The Second Coming Explained: Heaven Will Come to Earth | Fr. Chris Alar, MIC — Transcript

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1. 0:04This is
2. 0:06my favorite parts of seminary was
3. 0:09studying what's called eschatological
4. 0:12approach in Catholic teaching. That
5. 0:14means the end times. And I think that's
6. 0:17a natural curiosity that we have. And
7. 0:20I'm going to share with you some things
8. 0:21that I didn't know, and it really hit me
9. 0:25when I was in Lithuania.
10. 0:27When I was in Lithuania, I arrived
11. 0:30the night before we were beginning the
12. 0:32World Apostolic Congress in Mercy. So,
13. 0:35the first morning I had some time. If
14. 0:37you've ever been to Lithuania, there is
15. 0:39a Catholic church on every corner.
16. 0:42It's amazing. And I I just I was in such
17. 0:46awe going to St. Raphael's and different
18. 0:50places, St. Francis of Assisi. Then I
19. 0:53went to St. James. And it just was
20. 0:57amazing. All just within a walking
21. 0:59distance.
22. 1:00And I remember as I was walking back
23. 1:02over the bridge, crystal clear water,
24. 1:05and looking out at the city, and and I
25. 1:08just was in awe that this was like
26. 1:11heaven on earth.
27. 1:13And then it occurred to me,
28. 1:16wait a minute.
29. 1:18Have you ever heard the term a new
30. 1:20heaven and a new earth?
31. 1:22Jesus in this gospel talks about what is
32. 1:25the kingdom like, the kingdom of heaven.
33. 1:28Then at the end, he says, "We'll bring
34. 1:31forth both the new and the old." The new
35. 1:36heavens, the new earth. What does that
36. 1:39mean?
37. 1:41Now, this started making me think. So, I
38. 1:44went up to my room,
39. 1:46and I just started writing.
40. 1:48It just
41. 1:49I don't know where it was coming from.
42. 1:51Just everything was flowing. I was
43. 1:54typing like crazy as things were coming
44. 1:56through into my mind. and I spent I was
45. 1:58funny cuz I told
46. 2:00my assistant that I'm going to be
47. 2:02working all day on things for back home
48. 2:05in the office administrative. I didn't
49. 2:06do a thing.
50. 2:08I didn't do a thing. All I did was
51. 2:10write. I spent that whole day till
52. 2:12dinner. It was just flowing out and I'd
53. 2:14like to share it with you what I wrote
54. 2:18that day.
55. 2:19And it starts with what in Catholicism
56. 2:24the final state
57. 2:26after the second coming, the blessed
58. 2:30after the second coming is not as we
59. 2:32know it now.
60. 2:34Is heaven a place?
61. 2:39>> Yes.
62. 2:40>> Yes.
63. 2:41>> No.
64. 2:44John Paul tells us right now
65. 2:48heaven is a state of being.
66. 2:52It's a state of being, but guess what
67. 2:55happens after the second coming and the
68. 2:57resurrection of the body, the last
69. 2:59judgment and the renewal of all creation
70. 3:02into a new heaven and a new earth.
71. 3:06It will be a place.
72. 3:09And guess where that place will be.
73. 3:13Here.
74. 3:15On this earth.
75. 3:17This is mind-boggling. So I started
76. 3:19going back to the church fathers. I
77. 3:21started going back to scripture and this
78. 3:22was all flowing out of my head. I was
79. 3:24like, "Where is this coming from, Lord?
80. 3:26Cuz we don't think it this way. Will we
81. 3:28remain on earth after the second
82. 3:30coming?" Here's what's fascinating. In a
83. 3:32sense, yes, but not this fallen earth.
84. 3:36Not this fallen earth. At Christ's
85. 3:39return, the dead will be raised, our
86. 3:41bodies will be glorified like Christ's,
87. 3:44and the present universe will be
88. 3:46transformed.
89. 3:47It says that God will dwell with his
90. 3:50people forever. Guess what everybody?
91. 3:52Heaven will come to earth.
92. 3:56This is the new heaven and the new
93. 3:58earth.
94. 4:00And the catechism says the visible
95. 4:02universe, this is catechism 1047. I
96. 4:04started going through the catechism. I
97. 4:06started going through, like I said, the
98. 4:08church fathers.
99. 4:10And the catechism 1047 says the visible
100. 4:13universe then is itself destined to be
101. 4:17transformed.
