I wrote at the Register a couple weeks back that I had no idea there was so much that saints said about life in heaven, and how we’ll meet again.

Growing up as a Protestant I received the gamut of opinions, arguments, and exegesis on the possible outcomes.

Then there was that confusing book turned movie, The 5 People You Meet In Heaven. The story is about a guy who dies in an attempt to save a young girl, and in heaven he meets 5 people who impacted him or he had an impact on. They each teach him an important lesson. As a Catholic, I can only entertain it as a nice spin on Purgatory, but it still put a stalling question in my mind, Other than God, who DO we meet in heaven?

The question always rang in my mind: will I meet my parents in heaven? And what of my spouse? Or children? And those who would opine that we do not meet in heaven would attempt to shame me with statements like, “Is God not enough for you?” and the like. I wasn’t just annoyed, it caused me many times to be tempted to despair of God’s plan and promises. The uncertainly caused me grief, sometimes depression, and a certain loss of hope.

I admit, too, though I have studied diligently as a Catholic, I did not pursue studies on the afterlife. That changed very recently when I read the book, In Heaven We’ll Meet Again, by Francois Rene Blot (written a long time ago, so you know it’s good). The book marvelously lays out the argument, and within the first 30 pages I was convinced beyond all doubt: we will meet again in heaven! The rest of the book, from there, clarifies several related subjects including how we can pray for others who are in sin, what family we’ll meet, union of men and angels, what those in heaven are doing for us right now, and more. Few times have I read such a comprehensive study in such a digestible book.

I’m completely overtaken by this idea because it is a gargantuan cause for hope. And not a fool’s hope either; the saints and scripture are clear: we will meet loved ones in heaven, and we can pray for those who want to make sure we meet there. Yes, that would be everyone. This is one reason I love being Catholic: the testimony of the saints, and the benefit of the Magisterium as a servant of God’s Word. Here’s a few samples of the saints (and even one who's not a saint) who put it plainly: we’ll meet again!

1. St. Athanasius

"To the souls of the just in heaven God grants a great gift, which is mutual recognition." St. Athanasius, Quaestiones ad Antiochum principem, q. 22.

2. St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church

"This example makes us clearly understand how great will be the knowledge which we shall have of one another in the incorruptible life of heaven, since this religious, though still in a corruptible flesh, seemed to recognize the holy prophets, whom, however, he had never seen." St Gregory the Great, Dialogues, bk. 4, chap 34.

3. St. Bernard

"The blessed are united among themselves by a charity which is so much greater as they are nearer to God, who is charity. No envy can throw suspicion into their ranks, for there is nothing in one which is concealed from the other; the all-pervading light of truth permits it not." St. Bernard, Sermon 1 for the Dedication of a Church.

4. Photius I (Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople)

"If your daughter were to appear to you, and, placing her face, resplendent with glory, against your face and her hand within yours, thus were to speak to you, would it not be to describe the joys of heaven? Then she would add: 'Why do you grieve, father? I am in paradise, where felicity is unbounded. You will come someday with my beloved mother, and then you will find that I have not exaggerated the delights of this place, so far will with reality exceed my description. O dearly beloved father, detain me no longer in your arms, but be pleased to permit me to return whither the intensity of my love attracts me.' Let us then banish sorrow, for now your daughter is happy in Abraham's bosom. Let us banish sorrow; for it is there that, after a very little time, we shall see her in ecstasy of joy and delight." Photius, Letters, bk. 3, letter 63.

5. St. Jerome

"Regret your Lucinius as a brother; but rejoice that he reigns with Christ. Victorious and secure of his glory, he looks down upon you from the heights of heaven; he is your support in your works and woes, and he prepares for you a place by his side, ever preserving for you the same love and charity that, marking him forget the names of husband and of wife, compelled him, during his life, to love you as his sister, and to live with you as a brother. For, in the pure union that is chastity forms between two hearts, the difference of sex that constitutes marriage is unknown." St. Jerome to Theodora, Selected Letters.

6. St. John Chrysostom

"Do you wish to behold him whom death has snatched from you? Lead, then, the same life as he in the path of virtue, and you will soon enjoy that blessed sight But you would wish to see him even here. Ah! Who prevents you? It is both easy and allowable, if you are virtuous; for the hope of the future goods is clearer than the possession itself." St John Chrysostom, Homily 31 on Matthew, nos. 4, 5.

7. St. John Chrysostom, again

"If you desire to see your husband, if you wish to enjoy each other's presence, let your life shine with purity like his, and be assured that you will thus enter into the same angelic choir that he has already reached. You will abide with him, not only during five years, as on earth- not only during twenty, a hundred, a thousand, two thousand, ten thousand, or many more years, but during ages without end. Then you will once more find your husband, no longer with that corporal beauty with which he was gifted when he departed, but with a different splendor- beauty of another sort, which will surpass in brilliancy the rays of the sun.

If it had been promised to you that the empire of the whole earth should be given to your husband, on condition that during twenty years you should be separated from him, and if, in addition, you had received a pledge that after those twenty years, your Therasius should be restored to you, adorned with the diadem and the purple, and you yourself placed in the same rank of honor as he, would you not have resigned yourself to this separation, and easily have preserved continence? You would even have seen in this offer a single favor, and something worthy of all your desires. Now, therefore, bear with patience the separation which gives your husband the kingdom, not of earth, but of heaven; bear it, that you may find him among the blessed inhabitants of paradise, clad, not with a vesture of gold, but with one of glory and immortality." St. John Chrysostom, To a Young Widow, nos, 3, 4.

8. St. Ambrose

“Brother, since you have preceded me thither, prepare for me a place in that common abode of all, which is for me hence forward the more desirable; and as, here below, everything was in common between us, so in heaven let us remain ignorant of any law of division. I conjure you, keep me not waiting long, so pressing is the desire I experience in rejoining you, help me who am hastening forward, and if I seem to you still too tarry, make me advance; we have never been long separated, but it is you who were in the habit of returning to me. … Yes, I comfort myself with the home that the separation that your departure has caused will not be of long duration, and that by your prayers you will obtain he grace to hasten the coming of him whose regrets for you are so bitter.” St. Ambrose, On the Death of his Brother Satyrus, bk. 1, nos. 78, 79.

Can you imagine a discussion with C.S. Lewis, or your father amid the Beatific Vision? I can only hope, but now, there is so much cause for that hope. You simply must get this book, In Heaven We’ll Meet Again. 

This post is dedicated to Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, O.P., my mentor, role model, and friend, who recently lost his child at 33 weeks in the womb. You will meet your son, Augusten, one day.