Reader Question: Will We Know Our Loved Ones in Heaven?
In speaking with my husband on the subject of life after death, he states he was taught that we do not remember the people we lived with or knew in this world--that we make a fresh start in the next. I do not remember this teaching (sleeping during class?), nor do I believe that I will not see/remember relatives and friends I knew here on earth. This is contrary to my common sense. Is this really a Catholic teaching? Personally, I believe our friends and families are waiting to welcome us into our new life.This is a very interesting question, because it highlights certain misconceptions on both sides. Your husband's belief is a common one, and it usually stems from a misunderstanding of Christ's teaching that, in the resurrection, we will neither marry nor be given in marriage (Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25), but will be like angels in Heaven.
That does not mean, however, that we enter Heaven with a "clean slate." We will still be the people that we were on earth, just purified of all of our sins and enjoying forever the beatific vision (the vision of God). We will retain our memories of our life. None of us are truly "individuals" here on earth. Our family and friends are an important part of who we are as people, and we remain in relationship in Heaven to all of those whom we knew throughout our lives.
As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes in its entry on Heaven, the blessed souls in Heaven "delight greatly in the company of Christ, the angels, and the saints, and in the reunion with so many who were dear to them on earth."
The Church's teaching on the communion of saints make this clear. The saints in Heaven; the suffering souls in Purgatory; and those of us still here on earth all know each other as persons, not as nameless, faceless individuals. If we were to make a "fresh start" in Heaven, our personal relationship with, for instance, Mary, the Mother of God, would be impossible. We pray for our relatives who have died and are suffering in Purgatory in the full assurance that, once they have entered Heaven, they will intercede for us as well before the Throne of God.
However, none of this implies that life in Heaven is simply another version of life on earth, and this is where you and your husband may share a misconception. His belief in a "fresh start" seems to imply that we begin again in creating new relationships, while your belief that "our friends and families are waiting to welcome us into our new life," while not wrong per se, may suggest that you think that our relationships will continue to grow and change, and that we will live as families in Heaven in some way analogous to how we live as families on earth.
But in Heaven, our focus is not on other people, but on God. Yes, we continue to know each other, but now we know each other most completely in our mutual vision of God. Absorbed in the beatific vision, we are still the people we were on earth, and so we have added joy in knowing that those we loved share that vision with us.
And, of course, in our desire that others be able to share in the beatific vision, we will continue to intercede for those whom we knew who are still struggling in Purgatory and on earth.
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YES WE WILL KNOW OUR LOVED ONES IN HEAVEN,IT,
WILL BE A REUNION.OUR PETS WILL BE THIER ALSO
AND THIER WILL BE MUCH PRAISE & WORSHIP IN-
HEAVEN!!!!!!!!……..
Shouldn’t our focus be on God and not on friends
or relatives ? Won’t feeling God’s Love for all
eternity be sufficient?
If we are able to remember our friends and relatives, logic would state that we will notice if they are missing. What if a good Christian woman were to go to heaven to find out her pre-deceased son – who had let’s say, been an unrepenting murderer – wasn’t there. She would know he had suffered in hell, and that would break her heart. Since there is no sadness in Heaven, I don’t think you can remember your loved ones.
Lori, the flaw in your logic is that, in Heaven, we are in a perfected state. Sadness is a result of our fallen nature; we cannot feel sadness in Heaven.
As I tried to explain in the answer above, this is not a small matter. Not only does the Church teach (as the Catholic Encyclopedia notes) that we will “delight greatly in . . . the reunion with so many who were dear to [us] on earth,” but the communion of saints–an item of every creed from the Apostles’ Creed on–becomes literally impossible if we lose our memories.
Another way to think of it is this: In Heaven, we are perfected. Yet here on earth, no one would think that a man or woman who loses all memory of those he or she loves is better than those of us who retain our memories. Such amnesia, even if it occurred in Heaven, would be a defect in, not a perfection of, our human nature.
I understand the logic, but one thing is left out:
“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4).
My take on this verse is that God will wipe away the memories of those who did not make it to heaven.
I’m an amature at this, but it seems to be logicial.
We’ll remember the ones who are in heaven.
And, yes, God’s love is sufficient, and a part of his love, is his gift of family and friends.
I pray (along with my family), that we will see our deceased brother, Nader Georgy in heaven.
He was murdered 2 weeks ago, on his way to work.
Please keep our family in your prayers, as well as the gunmen. We forgive and will forget, just as the Lord AND Nader would have wanted.
Isn’t God the only that really needs to Forgive, I understand your logic, but the gunmen don’t need you forgiveness they need God’s, who are you to them, are you helping them enter heaven?