102. 4:19The final destiny of humanity is not an
103. 4:23escape from creation,
104. 4:26but the renewal of creation.
105. 4:30Heaven is not a permanent disembodied
106. 4:34existence in the clouds, like it is now.
107. 4:38Right now the spiritual is separated
108. 4:41from the physical.
109. 4:43When Christ comes again,
110. 4:45the spiritual and the physical will be
111. 4:48united, just like our souls with our
112. 4:50body.
113. 4:51When our souls are separated now at
114. 4:53death,
115. 4:55the spiritual realm is separate. It's a
116. 4:57state of being. And we're here in the
117. 4:59physical world. When Christ comes again,
118. 5:02they will be united, just like our
119. 5:04bodies, just like our soul with our
120. 5:06bodies will be united. So I was sitting
121. 5:08there in a hotel room in Lithuania, and
122. 5:11this enlightenment
123. 5:13just came. So I started going and doing
124. 5:15research, and I started looking at my
125. 5:17seminary notes, which I now have all
126. 5:19digitized.
127. 5:21So the final This is very important.
128. 5:23Instead, God will completely merge
129. 5:27heaven and earth. And guess what that is
130. 5:29called in the Bible?
131. 5:31The new Jerusalem.
132. 5:33We've heard this term, a new heaven, a
133. 5:35new earth, and a new Jerusalem, but we
134. 5:38never really know what it means.
135. 5:40God does not destroy creation. We always
136. 5:43think about creation as destroyed. This
137. 5:46world will be destroyed. No, you know
138. 5:48how we know this? And I was reading the
139. 5:50church fathers. God does not destroy
140. 5:53creation because he made it and declared
141. 5:56it good.
142. 5:59God will not destroy something he made
143. 6:01and declared good. Well, wait a minute,
144. 6:03Father, it says at the end everything
145. 6:05will be destroyed. God will redeem and
146. 6:08elevate creation, not abandon it.
147. 6:11It's like Christ's body. It wasn't
148. 6:13replaced, it was glorified.
149. 6:15Yes, Father, what about conflagration?
150. 6:18What about the fire that will burn up
151. 6:21the earth? It will transform it.
152. 6:25It will transform it. All the bad will
153. 6:28be destroyed, just like this reading
154. 6:31today. The good will be separated from
155. 6:33the bad and the bad will be thrown into
156. 6:36the furnace.
157. 6:38The good and the bad will be separated.
158. 6:40But Father, doesn't it say everything
159. 6:42was destroyed at Noah? And so I started
160. 6:44going back through the scriptures. Wait
161. 6:45a minute, it says in the scriptures at
162. 6:47Noah that everything was destroyed. No,
163. 6:50it was transformed. It was the same
164. 6:52earth.
165. 6:54And so what does a new heaven and earth
166. 6:56a new earth mean? Go back to Isaiah
167. 6:5965:17
168. 7:00and Revelation 21:1 21:1. Flip flip
169. 7:04flip. Many people think it means God
170. 7:06destroys everything and creates a
171. 7:09completely different universe. That's
172. 7:12not what the church fathers say.
173. 7:14We understand it as a radical
174. 7:16transformation and renewal of creation
175. 7:19rather than total annihilation.
176. 7:22This is new to a lot of us.
177. 7:26Think of Christ's resurrection. Jesus'
178. 7:29body was the same body that died, yet it
179. 7:32was transformed. Our body
180. 7:36will be transformed when it's reunited
181. 7:39with our soul.
182. 7:40It's not destroyed, even though our body
183. 7:43is a mess right now.
184. 7:45St. Paul writes the creation This is
185. 7:47Romans 8:21.
186. 7:50Creation itself will be set free from
187. 7:54its bondage to decay.
188. 7:57Creation is not thrown away. Good. God
189. 8:01declared it good. It'll be liberated.
190. 8:05So, but doesn't heaven already exist?
191. 8:08And doesn't it never change? So, I'm
192. 8:10flipping around. Yes, that is why
193. 8:13theologians distinguish between heaven
194. 8:16as God's dwelling right now. God's
195. 8:20heavenly glory doesn't change. The
196. 8:22blessed souls there already enjoy the
197. 8:25beatific vision, and that will continue.
198. 8:29But what about the new heavens? How
199. 8:30could there be a new heaven?
