What do you and I need in order to go to heaven? The simplest, one-word answer would be "Jesus," but Catholic teaching highlights three virtues that unite us to Jesus and prepare our hearts for eternal life. These three virtues - faith, hope, and charity (or love) - are called the theological virtues. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:
384. What are the theological virtues?
The theological virtues have God himself as their origin, motive and direct object. Infused with sanctifying grace, they bestow on one the capacity to live in a relationship with the Trinity. They are the foundation and the energizing force of the Christian’s moral activity and they give life to the human virtues. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being.
385. What are the theological virtues?
The theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity.
St. Paul mentions these three virtues together in several places:
But since we are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet that is hope for salvation. For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:8-10)
We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. (1 Thessalonians 1:2-4)
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.(1 Corinthians 13:12-13)
We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. (Colossians 1:3-5)
When we talk about what it takes to go to heaven, we tend to talk simply about being a "good person," as if anyone who isn't a serial killer can be pretty confident about their eternal reward. Heaven, though, is eternal life in communion with God, which requires that we have are in communion with God in this earthly life. The theological virtues - believing in God, hoping in God, and loving God - direct our hearts toward him through Jesus now, so that we can remain in communion with him in eternity.
In my next three articles, I'll be looking more closely at each of the three theological virtues - faith, hope, and charity - to better understand what we need to grow in holiness. Stay tuned!