Grace, God’s presence within you, is like a seed—a vital, growing seed that is destined one day to break forth full grown.

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God has given himself to you, but in a hidden way. For the time being, you seek him even as you possess him. But the time will come when your seeking will be over. You will then see and possess God completely. This has been revealed.

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In his first letter, Saint John says: “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (3:2).

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And in his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul says: “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known” (13:12.

This is heaven: direct face-to-face vision of God as he is – Father, Son, and Spirit; total and perfect union with God, an ecstasy of fulfillment beyond human imagining; the “now” of eternity in which everything is ever new, fresh, and present to you; the warm flood of joy in the company of Jesus, his Mother, and all those you have ever known and loved; a total absence of pain, regret, bad memories; the perfect enjoyment of all your powers of mind and (after the resurrection on Judgment Day) of body.

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This is heaven. That is to say, this is a pale, human indication of what God has promised to those who love him, of what Christ has gained for us by his death and resurrection.