This document discusses the concept of everlasting life from theological and philosophical perspectives. It begins by exploring definitions and understandings of eternity from figures like Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Pope Benedict XVI. It then examines how everlasting life is connected to God and attained through obedience to Jesus. Images and experiences of eternal life are found in the church, sacraments like the Eucharist, and Christian prayer. Mary is presented as an icon of hope and eschatology as the intercessor, part of God's plan of salvation, our mother, and symbol of our hope in everlasting life.

1. Everlasting Life and the
Meaning of Life
Awe is to be filled with wonder
directing one to something higher
and greater.This leads one to find
God, the Source of wonders.

2. Everlasting or Eternal Life
“Eternity”- Latin aeternum which also
means “everlasting”
- Greek aion and Hebrew olam- both take
into consideration the quality and
nature of that life which lasts forever.
- Everlasting and Eternal- translations of
the same Greek word aionios

3. Human Being and Everlasting
Life
The Church admits that it is indeed
difficult to define everlasting life using
human words.
“The notion of ‘everlasting life’ is difficult
to grasp, even for us Christians, since all
our present experience is transitory and
fleeting.”
Since death puts an end to all things in
this world, eternity is alien to us.

4. Human Being and Everlasting
Life
Both great philosophers and theologians struggle to
define or at least describe everlasting life or eternity:
- Plato- eternity is a timeless and transcendent state
totally outside the dimension of time.
- Aristotle/Thomas Aquinas- eternity becomes
known from two characteristics
1. From the fact that whatever is in eternity is
interminable (lacking beginning and end)
2. From the fact that eternity itself lacks
successiveness, existing entirely at one (tota
simul)

5. Human Being and Everlasting
Life
- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (encyclical Spe
Salvi)- everlasting life is something more like
the supreme moment of satisfaction, in which
totality embraces us and we embrace totality.
This means that past and future come to
fruition in the present moment in the most
intimate, sublime, and intense way.Time and
space cease to exist in everlasting life.
- Bible- everlasting life is always connected to
God who is eternal. It goes to show that only
God can define us what eternal life is.

6. How to GetThere
We may ask, “Why do we desire for
eternity?” It is a Biblical fact that man is
created in God’s image. Beyond
philosophical speculations, the seed of
eternity is has been intimately imbedded
in the nature of human person. St.
Augustine immortalized this
inexpressible desire in his confession
saying, “You have made us forYourself,
and our heart is restless until it rests in

7. How to GetThere
Beyond all the fleeting beauties
and glories the world can offer,
man desires more than these:
eternal life, But since God alone
is eternal, only Him can tell us
why and how. Jesus alone can
give the answer. Indeed, He is the
answer.

8. How to GetThere
For us Christians, eternal life is a matter
of exigency. More so because we know
that there is another state of affair that
would last forever opposite to this:
eternal punishment. Hence, eternal life
is just so precious to lose. Jesus warns
His disciples about the path of life
saying, “How narrow the gate and
constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.” (Mt. 7:

9. Images of Eternal Life
Abound in the Sacred
Scriptures
Obedience is following Jesus’
love command in order to
inherit everlasting life in the
end.

10. God Himself is Everlasting
Everlasting life is, first and
foremost, proper to God.This is
one of His natural attributes. God
is the first and uncaused cause,
and the unmoved mover
declared St.Thomas in his 5
demonstrations on the existence
of God.

11. TheWord of God is Everlasting
“In the beginning was theWord, and
theWord was with God and theWord
was God.”
- WrittenWord of God- Sacred
Scriptures- His words are without
error because Scriptures are inspired
by the Holy Spirit “For the sake of
salvation”
- Incarnate Word of God- Jesus Christ-
ThisWord “became flesh and made
His dwelling among us”. He is also
truly present with us today in the

12. Spirit of God is Everlasting
Sacred Scriptures also testify that the Spirit of
God is eternal, both the Old and New
Testaments.
- He is with God in creation in Genesis.
- When the Son of God revealed to His disciples
the nature of God, He also revealed that the
Spirit is another person in God.
- It is the Spirit that enables us to act and live
the life of God to the fullest.
- The sacred writers attribute to the Holy Spirit
all the work characteristics of divine power
(Baptism/ Forgiveness of sins/ Sanctification
of souls)

13. Attributes of God is Everlasting
These attributes of God are
divine characteristics
proper to His divine nature.
Since they are of God,
they, too, are everlasting.

14. Attributes of God is Everlasting
Outstanding Attributes of God:
- Love of God “the love of God endures forever” (Psalm
136)
- Righteous law of God “All your words are true; all your
righteous laws are eternal” (Psalm 119: 60)
- God's Sovereignty- He rules over everything He created.
“The Lord sits enthroned above the flood!The Lord
reigns as King forever!” (Psalms 29: 10)
- Holiness of God “But now that you have been freed from
sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you
have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.”
(Romans 6: 22)
- God’s Faithfulness “The Lord’s act of mercy are not
exhausted; His compassion is not spent; they are
renewed each morning; great isYour faithfulness!”
(Lamentations 3: 22- 23)

15. Images of Everlasting
Life Abound in the
Liturgy
Appreciation is seeing the value or
importance of the liturgy in the life of
the person as “traveler” towards his/
her true destiny- the Kingdom of
God.

