Cathal BarryThe Church teaches that in the new universe, God will have his dwelling among men, writes Cathal Barry
The Church teaches that at the end of time, the Kingdom of God “will come in its fullness”. After the universal judgment, “the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul,” the Catechism states. “The universe itself will be renewed,” the document says.
“The Church… will attain its full perfection only in the glory of Heaven, when there will come the time of the restoration of all things. At that time the human race as well as the entire world, which is intimately related to man and attains to its end through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ” (Lumen Gentium 48).
Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which the Church maintains will transform humanity and the world, “new Heavens and a new Earth” (Rev 21:1).
Realisation
It will be the definitive realisation of God’s plan to bring under a single head “all things in [Christ], things in Heaven and things on Earth” (Eph 1:10).
The Church teaches that in this new universe, God will have his dwelling among men. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:4).
For man, according to Church teaching, “this consummation will be the final realisation of the unity of the human race, which God willed from creation”. Those who are united with Christ “will form the community of the redeemed,” the Catechism states.
For the cosmos, the Catechism states that Revelation “affirms the profound common destiny of the material world and man”.
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God… in hope because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay… We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:19-23).
The visible universe, then, according to St Irenaeus, is itself destined to be transformed, “so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just,” sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ.
“We do not know the time for the consummation of the Earth and of humanity, nor do we know how all things will be transformed.
“As deformed by sin, the shape of this world will pass away; but we are taught that God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new Earth where justice will abide, and whose blessedness will answer and surpass all the longings for peace which spring up in the human heart” (Gaudium et Spes 39).
As St Cyril of Jerusalem said: “True and subsistent life consists in this: the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, pouring out his heavenly gifts on all things without exception. Thanks to his mercy, we too, men that we are, have received the inalienable promise of eternal life.”