What heaven (eternal life) is like

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therese14

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Hello, I have been reading lives of the martyrs here:
catholicsaints.info/died-by-beheading/
catholicsaints.info/died-by-burning/

Most notable is 205 Martyrs of Japan who underwent martyrdom by beheading or burned alive.

I was wondering what eternal life means, what Jesus promised…

I suppose that after undergoing martyrdom of either beheading or burning, especially by burning, the saints became ashes ( ie. Gone)

Does this make heaven like a heaven for Caspers?

You know Casper… The cartoon.

i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff200/baseball_crank/Blog/casper.jpg

I’m sorry if this is a silly question.

What does eternal life means if after death people are practically gone (ie. Turned to ashes)? Where is it located?
Is it a kind of fairy tale? Like Disney?

I’m sorry about my poor faith.
 
If I can tell you where does my poor faith come from, it is after realizing (knowing) the Second Vatican Council that more or less (literally) says that TV and the media is holy, we need to use the media for evangelization.

In the Second Vatican Council documents, Pope Paul VI refers to religious orders as “Institutes” instead of saying the word Religious Orders. “Let those institutes… Etc”.
Not exact quote.

I think I have no problem if this is made by a sinner, but Pope Paul VI is now Blessed Pope Paul VI. And St Pope John Paul II implements second Vatican council heavily.

To me the church looks like Disney. (Doesn’t Disney use the media?)

It is no longer as holy, sacred as in the times of past saints like St Therese of Lisieux in 1800.

It becomes the church with “official” media evangelization from Rome.

Media, to me, can be occasions of sins.

I am a sinner… It just dissapoint me that the church is not as holy as it should be but looks like Disney with laxity.

St Teresa of Avila reform her order to be more strict to the primitive rule, and avoid laxity.

It is in the time past.

Nevertheless, I still love the Catholic Church, and I love Jesus and His teachings about love.

I wonder if past saints use the media too, it wouldn’t look as holy and sacred.

Modern Saints are now like Venerable Fulton Sheen, the TV evangelist. I wonder if Mother Angelica, will be canonized too, for her TV station, EWTN. Of course after she’s in heaven. There’s also Fr. Robert Barron.

They look like Disney stars to me instead of saints. Still good and loving. But holy?
 
The soul is immaterial; it will not decay with the body. The “incorruptibles” are a reminder of this truth.

“But Paradise is the place of delight, which blooms with the freshness of flowers and grass and the charms of spices, full of fine odors and dowered with the joy of blessed souls, giving invigorating moisture to the dry ground; it supplies strong force to the earth, as the soul gives strength to the body, for Paradise is not darkened by shadow or the perdition of sinners.”
  • The Eternal Father to St. Hildegard
In relation to the Church, try not to focus too much on Its members; the Church will always contain imperfect people. The important thing is to remember that God will always be with us; He is in the Blessed Sacrament; He is in the souls of those in a state of grace; and He is present by His grace in every good inspiration that He gives us.

The liturgy - on the whole - is not what it used to be, but Jesus still dwells in our Tabernacles. Don’t read things that sow seeds of doubt; read things that boost your faith.

“She [the Catholic Church] is by nature outstanding by reason of her faith, beautiful by reason of the seven sacraments, laudable by reason of her conduct and virtue, lovable by reason of her fruits, for she reveals the true way to eternity.”
  • Jesus to St. Bridget of Sweden (Bk 3, Ch 24)
Don’t give in to pessimism.

“… before the world ends the Son of Man will be brilliantly and beautifully seen in the Catholic Faith.”
– The Eternal Father to St. Hildegard von Bingen

“… and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”
  • Mt. 28:20
 
Heaven is outside of time, so we can’t see it from our world, since everywhere we see is either now, or in the past (due to the speed of light).

Because it is outside of time, what happens to our dead bodies will not finally matter (although our bodies are us, and so we are attached to them). Our souls will be restored to spiritual bodies, because you need a body to be somebody!

