tics of God! in what desirable contentment and complete satisfaction you will live together in heaven! All partake of the same delicious banquet; all sit at the same table; all behold their God; all love their God; all possess their God; all rejoice in their God; and therefore all are clothed with the same precious garment of heavenly glory. Yet this garment is greater for one than for another, because it is suited to each one’s stature, that is, to the amount of sanctifying grace and merit that eacli one has amassed on earth. But there will be neither jealousy nor dissatisfaction on that account; for every one shall be fully satisfied with what he has, nor will any one desire another’s glory, since each one knows that more is not due to him, and would not suit him according to the measure of his merit.
Nay, each one shall rejoice on account of the glory of the others. Not only is there no jealousy, or envy, or discontent among the blessed, but, says St. Augustine, there is such a general, mutual love amongst them that each one rejoices at the glory of another as if it were his own; hence, “although the glory is different according to the difference of merit, yet the joy of all is general.”[1] Similar is the experience of two who love each other truly, and eat and drink at the same table; each rejoices, not only because he likes his food, but also because he sees his companion enjoying himself too. Thus it is, continues St. Augustine, that each of the elect in heaven has as many joys as he has companions in glory, and since the number of the latter is almost uncountable, the joys of each one are innumerable. “In that perfect charity of innumerable angels and men, where no one loves another less than himself, the joys are countless,”[2] such are the words of the saint. With good reason does he say that the joys are countless; for by the mutual charity that animates them, the bliss of each will be increased as much as he sees it increased in each of his companions. “For each will rejoice at the happiness of the others as much as he does at his own unspeakable bliss; and he will have as many joys as he has companions.”[3]
The multitude of the elect shall not cause disorder, Nor must we imagine that any disturbance or disorder will arise on account of the vast number of the elect, as is the case on earth when too many guests sit down to table to enjoy them-
- ↑ Dispar est gloria singulorum, sed communis est lætitia omnium.
- ↑ Id illa perfecta charitate innumerabilium angelorum et hominum, ubi nullus alium diliget minus quam seipsum, erit gaudium innumerabile.—S. Aug. l. de spiritu et anima.
- ↑ Tantum enim unusquisque gaudebit de beatitudine alterius, quantum de suo gaudlo ineffabili; et quot socios habebit, tot gaudia habebit.
