Catholicism: Heaven and Purgatory

Study Notes

Eternal life is a special gift from God that lasts forever, where our souls will live with God in heaven if we have followed His teachings and loved Him and others.

In heaven, we will be filled with joy, peace, and love, and united with our loved ones who have also gone to heaven.
We will experience a different kind of peace, with no more fights, conflicts, temptations, or selfishness, only perfect peace with God, ourselves, and others.
We will experience everlasting happiness, being completely satisfied, and our happiness will be forever.
We will see and talk to God face to face, sharing the glory of His Resurrection.

The Catechism teaches that those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live forever with Christ, seeing Him as He is, face to face.
This means that if we live a good and faithful life, we will be with God forever in a state of perfect happiness and love.

Purgatory is a temporary state where people who have died in God's grace but still have some sins or imperfections are purified before they can enter into the fullness of Heaven.
It is a "spiritual cleaning" where God helps us become completely pure and ready to be with Him.
People in Purgatory experience God's love and are filled with hope, knowing they are on their way to Heaven.
We can pray for those in Purgatory to help them on their journey.

Eternal life requires us to live according to God's commandments and to love and serve others.
By doing so, we can prepare ourselves for the gift of eternal life with God in heaven.