I believe and hope to be with my loved ones someday in heaven. Will my husband, who died almost two years ago, know me and still love me? How will he look? If I have hurt anyone in my lifetime, will he or she have forgiven me by then? My husband was a good Catholic. I hope he is in heaven, but where is it? This is all on faith. What if it isn’t the way we thought it would be?

If heaven is sharing in God’s life eternally, how important are any other details about it? Yes, we can presume that your husband will still know you and love you. Jesus, however, cautions against thinking of heaven too literally. He said, “At the resurrection they [people in heaven] neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven ” (Mt 22:30). This is not a put-down of marriage but simply an admission that we cannot force upon God our rules or preferences about what would make us eternally happy.

How will your deceased husband look? Close enough to how you remember his appearance so that you can recognize him. The Apostles were able to recognize the risen Jesus (Lk 24:36–40).