200. 8:33Scripture says the heavens there will be
201. 8:35a new heaven and a new earth. How?
202. 8:38Heavens can also mean the created
203. 8:41cosmos,
204. 8:42the skies, the universe.
205. 8:45Thus, new heavens and new earth refers
206. 8:47to the renewal of the entire created
207. 8:50order, not a change in God's
208. 8:53eternal heaven. So, let's go back to the
209. 8:55catechism, 10:42.
210. 8:59At the end of time, the kingdom of God
211. 9:02will come
212. 9:04in its fullness. Then the righteous will
213. 9:07reign forever with Christ, glorified in
214. 9:11body and soul. So, what I'm taking from
215. 9:14this, and I'm reading the church
216. 9:15fathers, is heaven will come to earth.
217. 9:19We're getting a foretaste of it right
218. 9:20now. I told you I get a foretaste when I
219. 9:23look at a rainbow trout.
220. 9:25That That's a foretaste, right? The
221. 9:27beauty of God's creation.
222. 9:30And as I'm walking around Lithuania, I'm
223. 9:32just in amazement that wow,
224. 9:35if Lord, please have mercy on me to make
225. 9:38it to heaven someday,
226. 9:39but this is This is just a foretaste.
227. 9:43This is nothing compared to what we will
228. 9:45actually experience on this renewed
229. 9:48heaven and earth when when the heaven
230. 9:50comes to earth. It says in the the thing
231. 9:53that that that heaven will come to
232. 9:55earth. God will unite the physical and
233. 9:57the spiritual realm just like he does
234. 9:59your body.
235. 10:01So that earth reaches its perfection.
236. 10:04Currently, there is a separation between
237. 10:06the spiritual realm in heaven
238. 10:08and the material realm on earth.
239. 10:11Heaven is now a spiritual reality rather
240. 10:14than a physical place. That's what John
241. 10:16Paul told us because final resurrection
242. 10:20hasn't occurred yet.
243. 10:22But, that is when is why we say heaven
244. 10:26is now not a place,
245. 10:29but it will be after the second coming.
246. 10:32Isn't that fascinating?
247. 10:34At the end of time, those two will come
248. 10:36together and God will bring heaven to
249. 10:38earth. That's the new Jerusalem.
250. 10:42And it won't be full of pain and sorrow
251. 10:45and agony and accidents and messes and
252. 10:48oil spills and volcanoes and
253. 10:50earthquakes.
254. 10:51All that will be gone. And we will have
255. 10:54glorified bodies, no sickness, no aging,
256. 10:57death, or suffering. We will know the
257. 10:59love of one another. All that will
258. 11:01remain will be the love that you had on
259. 11:03this earth for others.
260. 11:05Saints retain their identities. You will
261. 11:08retain your relationships, but all love
262. 11:11will be in God.
263. 11:13Creation will share in God's glory.
264. 11:18This is amazing. The universe will no
265. 11:20longer be marked by corruption,
266. 11:23violence, decay, or death. There will be
267. 11:26physical places.
268. 11:28There will be culture and activity. Will
269. 11:30there? Well, this is a question. Many
270. 11:33theologians, so I went to Thomas
271. 11:34Aquinas.
272. 11:36Many theologians have suggested that
273. 11:38because we will have glorified bodies,
274. 11:41there will be some genuinely embodied
275. 11:44existence involving activity,
276. 11:47relationships, beauty, and participation
277. 11:50in God's creation. You will have some
278. 11:53things like we have on this earth just
279. 11:55foretasted now
280. 11:57in its fullest when you get to heaven.
281. 12:00And I thought, "Wow,
282. 12:02maybe I'll still get to go fishing."
283. 12:05But everything is focused on God.
284. 12:08I told you the story God when Father
285. 12:10Richard passed away, God rest his soul,
286. 12:13that I was a postulant and I had been
287. 12:14working and Father Don was in town and
288. 12:16he said, "You know, if you can get
289. 12:18permission, I'm going fishing today."
290. 12:21I was like, "Oh, man." He's like, "Do
291. 12:23you want to go?" I said, "Yeah, yeah,
292. 12:24yeah."
293. 12:25And he said, "Well, you got to get
294. 12:26permission." So, I went to Father
295. 12:27Richard,
296. 12:29who was the head of maintenance and I
297. 12:31was assigned to maintenance. So, I said,
298. 12:33"Father Richard,
299. 12:34can I take
300. 12:35take a day of rest and I I'd like to go
301. 12:37fishing with Father Don?" And he goes,
302. 12:40"You have all eternity to rest.
