We must not, as some do, picture to ourselves heaven as a purely spiritual realm. For heaven is a definite place, where not only God is, and the angels now are, but where Christ is also in His sacred humanity, and Our Lady with her human body. There, too, all the blessed will dwell with their glorified bodies after the last Judgment. If heaven is a definite locality, it must accordingly be a visible, not a spiritual kingdom; for a place must in its nature be to some extent conformable to those who abide init.

Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified will live forever with Jesus in His Kingdom called Heaven. Heaven is reference to a state of eternal happiness gained after death. It is the result of being faithful in the service of GOD during one's lifetime:

"...I shall go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to Myself; that where I Am, you also may be." St.John 14:3

The vastness of heaven is immeasurable for us to comprehend as the prophet Baruch exclaims:

"O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of His possession! It is great and hath not end, it is high and immense"

Baruch 3:24 We can readily believe this, for we have before our eyes the boundless realms of space.

Although the beauty of heaven may be incomprehensible to us in this life (1 Cor 2:9) yet we can to some extent picture them to our imagination. It would be contrary to common sense to thing that the vast heavenly kingdom would be empty and bare. If princes and rulers fill every space, and leaveno corner in their palaces or their grounds unembellished and unadorned, shall we suppose that the great King of heaven would permit His regal palace, His celestial paradise, to be lacking in magnificence and in beauty? What would there be to delight the senses of the saints if heaven were a largeempty space? We also have Christ's words " In my Father's house there're many mansions" - John 14:2. Hence it may be inferred that each one of the redeemed has their own degree of glory according to the degree of merit they attained wh the jasper stone, even as crystal. The city itself was of pure gold, like unto glass, and the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones" - (Apoc. 21:11).

Heaven is not easy to attain unless one relies totally on the meritsof Christ and detaches himself from the desires of the world, which only become obstacles:

"...how hard is it for them that trust in riches, to enter intothe Kingdom of GOD? It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye ofa needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of GOD." St.Mark 10:24-25

We, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, must strive to seek the Kingdom of GOD, to build up our treasures in Heaven and not on earth. We must live and labor in all things for the love of God, that we may be found worthyto enter into life everlasting:

"Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth...But lay up to yourselvestreasures in Heaven: where neither the rust, nor moth doth consume, anywhere thieves do not break through and steal." -St. Matthew 6:19-20

The pleasures and gratifications which the blessed will experience by means of the five senses will be immense.

The power of sight will be so perfect that nothing can be hid from their eyes. They will see what is distant as distinctly as what is near, the smallest object as plainly as the largest, the dark will be to them as the light.

It will be an unspeakable pleasure to thee to behold thyself and all the other saints arrayed in beauty, glory, splendor, grace and majesty far surpassing anything seen in this world.

From sight let us pass on to hearing. It would be unwise were we to attempt to describe the gratification it will be to the ear to hear the canticles of the angels, and the soft music of their harps. The nine choirs of angels will sing the praise of God, and the blessed will join them not only in heart for they will mingle their voices also in the sweet harmony. Thus the powers of both the body and the soul will be exercised, and the praises of God will ascend in melodies hymns and celestial songs.

From the sense of hearing we will pass on to that of smell. The delicious odors of paradise surpass anything that man can imagine. The fairest lilies, roses, violets, carnations, and other rare and lovely flowers shall seems nothing compared with the delightful odors of heaven. Experience has abundantly shown that the bodies of the saints whilst in their graves already emit a fragrant smell; how much more powerful will that fragrance be when they are again raised to life and glorified. Above all the bodies of Christ and of His Blessed Mother will exhale so sweet a perfume that all heaven will be pervaded by it.

Even the sense of taste will be gratified in heaven, not by the consumption of ordinary food, but in a manner whereof we can as yet for no conjecture. The Blessed will taste a sweet sustenance which will satisfy them, as we learn from the words of the Royal Psalmist: "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of the house; you shall make them drink of the torrent of they pleasure" - Ps 35:9

The sense of touch will have its own peculiar enjoyment. The more one has mortified himself here on earth, the greater will be his bodily wellbeing hereafter. St. Anselm says: "In the future life the saints will experience a feeling of untold comfort and ease. This pleasurable sensation will pervade every member, producing a wondrous sense of peace and contentment". If fact what can be wanting to the glorified body in heaven? It is in enjoyment of perpetual health, perpetual rest, perpetual happiness, so that in the superabundance of joy and satisfaction it can scare realize how enviable is its condition.

All the joys and delights of the blessed would be almost impossible to lay down yet we nevertheless affirm with St. Paul that "eye hath not see, nor ear heard, neirther hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God.

Although the number of the elect in heaven shall be innumerable (Apoc7:9) yet it shall be relatively few compared to the number damned as Our Lord makes this clear saying: "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow is the Gate and straight is the way that leads to life: and few there are that find it." - St. Matthew7:13-14