16. Images of Everlasting Life
Abound in the Liturgy
Liturgy
- The summit toward which the activity
of the Church is directed; at the same
time it is the fount from which all her
power flows.
- The people, redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb, draw their life and
nourishment from it, are made one
and remained united with the Lord to
praise God the Father.

17. Images of Everlasting Life
Abound in the Liturgy
Four avenues in which we truly
encounter Jesus, the giver of
everlasting life, in the present life:
1. Church
2. Sacraments
3. Holy Mass
4. Christian Prayer

18. Everlasting Life in the Church
-The Church is a heavenly reality on
earth.
-It is the sacrament of Jesus, hence,
the sacrament of everlasting life.
-Whenever there is the Church,
there is hope of everlasting life
because Jesus and the Church are
one.

19. Everlasting Life in the
Sacraments
All the seven Sacraments of the
Church make the promised salvation
of man assured.They “touch all the
stages and all the important
moments of Christian life: they give
birth and increase, healing and
mission to the Christian’s life of
faith.There is thus a certain
resemblance between the stages of
natural life and the stages of

20. Everlasting Life in the
Sacraments
SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION
1. Baptism- makes man a child of God
and assured of everlasting life
2. Confirmation- brings about the
presence of the Holy Spirit in man,
to stand for his faith and proclaim
the message of salvation.
3. Holy Eucharist- sustains man to live
His faith with joy in full communion
with the Lord.

21. Everlasting Life in the
Sacraments
SACRAMENTS OF HEALING
1. Reconciliation
2. Anointing of the Sick
Both are given to heal and
strengthen the weary people, both
body and soul.They bring God’s
healing power and forgiveness
through the Holy Spirit.

22. Everlasting Life in the
Sacraments
SACRAMENTS OFVOCATIONS/
MISSION
1. Holy Order- enables the ordained
minister to participate in the
priestly office of the Lord who is the
Head of the Church.
2. Matrimony- God makes man and
woman His co- creators of human
beings.They participate in the
perpetuation of mankind according
to the plan of God.The union of
man and woman is the sacrament

23. Everlasting Life in the Mass
The Eucharist
-“Sacrament of Sacraments”
-A memorial of the death and
resurrection of the Lord “Do this in
memory of me…”
-An action of thanksgiving to God.

24. Everlasting Life in the Mass
The Greek words eucharistein and
eulogein recall the Jewish blessings
that proclaim- especially during a
meal- God’s works: creation,
redemption, and sanctification.
St. Ignatius of Antioch called
Eucharist the “medicine of
immortality, the antidote against
death.”

25. Everlasting Life in the Mass
Ἐσθιόντων δὲ αὐτῶν λαβὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς
ἄρτον καὶ εὐλογήσας ἔκλασεν καὶ
δοὺς τοῖς μαθηταῖς εἶπεν· Λάβετε
φάγετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου.
Matthew 26: 26

26. Everlasting Life in Christian
Prayer
Prayer
-is an act of divine
communication.
-Is a proper act of the
children of God who call
God “Abba, Father”.

27. Everlasting Life in Christian
Prayer
Five BasicTypes of Prayer
1. Adoration
2. Thanksgiving
3. Petition
4. Contrition
5. Offering

28. An Icon of Hope and
Eschatology
Hope is a virtue that directs
one to God who alone can
satisfy all human longings.

29. An Icon of Hope and Eschatology
There are a lot of titles given to Mary by
the Church. In the Litany of the Blessed
Virgin Mary alone, who is honored forty
eight times. Let us summarize our honor to
the BlessedVirgin Mary into four, all of
which are pillars of our hope of salvation:
1. Mary, the Intercessor
2. Mary, in God’s Plan of Salvation
3. Mary, our Mother
4. Mary, Our Hope and Eschatology

30. Mary, the Intercessor
“Do whatever he tells you.” (Jn.
2: 5)
Mary introduces Jesus to us and
leads us to Jesus.
She is invoked in the Church
under the titles of Advocate,
Helper, Benefactress, and
Mediatrix.

31. Mary, in God’s Plan of Salvation
Whatever she does, it is always in
God’s plan of salvation.
-Mother of His Son
-Conceived immaculate
-Full of grace (all holy or Panagia)
-Fiat (obedience of faith)

32. Mary, our Mother
“Theotokos”- God- bearer
26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple
whom he lovedstanding nearby, he said to
her, “Woman,[a] here is your son,” 27 and to the
disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on,
this disciple took her into his home. (Jn. 19: 26- 27)
Jesus made His mother our mother, and us
her children at the foot of the cross.This is so
because, in Baptism, we become brothers and
sisters by adoption.

33. Mary, our Mother
Thus, in a wholly singular way
she cooperated by her
obedience, faith, hope, and
burning charity in the work of the
Savior in restoring supernatural
life to souls. For this reason she is
a mother to us in the order of
grace.

34. Mary, Our Hope and Eschatology
What she is now gives us an
impetus to look eagerly for the
future reality with Jesus, a sure
hope of redemption. “her bodily
assumption demonstrates the
transforming power of the Spirit in
eventually granting each of us
resurrected bodies. She is in a
sense, a foreshadowing of things to
come for all believers.”

35. Mary, Our Hope and Eschatology
Through Mary, the faithful see an
image and hopeful anticipation
of the resurrection that awaits
them and they invoke her as
advocate, helper, benefactress,
and mediatrix.