In the notation in our Ignatius Bible on this verse, it says that, "Christ ascended into the most intimate presence of God in heaven." It goes on to explain that, "Jewish tradition sometimes speaks of multiple levels of heaven." As it sometimes does, our discussion then veered off, this time as we got to wondering what heaven is like. We were wondering about the idea of Jesus preparing "mansions"--that answer will be a part of our next class discussion, so stay tuned. Of course, no one can truly know for certain.
I promised to do some research about the "levels of heaven" as well as the ultimate question we had: Are there "different" heavens for different saints? I'll let you know what I found prior to beginning our discussion on our lesson for Hebrews 6, but I also wanted to post a link to an article that might just answer some of the other questions that you may have about what we can imagine heaven to be like based on scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Church.
The article I wanted to share with you is on the Catholic Answers website. What is Heaven? is by Tim Staples who is the Director of Apologetics and Evangelization for Catholic Answers. The article is a bit lengthy and will take some quiet contemplation to soak in the answer he is giving, but if we can't take a few minutes to try and understand heaven now, how interested are we really in spending an eternity in the place he is describing? Right?
Our next class will be our last one in 2015, so I wish you all a Blessed Advent, a Merry Christmas, and a most Happy New Year! See you on January 7.
