BEATIFIC VISION, YES HEAVEN IS REAL

By Bro. Manny OTFS Chief Apologist

WHO CAN SMILE LIKE THIS AT THE HOUR OF DEATH?

In Christian theology, the beatific vision (Latin: Visio beatific) is the ultimate direct self-communication of God to the individual person. A person possessing the beatific vision reaches, as a member of redeemed humanity in the communion of saints, perfect salvation in its entirety, i.e. heaven.

Who could smile such a beautiful smile while suffering from a very painful disease of cancer of the lungs which is agonizing and painful? I have known a friend who died of the illness and he was shouting even while having given heavy doses of pain killers. Not only that your breathing is impeded but your entire body suffers in excruciating pain but Sister Cecilia a Carmelite nun from Carmel of Sta Fe in Argentina is shown here with that beautiful smile even while she was already at the throes of death. 

Her smile is contagious that one can feel the outpouring of happiness she was feeling at that moment of death. She must have been met by "someone" so heavenly that left a smile on her face so sweet and so tender. According to our Catholic Faith, some have been given the gift of that beatific vision their soul will experience in the afterlife. Here she may have seen it and she looks ecstatic while she is in agony as she lay dying. 

I never in my life saw someone dying with so sweet a smile as if she is seeing and greeting someone while she is about to lapse to her death. Her smile is radiant and one can feel the happiness, the heavenly joy she was experiencing. It's a gift to have such a blessed death. Indeed death has no power over those who die with Christ.

While death is horrifying even to some of the most saintly individuals, but God is so good that he allowed us to see someone dying with that beatific vision, dying in the arms of God. Her radiating smile and happy face give us a glimpse of heaven that awaits those that persevere in the love of God till the end.

We wrote about the reality of Hell and if hell is real, then there is Heaven on the other side. Heaven exists and for those with faith, it is the only thing that matter in our life, to be in heaven after our journey on earth. We are on a journey and this will one day end at the time and season determined for us by God. When our time is up, its up and there is nothing we can do about it. There is time for everything under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die. A time to laugh and a time to cry. A time when we complete our journey and say goodbye to the world hello to eternity. We will all go the way of our ancestors passing through death to either the 2nd death which is hell or the life everlasting which awaits us in heaven together with those that will be saved.

No one is excused from suffering. No one. We all have our crosses if we follow Jesus. He never promised heaven while we lived here on earth, he promised heaven after our death if we walk the talk and do what he taught us and that is to do the will of the Father. In fact, Jesus said in John 16:33 "I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have trouble. But Take courage; I have overcome the world."So if you are having problems now remember it will pass and it will have solutions. No problem is big enough that was not solved over time. We just have to persevere and hang on to our faith never giving up even when there seems to be no way. 

By Bro. Manny, OTFS Apologist

Copyright © 2016 by ONE TRUE FAITH SOCIETY

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