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Question
I am embarrassed I could not answer true or false to a friend of mine questioning me about my faith--so please help. I have always talked of heaven and being in heaven with those who have gone before me growing up but never studied all through Catholic grade school and high school what as a Catholic we really believe happens in death or I do not remember.
My friend asked me if it is true that we as Catholics believe our bodies and souls stay in the ground until Christ returns and then we are all brought back to enjoy heaven on earth. It seemed so far fetched it but then again I did not know exactly what as a faith we believe just what I believe.
Please help me expand on what happens to our bodies and souls when we die as members of the Catholic Church believe.
Thank you.
Hi, Carrie...
Thanks for the question.
Heaven is the state of living eternally in union with God Who created us for Himself for all eternity, through the saving power of Jesus. Our bodies stay in the ground until the resurrection, but our souls (the purely spiritual, non-material part of of) goes either to Hell, or to Purgatory to pay the last expiation of the punishment due our sins, or to Heaven, the state of final happiness in communion with God. When the resurrection of the dead takes place, all human souls will be reunited with their body in whichever eternal state they are in. It would seem that there will be a sort of "new earth" as a place resurrected human beings will live forever. But the Church does not teach "soul sleeping", or the inactivity of the soul until the time of resurrection.
Fr. T. Johnson
Related Articles
- On the Last Judgment and the Resurrection, Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven - Lesson Thirty-Seventh - Baltimore Catechism No. 2
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Answers by Expert:
Fr. Timothy Johnson
Expertise
A Traditional Catholic Priest, validly and licitly ordained, incardinated legally and canonically in the Diocese of Fargo, and in good-standing with my Local Ordinary (Bishop) on active assignment at a rural Tri-Parish. I can provide honest and balanced answers to questions on topics pertaining to Traditional Roman Catholicism of the Latin Church (Councils of Trent and Vatican II)and a lot about the Eastern Catholic Churches, including the Sacred Liturgy, Sacred Scripture, Church History, the use of the Latin language, the tradition of Sacred Music, and current events in the Catholic Church from a traditional, historical and balanced perspective.
Experience
I have been ordained a Roman Catholic Priest since June 2001.
Organizations
Knights of Columbus; Church Music Association of America (CMAA)
Education/Credentials
Ordained Priest, 02 JUN 2001; Ordained Deacon, 27 JAN 2001; MA - Dogmatic/Systematic Theology;
MDiv - Professional Degree from Seminary;
2-Years formation with Canons Regular of Premontre including studies and experience in Sacred Liturgy, Chant, Latin, Sacraments, Spirituality.
BA - Scholastic/Thomistic Philosophy;
BA - Liberal Arts;
AA - General Studies.
Past/Present Clients
I serve 3-small, rural Parish Communities in Easter North Dakota
I converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1981, at the age of 15.
Over the years I have done work as an organist, cantor, and choir director for the Latin Rite (English & Latin) Mass (Liturgy of the Eucharist), and even for the Hours of the Divine Office.
I have worked as a cantor for a Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church.
Presently my pastoral and administrative duties as a Catholic Priest do not allow me as much time as I used to have to devote to Sacred Music; but for my weekend Masses and Solemnities within my Tri-Parish, I offer High Sung Mass in English. Weekday Mass is typically Low Mass (recited Mass) in English, though on occasion I will offer the "Tridentine Mass" in Latin, which I usually offer on my "Day Off", as well. And now, in light of the "Motu Proprio" by his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI placing the extraordinary usage of the Roman Rite back into the mainstream of the Catholic Church, I have been offering a regularly scheduled SUN, 2:00 PM Tridentine Latin Mass with a community of the faithful that has a stable existence.
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