not be ‘lost’ or ‘ended’ in heaven. (and before people jump, if you had foster mothers, stepmothers, ‘mothers of the heart’ etc on heaven those relationships won’t end with death either).

Rather, they will then become perfect.

You know, ‘reading on the internet’ is a fun thing and all, but don’t be gulled.
 
can you explain to me what you mean by becoming “perfect”?
 
I understand…but I am still confused as to how this can “include other ppl” that were not in my immediate family…
 
We can’t begin to imagine what heaven is like. Any answer to your question is surmise.
 
Yes. you are right. Someone once said that describing heaven would be like trying to describe the wonders of the internet to an ant!

I can only imagine just how great heaven would be…but my human mind cant fully comprehend…I guess I will just have to wait…
 
Once when my son was little and I told him I loved him, he asked me why. I told him, “Because God gave me the very special gift of seeing how very special you are.” Our capacity to love is small now; making it bigger will be a gain, not a loss!!

@(name removed by moderator) is right. Heaven can be nothing if not an unimaginable expansion of our entire experience of love. We don’t know what it will be like, but we know that for the elect “he will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)

No worries, then!
 
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I’m not absolutely sure but I guess because we are all perfectly happy in heaven even people who didn’t have any family or were in unhappy families
 
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Heaveniswaiting said:
Does anyone else find this kind of sad and unfair?
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No, because what Frankie said is correct.
You will still see and love your loved ones in heaven. It will just be better and more inclusive of others, including so many ancestors and descendents you didn’t get to meet on earth. Just trust in God and quit reading bothersome stuff on the Internet.
 
No I do not think it’s sad or unfair. Unfair and sad is the millions of people who grew up as orphans who have no family. Who grew up feeling alone and unloved. People who were horrifically abused as children by their so called parents who were supposed to love and protect them. People who never were able to get married. Why should these people
have to feel “less than” in heaven too? And compare themselves to a couple who was married for 50+ years on this earth. No, I believe everyone in heaven will be equal/on the same page and no one will be better off than the other. Now that sounds heavenly! 🙏
 
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I heard of a case where a man who had been sexually abused by his father became a priest. The abuser repented, and his own son heard his Confession.
 
Heaven will not be disappointing in any way at all.
If you were close to a sister or mother or friend, it will be filled with God’s love which is times 1000, if we could use words to describe it.

If you lived your life with vision impairment and only saw a little bit, and only in shades of grey, imagine what it would be like to have your sight fully restored and you saw color and sunshine. Then you were put in a mountain meadow and could smell fresh mountain air at the same time. And birds singing. You would be in awe and wonder. So it will be in heaven because scripture says we can’t imagine what God has in store for us. The world right now is only in shadows.
 
I know this is an imperfect thought but since I’m human and can’t yet fully comprehend Heaven, here is how I think of it.
It’s like when you go to some big wonderful event, such as a rock festival of your favorite music, a Super Bowl victory parade for your favorite home team, a Papal Mass in your city, or a saint being beatified or canonized. You’re there with your family and friends and all of you are really excited and happy, but everybody around you is excited and happy too and you chat with them and are super friendly and talking about all the common interests you have (the bands, the team, the Pope, the saint etc). Everybody is in a fantastic mood, having a great time together, you are enjoying everyone you meet. In Heaven it’s even better because people have unlimited time and access, so if I want to have a long conversation with my favorite saint then I can go do that just like I’d have a long talk with my mom.

But my mom is still my mom there, and while spouses will no longer be married they’ll certainly remember each other and that they shared a life on earth and be glad to see each other. And if you had more than one spouse or relationship and both of the people are in Heaven, you’ll be able to see and spend time with them both with no jealousy or restriction.
 
Divine Union with God. That’s what we are told is the final destination. The best you can do to determine anything about that state can be found consulting with the writings of our great Mystics. Song of Songs. Dark night of the soul. Saint Therese. Julian of Norwich. Etc.
There are many many tales of observations of death by Hospice workers, hospital workers and others of experiencing the process of death. These have been amassed by serious scientists in recent years. It is reported in significant numbers that people witness the dying being taken over to the next place by loved ones, and family often. I have no reason to doubt these accounts of what people all over the world witness.
 
Ok, but I don’t know you’re telling me this. I don’t recall saying anything to the contrary. . .
 
Why do we have parent/child relationships?

Because we have to help each other get to heaven. The parent teaches the child a lot about how to grow up to be the person God wants them to be, and the child unconsciously teaches the parent about the parent’s own relationship with God. And they get to review territory they covered from their own relationships with their parents from a new perspective.

But just as your relationship with your parent changes when you become an adult— because a 40-year-old adult has a different relationship with his parent than it was when he was 4 years old-- just as a 5-year-old has a different relationship with his 2-year-old brother, versus when they’re 60 and 57. They don’t stop being parent/child or siblings, but the nature of their relationship changes with time and circumstances.

The thing about heaven is about unity. We’re all there in the presence of God to worship God. That’s not to say that we’re all equal in heaven-- the great Saints’ capacity to worship and love God is greater than others’ capacity to worship and love God, and the people who earned great merit on earth enjoy greater privilege in their afterlife.

But the other distinctions between ourselves disappear— neither slave/free, woman/man, etc— in the midst of that immersion in unity and love. 💙
 
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