What the Faithful Can Expect to Hear in Heaven

Due to advances in medical technology, many people have regained their hearing or have heard sound for the first time in their lives.

Many of us have seen Youtube videos showing these experiences, and I have to admit, some have brought me to tears. A child hearing his mother’s voice or a wife hearing her husband say “I love you” for the first time is a joy to behold. Now, I have a firsthand experience to recount.

My father has suffered from a hearing loss for the past several years. Due to the accumulation of issues such as ear damage from Scarlet Fever he had as a young boy, the loud sounds of combat on the battlefields of southeast Asia as a Green Beret, and the deterioration that often comes with aging, his hearing had become very difficult. He could hear well enough if we spoke slowly and loudly, but conversations had become very difficult.

When our family went out to lunch or dinner at a restaurant with my Dad, he was unable to participate because of all the background noise. As we conversed with each other, I would often glance over at my Dad and smile, but I knew that he couldn’t hear and thus, couldn’t participate much. My Dad missed out on all those conversations, but—and I know it sounds self-centered—we are the ones who were missing out on a brilliant conversationalist. There’s an age-old question: “What do you buy the man who has everything?” With my Dad, the question is: “What do you talk about with the man who knows everything?”

In an effort to help improve his hearing, he recently went to the ear doctor and I tagged along to help him. The ear doctor took a test and determined that there was hearing aid that could help him. Though he has had hearing aids in the past, this one should work better.

With the new aids in his ears, he started to speak. He said: “I can hear myself talking.”

With a microphone attachment that I wore, I quietly asked him, “Dad, how is the Cleveland Indians pitching looking this year?”

He announced: “Great!”

Then, my iPhone made a little ding sound, announcing a new text. My Dad looked over curiously and wondered what the sound was. He had never heard that before.

My Dad was hearing. He was hearing everything.

As we spoke to each other, his ears were no longer an issue. The only thing obstructing our conversation was the lump in my throat.

As this process unfolded, I couldn’t help but think of a verse in Scripture. It is 1 Corinthians 2:9, which reads: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

I couldn’t help but think that, though it was an incredible thing that my father’s Earthly hearing was healed, it is only a foretaste of the sounds that we faithful will hear in Heaven one wonderful day.

What sounds has God prepared for those who love Him? What sounds has God prepared for me? I can only speculate. But I’m willing to guess that one of those sounds is the voice of God saying to me: “I love you.”

Since the first moment of the Incarnation, every beat of His Sacred Heart has always said “I love you” to each one of us. In Heaven, our spiritual hearing will be healed. We will be able to hear His Heart beating for the first time, and that beautiful sound will endure forever.

We Christians are often asked why we bother trying to evangelize others. It’s the simplest of reasons. The reason is love. We want every single person on earth to hear the wonderful voice of God saying: “I love you.”

“Ear has not heard.” But one day, it will.