ICXC NIKA
 
therese14 said:
What does eternal life means if after death people are practically gone (ie. Turned to ashes)? Where is it located?
Is it a kind of fairy tale? Like Disney?
Click to expand...
We believe in the resurrection of the body. Our earthly body doesn’t last. Even if we are not beheaded or burned, our body decays after death. Even during life, the body weakens, our organs fail, our memory fails. In heaven, our bodies will be restored to health, and our bodies will be glorified. I sure hope so!

When Jesus rose from the dead, his glorified body still had the marks (wounds) of his crucifixion, but it was somehow healed and healthy. That suggests that our resurrected bodies will not be entirely new bodies, like we traded in our old body, but we will have our original body, healed and healthier than ever, forever.
I’m sorry about my poor faith.
Click to expand...
No need to apologize. Love God and those around you, keep asking good questions, and be at peace.
 
therese14 said:
If I can tell you where does my poor faith come from, it is after realizing (knowing) the Second Vatican Council that more or less (literally) says that TV and the media is holy, we need to use the media for evangelization.

In the Second Vatican Council documents, Pope Paul VI refers to religious orders as “Institutes” instead of saying the word Religious Orders. “Let those institutes… Etc”.
Not exact quote.

I think I have no problem if this is made by a sinner, but Pope Paul VI is now Blessed Pope Paul VI. And St Pope John Paul II implements second Vatican council heavily.

To me the church looks like Disney. (Doesn’t Disney use the media?)

It is no longer as holy, sacred as in the times of past saints like St Therese of Lisieux in 1800.

It becomes the church with “official” media evangelization from Rome.

Media, to me, can be occasions of sins.

I am a sinner… It just dissapoint me that the church is not as holy as it should be but looks like Disney with laxity.

St Teresa of Avila reform her order to be more strict to the primitive rule, and avoid laxity.

It is in the time past.

Nevertheless, I still love the Catholic Church, and I love Jesus and His teachings about love.

I wonder if past saints use the media too, it wouldn’t look as holy and sacred.

Modern Saints are now like Venerable Fulton Sheen, the TV evangelist. I wonder if Mother Angelica, will be canonized too, for her TV station, EWTN. Of course after she’s in heaven. There’s also Fr. Robert Barron.

They look like Disney stars to me instead of saints. Still good and loving. But holy?
Click to expand...
No medium (singular of media) of communication is either good nor evil. If modern media were, in and of itself, evil, there would be no Catholic Answers, nor EWTN, nor would Cardinal Sheen have been able to have his TV show in the 1950s. On the other hand, if modern media were, in and of itself, good, then we wouldn’t have the extreme proliferation of pornography nor would sites like Ashley Madison exist. Modern media is just that - a mode of communication that can be used for the greater good and for things that are objectively evil.

As for some modern-day saints being experts in mass media… Pope St. John Paul II was (is) one of the holiest people in the world during his time. Rumors are that he went to confession daily, often surprising the priests who would be hearing his confession. He was nearly assassinated, yet, prompted by the Holy Spirit, made a special trip to see his would-be assassin in prison to personally forgive him. He inspired a whole generation of young priests - even most of the men who became priests during Benedict XVI’s and Francis’s papacies grew up and were heavily inspired by Pope St. John Paul II. When he was archbishop of Krakow, then-Karol Wojtiwa often defied the Soviet puppet government of Poland by finding loopholes in laws cracking down on religious expression (for instance, he would have religious processions in honor of certain saints, but missing the saint’s icon).
 
therese14 said:
If I can tell you where does my poor faith come from, it is after realizing (knowing) the Second Vatican Council that more or less (literally) says that TV and the media is holy, we need to use the media for evangelization.

In the Second Vatican Council documents, Pope Paul VI refers to religious orders as “Institutes” instead of saying the word Religious Orders. “Let those institutes… Etc”.
Not exact quote.

