Historically, Catholic theology selected the concept of "beatific vision" to define the very essence of "Providence", the life of man in the manifested, revealed and eternal presence of God.

Controversies in the Middle Ages led the Magisterium to solemnly affirm the immediacy of the encounter of man with God after death. Without further delay, the purified soul will see God with an intuitive vision, face-to-face, with the mediation of nobody.

The Christian tradition has certainly always been aware of the space separating man from his Creator. This is why this event is said to occur by means of the divine, decisive gift of the lumen gloriae, the work of the Holy Spirit, by whom we are introduced to this vision of the divine being. Similarly, we are constantly reminded that this vision will never correspond to the exhaustive knowledge of God and of his mystery. Those who see God in his being, see in Him who is infinite and infinitely cognizable, and this infinite modality does not correspond to the one who is seeing him

This compels us to be careful about choosing human concepts without being aware of their inevitable limitations. The vision is to be intended as an external, detatched glance of an object. This dimension of the concept must be purified and for this, the correlation of vision and contemplation is not sufficient.

Thus, the "beatific vision" should be affirmed within the historic and redeeming horizon which pertains to the Second Vatican Council, considering, above all, that the subject is the immediate knowledge of the One and Triune God, free and personal.

To see God face-to-face is to know Him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, mystery of Unity, in the infinite love and liberty of personal relations. The "beatific vision" is also to know the Love of the Father, which eternally generates the Son, in the unity of the Spirit, received by the divine Word of Love. "Immediate vision", because we will be face-to-face with the personal mystery of the God of the Trinity, who reveals himself and communicates with his Son and in the Spirit, conducting man to a truly interpersonal and free relationship, which differs from the subject-object relationship.

In this perspective it is evident that also the glorification of man by the Spirit and the vision of God do not entail the disappearance of the personal human being in divine immensity. On the contrary, we remain creatures and at the same time we see God, we know Him and we undertake a personal and free relationship with Him as truly adopted children. The "beatific vision" will belong to men as sons, in the Son: we shall know Him as the Father who is eternally preceded by the Son, who answers Him in the eternal Love of the One and Only Spirit. We shall see Him "according to our merits", not "according to our measure" but according to the redeeming compassion of the Lord, who definitively introduces the life of each one of us in the infinite horizon of divine fecundity.

We will bear witness to the lifeof the Trinity, we will see Him face-to-face, but not as external observers (which would be impossible), but rather as sons, as the Son sees and knows the Father. We shall know Him as filial humanity, incorporated and bound to Jesus Christ because through Him, with Him and in Him humanity shares the divine filiation, it receives the Gift of the Father and it responds filially with the Gift of its full self.