From the Associate&

"Those who died in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ.  They are like God for ever, for they 'see him as he is, 'face to face'" (Catechism #1023).  Heaven is all about eternal happiness, joy, peace and all this, because it is first and foremost, a communion of life and love with the Most Holy Trinity, and consequently also with the Virgin Mary, the angels and saints in glory.  In heaven, we shall all contemplate the beauty of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with an eternal gaze:  the Church calls this activity "the beatific vision."  Some theologians posit that as we contemplate the Divine in glory, we shall be forever gaining new insight into God, because while He will be seen and known as He is, nevertheless God remains the great Mystery beyond full human comprehension.  They would argue that this ever-learning experience produces unending joy in the soul.
Scripture uses many images, or metaphors, for heaven:  e.g., a kingdom, a wedding feast, the Father's house, Paradise, and the heavenly Jerusalem (i.e. a city).  Jesus says to the good sheep on judgment day, "Come you who are blessed by my Father.  Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 24:34).  It was the five wise virgins, with oil for their lamps, who went out to meet the bridegroom, and entered "the wedding feast" (Matthew 25:10).  Jesus assured his disciples, "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places" (John 14:2).  And to the Good Thief, St. Dismas, who died next to him on the cross, he said, "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).  Finally the latter part of the book of Revelations speaks much about the new and heavenly Jerusalem:  "I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelations 21:2).  Heaven is a place where, "death is no more," "crying and pain are no more," "great rewards" are given, "myriads of angels surround the throne in festal gathering." "the righteous shine like the sun," "all things are made new," God is seen "face to face," "the lion lays down with the lamb," and the "Lamb of God" is the light of heaven.  The "holy city Jerusalem" is fortified by "walls adorned by jewels," possessing "twelve gates" and "twelve foundations," upon which, respectively, the "twelve tribes of Israel" and "twelve Apostles of the Lamb" are "inscribed."  This "holy city Jerusalem" is filled with "the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal."  Wouldn't you love to go there?
Every time I celebrate a funeral, it is another opportunity to reflect on my/our eternal destiny.  I love to imagine the deceased, and one day myself, ascending the stairs of a narrow passageway, which at it's climax is filled with the brilliance of Divine glory and surrounded by the multitudes of saints cheering, clapping for, and receiving this new saint, with joy written on every face, as the praises of God are sung resoundingly, triumphantly.  In the Catholic