I think I have no problem if this is made by a sinner, but Pope Paul VI is now Blessed Pope Paul VI. And St Pope John Paul II implements second Vatican council heavily.

To me the church looks like Disney. (Doesn’t Disney use the media?)

It is no longer as holy, sacred as in the times of past saints like St Therese of Lisieux in 1800.

It becomes the church with “official” media evangelization from Rome.

Media, to me, can be occasions of sins.

I am a sinner… It just dissapoint me that the church is not as holy as it should be but looks like Disney with laxity.

St Teresa of Avila reform her order to be more strict to the primitive rule, and avoid laxity.

It is in the time past.

Nevertheless, I still love the Catholic Church, and I love Jesus and His teachings about love.

I wonder if past saints use the media too, it wouldn’t look as holy and sacred.

Modern Saints are now like Venerable Fulton Sheen, the TV evangelist. I wonder if Mother Angelica, will be canonized too, for her TV station, EWTN. Of course after she’s in heaven. There’s also Fr. Robert Barron.

They look like Disney stars to me instead of saints. Still good and loving. But holy?
Click to expand...
Why would anyone care-the media’s just a tool- and a powerful one as far as reaching people goes. Why not exploit it for good? Heaven might be more of a state, the state of being in God’s direct presence, where absolute peace, joy, and total happiness are the immediate effect produced within us. As Pope Benedict put it, “God is heaven.”
 
AttendeDomine said:
For a great explanation of what the soul is, what heaven is like, and what the Beatific Vision entails, I would recommend this book: amazon.com/Theology-Beginners-F-J-Sheed/dp/0892831243

It’s short and easy to read and rather inexpensive.
Click to expand...
Wow, thank you so much on the book recommendation. I find 2 books of F.J. Sheed on the public domain:
archive.org/details/theol…sanit009981mbp
Download Theology and Sanity here

ewtn.com/library/SPIRIT/MAPLIF.TXT
A Map Of Life

From this thread:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=330339

Excellent Read and it answers my questions.

Thank you!! I’m so grateful.

This reminds me of Catholicism, by George Brantl, which is also an excellent read.
 
“Just as a blind man is unable to form any idea about colors, or a deaf person to fathom what it means to hear sounds… so the body cannot comprehend the delights of the soul… For we live in a material world, and the only kind of pleasure we can understand is that experienced through our body. But the joys of the spirit are everlasting and ceaseless. There is no resemblance of any kind between the enjoyments of the soul and those of the body.”
–Maimonides
 
therese14 said:
Hello, I have been reading lives of the martyrs here:
catholicsaints.info/died-by-beheading/
catholicsaints.info/died-by-burning/

Most notable is 205 Martyrs of Japan who underwent martyrdom by beheading or burned alive.

I was wondering what eternal life means, what Jesus promised…

I suppose that after undergoing martyrdom of either beheading or burning, especially by burning, the saints became ashes ( ie. Gone)

Does this make heaven like a heaven for Caspers?

You know Casper… The cartoon.

i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff200/baseball_crank/Blog/casper.jpg

I’m sorry if this is a silly question.

What does eternal life means if after death people are practically gone (ie. Turned to ashes)? Where is it located?
Is it a kind of fairy tale? Like Disney?

I’m sorry about my poor faith.
Click to expand...
Don’t worry.

Your doubts are perfectly natural (like your body).

Really, what happens in cremation and the like is no different from what happens in a few days for those who drown in the ocean, or about fifty years for those who die on land. The skin crumbles, the flesh decomposes, the bones dissolve away (most human beings do not fossilize). Anybody more than 100 years dead, however death took place, would not have a dead body to return to.

But this question is as old as the Corinthians and S. Paul: “How are the dead raised? With what body do they come?” I.e., we need bodies, but our dead body will not wait around for our soul. Even if you were mummified, the body would never again move or hold life.

But the answer is much simpler than that: “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (egereitai pneumatikon soma). (1 Co 15)

ICXC NIKA.
 
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