303. 12:45Right now, you are to work." Well, maybe
304. 12:49I'll get that chance in heaven to be
305. 12:52able to fish, but it'll all be glorified
306. 12:55in God. Nothing will distract us from
307. 12:58God. On this earth, fishing could
308. 13:00distract us from God. Our own
309. 13:02relationships could distract us from
310. 13:04God. So, what is all this saying? This
311. 13:06is This is to me amazing. Heaven is not
312. 13:09going to be an eternal
313. 13:12church service where everyone just
314. 13:14stands and sings.
315. 13:16We will behold the face of God, the
316. 13:19beatific vision, for all eternity,
317. 13:22but it'll be glorified in and amongst
318. 13:24the the the transformation of his
319. 13:27creation.
320. 13:28All of that will participate. This is
321. 13:30what the church fathers tell us.
322. 13:33It will be a complete fulfillment of
323. 13:35every legitimate human desire of God.
324. 13:39In God, I should say. Your human desire,
325. 13:42but now in God.
326. 13:45Where will heaven be after the second
327. 13:48coming?
328. 13:49The most beautiful image in Revelation
329. 13:51says, "Behold, the dwelling of God is
330. 13:55with men."
331. 13:57Revelation 21:3.
332. 13:59Notice the scripture does not emphasize
333. 14:01us going somewhere else after the second
334. 14:04coming. Instead, it emphasizes God
335. 14:07dwelling with humanity. The final state
336. 14:09is often described as heaven and earth
337. 14:11united. God's glory filling the renewed
338. 14:15creation. This is fascinating. Many
339. 14:18Catholics imagine salvation is we're on
340. 14:21earth, we die, we go somewhere else far
341. 14:23away in the clouds. There is more.
342. 14:26Christ returns. There's resurrection of
343. 14:29the body. There's a new heaven and a new
344. 14:31earth. This is called the New Jerusalem.
345. 14:34Eternal life in a glorified creation
346. 14:37where God dwells with humanity forever.
347. 14:39Isn't that amazing to hope for? Isn't
348. 14:43that something incredible? Can you
349. 14:44imagine now when you walk around this
350. 14:46earth and you got gossip and and
351. 14:48assaults and murders? All that'll be
352. 14:51wiped away. We will only be together in
353. 14:54the love of God. Perfect happiness.
354. 14:57The ultimate Christian hope is therefore
355. 14:59not merely going away to heaven,
356. 15:02somewhere far away, but what the creed
357. 15:05calls, "I look forward to the
358. 15:08resurrection of the body and the life of
359. 15:10the world to come."
360. 15:14The life of the world to come.
361. 15:17So, I'm sitting there in Lithuania
362. 15:19saying, "Oh my goodness, Lord. This all
363. 15:20makes I mean, we can't grasp, but but
364. 15:24it's it's it's it's a moment of
365. 15:26revelation.
366. 15:28And so that world to come is the renewed
367. 15:31creation in which God will be all in
368. 15:34all. First Corinthians 15:28. And where
369. 15:37humanity will live forever in glorified
370. 15:40bodies, sharing perfectly in God's life.
371. 15:44Probably on this Earth.
372. 15:47But renewed.
373. 15:49The church has not definitely taught
374. 15:51whether the new church and the new
375. 15:53Jerusalem will be your exact town
376. 15:56or your exact city. It doesn't say that.
377. 15:59But it does indicate that Earth will be
378. 16:02transformed. It will be renewed
379. 16:05in a way in the cosmos that includes
380. 16:07Earth in a way beyond our understanding.
381. 16:11The most common Catholic theological
382. 16:13view is that it will be indeed this
383. 16:16creation.
384. 16:19Including this Earth.
385. 16:21Transformed and glorified. Much as
386. 16:24Christ's risen body was the same body
387. 16:26that was transformed and died, but yet
388. 16:29new.
389. 16:32So many people like I just this Earth is
390. 16:34evil. The body's evil. No, that's
391. 16:37Jansenism.
392. 16:40God created this and called it good.
393. 16:44He has to transform it, burn it. That's
394. 16:46what clans clan conflagra- conflagration
395. 16:49means.
396. 16:50But it'll be transformed. So will we
397. 16:53literally walk this Earth?
