Who Is In Heaven Right Now?

[flip]

Who is in Heaven RIGHT NOW?
A) No One (except God and angels)
B) Only Saints (except God and angels)
C) All who have died in Christ (except God and angels)

The question is this: What does the Church teach about "The Last Judgement"? Does the Church say that we will all be judged at the same time at the end of the age, or does the Church say that we will be judged as soon as we die, resulting in things like my Grandfather who died "in Christ" 5 years ago bieing in heaven right now as I type this (hypothetical situation)...

Or is the teaching that there will be a Last Judgement for all at the same time at the end of the age, except for the Saints who are exempt from this and get to chill in Heaven with God because they were so dope on earth?

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='flip' date='Sep 4 2004, 09:44 AM']Who is in Heaven RIGHT NOW?
A) No One (except God and angels)
B) Only Saints (except God and angels)
C) All who have died in Christ (except God and angels)

The question is this: What does the Church teach about "The Last Judgement"? Does the Church say that we will all be judged at the same time at the end of the age, or does the Church say that we will be judged as soon as we die, resulting in things like my Grandfather who died "in Christ" 5 years ago bieing in heaven right now as I type this (hypothetical situation)...

Or is the teaching that there will be a Last Judgement for all at the same time at the end of the age, except for the Saints who are exempt from this and get to chill in Heaven with God because they were so dope on earth?[/quote]
The best answer is "B", God and the angels, and the saints, i.e, all those persons who have died in a state of grace and who have gone through what Eastern Catholics call [i]Final Theosis[/i]. If the person in question has no venial sins, he immediately enters into the Beatific Vision of God, but if he has venial sins, he enters into the Vision of God only after he has been purged of those venial attachments in purgatory. This immediate judgment is called [i]Particular Judgment[/i]. In reference to this judgment the [u]Catechism of the Catholic Church[/u] says:

[1021] Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul-a destiny which can be different for some and for others.

[1022] Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification or immediately, -or immediate and everlasting damnation. At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.

[[u]Catechism of the Catholic Church[/u], nos. 1021-1022]


In addition to the Particular Judgment there is the [i]Last[/i] or [i]Final Judgment[/i] at the end of time, when all men will stand before Christ in their resurrected bodies. This judgment will make manifest to all humanity the actions of each man, and Christ will then divide those standing before Him into two groups, those who will reign with Him in heaven and those who will be damned. In reference to this judgment the [u]Catechism of the Catholic Church[/u] says the following:

[1038] The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust," will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." Then Christ will come "in his glory, and all the angels with him .... Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.... And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

[1039] In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life: All that the wicked do is recorded, and they do not know. When "our God comes, he does not keep silence.". . . he will turn towards those at his left hand: . . . "I placed my poor little ones on earth for you. I as their head was seated in heaven at the right hand of my Father - but on earth my members were suffering, my members on earth were in need. If you gave anything to my members, what you gave would reach their Head. Would that you had known that my little ones were in need when I placed them on earth for you and appointed them your stewards to bring your good works into my treasury. But you have placed nothing in their hands; therefore you have found nothing in my presence."

[1040] The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvellous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God's love is stronger than death.

[1041] The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them "the acceptable time, . . . the day of salvation." It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to the justice of the Kingdom of God. It proclaims the "blessed hope" of the Lord's return, when he will come "to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all who have believed."

[[u]Catechism of the Catholic Church[/u], nos. 1038-1041]