Future Destiny

Based on observation and experience, we can forecast some future events with varying degrees of probability. The certainty of our prediction depends on how tightly present causes are linked to future effects. Meteorological forecasting operates on this principle: scientists analyze current atmospheric conditions in light of historical patterns to draw more or less reliable conclusions about tomorrow's weather.

No, not at all. Such practices merely distract the imagination with superstitious fables woven around arbitrary words, cards, or gestures invented by people who are just as ignorant of the future as anyone else (and who profit financially from entertaining the credulous). Spiritism and occult séances present an even graver danger by opening the door to demonic influence.

If they truly knew future outcomes with certainty, they would simply win the lottery repeatedly and would have no need to charge people for readings.

Their forecasts can be far more accurate than our own because of their superior angelic intelligence and vast knowledge. But exhaustive knowledge of the future belongs exclusively to God our Lord, who is eternal and encompasses all times in His eternal present.

Sacred Scripture, the Bible, contains numerous prophecies wherein God announces future events. Such divine revelations are invariably accompanied by an urgent invitation to repentance, spiritual effort, and conversion. The Lord reveals to us what we need to know and when it serves our salvation.

We know with absolute certainty that we will die and present ourselves before the divine judgment of God. We know that those who freely choose grave evil and persist unrepentant will suffer the punishment of hell, whereas those who live in God's grace will receive the eternal beatitude of heaven, while experiencing greater joy on earth.

Beyond satisfying transient curiosity, the primary consequence would be spiritual lethargy: why exert oneself or struggle if whatever happens has already been unalterably fixed? For this reason, God our Lord lovingly shields the unfolding details of the future from our eyes.

God eternally knows what we will freely choose to do, but His infallible foreknowledge does not diminish our human freedom. Consider an analogy: a person who watches a recorded sporting match knows the final outcome and every play the athletes will make, yet it was the players who genuinely made those moves. (In God's case, His eternity encompasses all moments as present). Another analogy: the Lord knows the winning numbers of a lottery draw, yet the mechanical draw remains entirely genuine and unrigged. In any event, this profound philosophical mystery should not overwhelm us: what matters is making daily choices that please God, thereby steering our lives toward our glorious ultimate destiny: heaven.

There is an intriguing way to know something of our future with certainty: through the practice of the virtue of loyalty. Loyalty is the moral habit of remaining faithful to one's pledged word and fulfilling commitments. Consequently, when a loyal person pledges himself to a duty, he foreknows part of his future because he knows he will keep his promise. For example, whoever commits to tending a community garden every afternoon from five to seven for a month knows quite accurately where he will be for two hours each day. A fascinating reality.