We should practice virtue because the abode of the infinitely perfect God will be our reward
4 min • Digitized on September 19, 2023
From The Sinner’s Guide, page 96
By Venerable Louis of Granada
CHAPTER IX.
THE NINTH MOTIVE FOR PRACTISING VIRTUE: THE THOUGHT OF HEAVEN, THE THIRD OF THE FOUR LAST THINGS.
A motive no less powerful than those we have enumerated is the thought of Heaven. This is the reward of virtue, and in it we must distinguish two things; the excellence and beauty of the abode promised us, which is no other than the empyreal heavens, and the perfection and beauty of the Sovereign King Who reigns there with His elect.
But though no tongue can fully express the splendor and riches of the heavenly kingdom, we will endeavor to describe its beauty as well as our limited capacities will allow. Let us, therefore, first consider the grand end for which it was created, which will enable us to conceive some idea of its magnificence.
God created it to manifest His glory. Though “the Lord has made all things for Himself,” [Prov. xvi. 4.] yet this is particularly true of Heaven, for it is there that His glory and power are most resplendent.
We are told in Scripture that Assuerus, whose kingdom included one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, gave a great feast, which lasted one hundred and fourscore days, for the purpose of manifesting his splendor and power. So the Sovereign King of the universe is pleased to celebrate a magnificent feast, which continues, not for one hundred and fourscore days only, but for all eternity, to manifest the magnificence of His bounty, His power, His riches, His goodness.
It is of this feast that the prophet speaks when he tells us; “The Lord of hosts shall make unto all peoples in this mountain a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees.” [Isaias xxv. 6.] By this we are to understand that He will lavish upon His elect all the riches of the heavenly country and inebriate them with unutterable delights.
Since this feast is prepared to manifest the greatness of God’s glory, which is infinite, what must be the magnificence of this feast and the variety and splendor of the riches He displays to the eyes of His elect?
We will better appreciate the grandeur of Heaven if we consider the infinite power and boundless riches of God Himself. His power is so great that with a single word He created this vast universe, and with a single word He could again reduce it to its original nothingness. A single expression of His will would suffice to create millions of worlds as beautiful as ours, and to destroy them in one instant.
Moreover, His power is exercised without effort or exertion; it costs Him no more to create the most sublime seraphim than to create the smallest insect. With Him to will is to accomplish. Therefore, if the power of the King who calls us to His kingdom be so great; if such be the glory of His holy Name; if His desire to manifest and communicate this glory be so great, what must be the splendor of the abode where He wills to display in its fulness His divine magnificence?
Nothing can be wanting to its perfection, for its Author is the Source of all riches, all power, and all wisdom. What must be the beauty of that creation in the formation of which are combined the almighty power of the Father, the infinite wisdom of the Son, the inexhaustible goodness of the Holy Spirit?