Heaven and earth: the significance of religious and ethical values

Saint Augustine of Hippo spoke in De civitate Dei about the fact that Christians have a dual citizenship. We are all citizens of our own proper countries, and citizens of human society. We are also all citizens of heaven by means of our baptism.

As such, while we live in the world, subject to the laws imposed by civil governments, there is a deeper level at which we also live as citizens of heaven, even before we arrive at our ultimate destination.

In the fourth chapter of his book Values in a Time of Upheaval, Benedict XVI concludes the first section of his reflections by positing that the new homeland toward which we are journeying is the interior criterion that governs our life and the hope that sustains us in the present day. The New Testament writers know that this city already exists and that we already belong to it, even if we are still en route. The letter to the Hebrews expresses this idea with particular urgency: "Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come" (Heb 13:14). The author writes about the presence of this city, which is an effective reality even now: "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb 12:22). Accordingly, we may say of Christians what was once said of the patriarchs of Israel: they are foreigners and resident aliens, since their whole efforts tend toward their future fatherland (Heb 11:13-16).

From time to time, human beings are granted a rare glimpse into the life of heaven during our terrestrial existence, while we await the coming of the Kingdom: when all people will live with a common purpose, motivated by the same forces and aimed at pure altruism for the sake of good.

Catholic theology teaches that we have such an opportunity each time we gather for the celebration of the Eucharist, but perhaps another such opportunity is the participation in the international gatherings of youth which characterized the papacy of the late Holy Father, John Paul II. From all corners of the world, youth have been invited since 1986 to partake in these gatherings known as World Youth Days.

One of the fruits of these gatherings is that young Catholics, who have participated in one or more of these encounters have continued to use the internet and other technology to communicate with each other, and therefore young Christians from China to Chile and all points in between are capable of communicating with one another. Bonds of friendship have been forged in some cases and the youth, who John Paul II referred to as the jewel in his crown, have provided one of the most vibrant examples of experiencing heaven on earth.

The youth of the world have been invited to gather in Sydney, Austrailia in June 2008 for the celebration of the 23rd World Youth Day which promises to be yet another icon of the City of God already well-rooted in the lives of Christians today.