Although the final destiny of souls is fixed at the very moment of death, and is known to them, yet they do not attain at once to finality, but remain in an incomplete state till the resurrection of bodies at the end of time. The conscious soul is not the whole man; while separated from the body it is in an abnormal state. The effects of the life on earth assert themselves in the soul as soon as the gates of death are passed; for the first time the soul sees what the man has made himself; still the fulness of reward or punishment is not accomplished until body and soul combine again into the one being, and each is apt to receive its share. The souls of the wicked and of those who are perfectly sanctified enter however into the abode of their eternity; they are in hell or in heaven, i.e., they are excluded from God's presence, or are placed in possession of Him. In the case of the just, there may be obstacles to their immediate entrance into their reward. There was a time, before the Redemption, when heaven was not ready for them; and there are many who at death are not ready for heaven. These remain in a temporary state. God in His goodness has given us some scanty but sufficient knowledge of the great secrets of the future. Exact details are wanting to us, and men fill them up from their own conjectures or reasonings; but substantially we know what the future states are. The future is not absolutely dark to us: it is dim indeed, but still certain.
