CCC 163

Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is".⁴⁷ 1 Cor 13:12; I Jn 3:2 So faith is already the beginning of eternal life: When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.⁴⁸ St. Basil De Spiritu Sancto 15, 36: PG 32, 132PG — Patrologia Graeca (Migne); cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II, 4, 1.