398. 16:56Probably, yes.
399. 16:58We I'm this is what I just gathered from
400. 17:01all the church teaching. Since we will
401. 17:02have glorified bodies, there must be
402. 17:04some corresponding glorified creation
403. 17:08in which these bodies exist. Scripture
404. 17:11frequently speaks of a renewed creation.
405. 17:13Romans 8:19-23.
406. 17:16The heavenly Jerusalem descending upon
407. 17:19Earth. Revolution Revelation 21:2.
408. 17:23Bible imagery is not of humanity leaving
409. 17:26creation forever, but of God bringing
410. 17:28creation to fulfillment.
411. 17:31After the second coming, heaven expands
412. 17:34to include this physical reality. That
413. 17:36is amazing.
414. 17:39After the second coming, heaven expands
415. 17:43to include this physical reality.
416. 17:47Revelation says death shall be no more,
417. 17:50neither shall there be mourning or
418. 17:51crying or pain anymore.
419. 17:54The renewed Earth will be free
420. 17:56from death, suffering, corruption, as I
421. 17:59said, natural disasters, and most of
422. 18:01all, sin.
423. 18:03The church teaches with certainty that
424. 18:04the new Earth will be a real physical
425. 18:07reality.
426. 18:09Many Catholic theologians believe there
427. 18:11is a continuity between the present
428. 18:13Earth and the new Earth.
429. 18:15But exactly how that works is a mystery.
430. 18:19But we know it will be transformed. So,
431. 18:21to finish,
432. 18:22the saints describe heaven as feeling
433. 18:26more real than this earthly life.
434. 18:29You know, when you have a dream,
435. 18:32don't you kind of like when you wake up,
436. 18:35this reality is more real?
437. 18:38Heaven is going to be even more real
438. 18:41than this earthly life.
439. 18:45That's amazing. Some church fathers even
440. 18:48suggest that our present experience is
441. 18:50like seeing reality through a veil.
442. 18:53The mass.
443. 18:55Remember that video, the veil lifted?
444. 18:58It's a separation of heaven and Earth.
445. 18:59No, it joins heaven and Earth.
446. 19:02The mass is what joins heaven and Earth.
447. 19:07If the mass joins heaven and Earth, why
448. 19:09do we think at the end the earth part is
449. 19:12obliterated,
450. 19:14evil done away with when God had called
451. 19:17it good, and in the mass unites heaven
452. 19:20and earth.
453. 19:22It makes perfect sense. But yeah, but
454. 19:23Father, this world is a mess. It is.
455. 19:26That's why it's got to be transformed.
456. 19:28Many theologians suggest that when we
457. 19:30enter the renewed creation, we may feel
458. 19:33something like this is what the world
459. 19:37was always meant to be.
460. 19:40Not alien, not unfamiliar, not a
461. 19:42completely different universe, rather
462. 19:45the fulfillment of every beauty, joy,
463. 19:48friendship, and goodness we have ever
464. 19:50glimpsed on this earth.
465. 19:53So, C. S. Lewis,
466. 19:55the most Catholic non-Catholic,
467. 19:59he said,
468. 20:00"The new earth
469. 20:02would then feel both wonderfully
470. 20:04familiar
471. 20:05and astonishingly new,
472. 20:08like finally arriving home after
473. 20:11spending your whole life longing for a
474. 20:13place you had only partially known."
475. 20:17That idea resonates strongly with
476. 20:20Catholic theology.
477. 20:22The final kingdom is not God's
478. 20:24replacement of creation, but the
479. 20:27completion of creation, where humanity
480. 20:31finally lives in the world God intended
481. 20:35from the beginning in perfect communion
482. 20:40with him.
483. 20:42As I sat there in that hotel in
484. 20:44Lithuania, and I finished writing this
485. 20:48and verifying everything with the
486. 20:49catechism and the church fathers,
487. 20:52I was blown away.
488. 20:54That this is just a foretaste.
489. 20:57No eye has seen nor ear has heard
490. 21:00anything
491. 21:01that has a knowledge or understanding of
492. 21:03what God has prepared for us.
493. 21:06This earth is good, but it's broken.
494. 21:10Christ redeemed it. Now, he'll send
495. 21:12heaven down to renew it.
496. 21:14That's what we hope for. That's what we
497. 21:18strive for, and that's why we are here.
498. 21:22God bless you.