“What have I done hitherto for heaven? What ought I to do for heaven? What shall I do henceforward for heaven?” (Saint Ignatius).
I have been thinking about eternal salvation. What does it look like to have eternal life?
One thing that I know for sure is that the next life is not a continuation of the current life. If I am a teacher in this life I will not be a more perfect teacher in the next life, or if I am a mechanic in this life, I will not be a more perfect mechanic in the next life. This is because the NEXT life is the actual life that we were created to experience and because it is the actual purpose all the other unimportant stuff will not get in the way.
And I know this because of the way that we handle news of death in this life.
When a person receives a diagnosis for a terminal illness, their life immediately changes. Generally, after receiving such a diagnosis, that person will decide to focus on the most important things to them. They might reduce their working hours (or quit their job entirely). They might book a holiday with their family and concentrate on relaxing and spending time together. And it is this natural – and completely understandable – reaction to one’s own impending mortality that causes me to understand that the next life is a NEW life with NEW priorities.
In the next life those who are saved shall be privy to the beatific vision. And the beatific vision is the perfect vision of God! Saint Ignatius of Loyola wrote in his Spiritual Exercises…
“The beatitude of the saints is immutable, like that of the Son of God. . . Add ages to ages; multiply them equal to the sand of the ocean or the stars of heaven; exhaust all numbers, if you can, beyond what the human intelligence can conceive, and for the elect there will be still the same eternity of happiness. They are immutable, and this immutability excludes weariness and disgust. The life of an elect soul is one succession, without end, of desires ever arising and ever satisfied, but desires without trouble, satiety or lassitude. The elect will always see God, love God, possess God and always will wish to see Him, love Him and possess Him still more. This beatitude is the end destined for all; God has given us time only in order to merit it, being and life only to possess it. Reflect seriously on this great truth, and ask yourself these three questions at the foot of the crucifix: What have I done hitherto for heaven? What ought I to do for heaven? What shall I do henceforward for heaven?”
And I have been reflecting on this beatitude – this never-ending immutable glorying of God… For such a thing is beyond imagining. And so, I think about how to prepare myself for such a state of being, and I have come to realise that the only possible preparation for such an eternity is exercise – SPIRITUAL exercise.
For only when I am prepared to be with my Lord and God shall I actually be worthy to be in His presence eternally. And after all, who would not wish to be eternally enamoured of PERFECT love?
And so, I ask myself, using the words of Saint Ignatius, “What have I done hitherto for heaven? What ought I to do for heaven? What shall I do henceforward for heaven?”
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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