There are ways that some souls could be ‘closer’ to God in Heaven than others. We know that Heaven is Eternal Happiness, Joy, and Peace.
Everyone in heaven is completely and utterly happy beyond all telling. No one in Heaven could be jealous. In heaven, everyone is happy and fully satisfied.
In the Catholic Intellectual and Spiritual traditions, there is certainly the perspective that somehow certain individuals could be ‘closer to God.’
Another way of saying that: they could “take in more” of the knowledge of God and their soul would be expanded more to take in more and more of the eternal Bliss of God’s Essence.
The larger, or more expansive, that our heart and soul become on Earth the more and more we will be able to take in the joy of heaven.
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How would this expansion of heart happen? Some come across this question in graduate study. St. Thomas Aquinas (a hero and the subject of much graduate work,) reasons that it is Charity that expands the heart and soul for heaven.
There is a certain ‘effort’ in Charity. The mental and spiritual ‘effort’ to be Charitable to continue to love literally, over a lifetime, is not always easy. It requires effort and desire.
The more we can ‘expand’ our hearts and soul through Charity, then in Heaven we will be able to ‘take more of God’s Essence in’. That is another way of saying we could be “closer to God.”
St. Therese in the Roman Catholic Tradition explains it in a unique way!
She says that we must think of all souls as containers. In heaven the ‘container’ of our soul is completely and utterly full and we are completely and utterly satisfied. Mary, we are told by God’s Messenger, was “full of Grace” on earth!
There are different size containers in Heaven, some big – some small. The more the effort or desire in ‘Charity’ we had on Earth, the more souls are expanded. Hence, they have a larger ‘container’!
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Again, it behooves us to remember that each ‘container’ or soul is full in heaven. There is no jealousy, In heaven no one could say “Hey, they have more than me!”
This would never happen because each and every soul is completely satisfied. St. Therese reasons that each soul can be a ‘different size’ or ‘closer to God’ in heaven. This is never a cause of jealousy or anything like that because in heaven each soul is Blessed and is totally and completely ‘full’ and satisfied.
