In another post, someone made a comment:

"...Loyola may be crying in Heaven..." (or something to that effect).

This got me to thinking. If Heaven is our place with God, why would we cry? Which lead to another question:

If those in Heaven are looking down at us and witnessing the suffering and evilness of men and they do not cry, then they must surely see our lives in a divine way. We cannot perceive what we witness in the same way. Therefore, they must surely not be limited by time, but see our salvation and fall. They surely do not cry, do they?

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), March 06, 2003

Answers

Rod, I said that, and it was just a figure of speech. I was just pointing out that the Jesuits are in a sorry state today.

If there is crying in heaven it's probably tears of joy. Crying is an emotion, and can be a very beautiful emotion. God bless.

-- Gordon (gvink@yahoo.com), March 06, 2003.

Hi Gordon.

I did take it as a figure of speech. I wasn't trying to bring anything down on you. I have heard this expression before by others who probably didn't mean it in the same way. But, my point is probably more about God and those in Heaven that see our sins. They would not cry even seeing the most uglys of ugliest sins. So, they must see above all of that. So, what do they really see?

I imagine that because God is all and not restricted by time(past,present,future), He and all of the Saints must be witnessing our own salvations and "fall". This is a mysterious though

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), March 06, 2003.

Hi Rod,

The longer I remain in the seminary, and the more Jesuits I meet, the more I get the impression that things aren't as bad as some people make them out to be. I believe that the Society of Jesus is radically split, and many priests within its ranks defend Catholic faith with the same or greater vigor than those who attack it.

In any case, the letters "S.J." should not in themselves discourage our interest in the Catholic books bearing them. Even the confused authors sometimes manage to say something vitally important for the life of the pilgrim Church. But, as in all things, we should keep our heads on straight and our Catechisms close by.

-- Skoobouy (skoobouy@hotmail.com), March 07, 2003.

Rod,

That's a very interesting question. I'll have to think it over a bit. Experiencing the beatific vision would one cry? Jesus wept, and was God, but in His human life the circumstances would not be the same as being with the Father in Heaven, seeing all ends.

Well, something to think about on my drive to Chicago this weekend.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), March 07, 2003.