Great link thanks!
I found this located there at newadvent which also confirms that The Firmament has been thought to be as a 'roof'.
Some derive heaven from the root ham, "to cover" (cf. the Gothic ham-ôn and the German Hem-d). According to this derivation heaven would be conceived as the roof of the world. Others trace a connection between himin (heaven) and home; according to this view, which seems to be the more probable, heaven would be the abode of the Godhead. The Latin coelum (koilon, a vault) is derived by many from the root of celare "to cover, to conceal" (coelum, "ceiling" "roof of the world"). Others, however think it is connected with the Germanic himin. The Greek ouranos is probably derived from the root var, which also connotes the idea of covering. The Hebrew name for heaven is thought to be derived from a word meaning "on high"; accordingly, heaven would designate the upper region of the world.'
Not sure how a roof, vault, canopy or pavilion (all described as the Firmament) could fit onto a ball or sphere shape 
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It is not possible for us to impose our present understanding of reality onto spiritual reality. They are not the same world.
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When we try to make spiritual things comprehensible to us in a material way we can get into many difficulties.
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Some have conceptualized heaven as cherubs (angels?) sitting on billowy clouds plucking harps. Atheists have countered, that sounds pretty boring.
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Okay then, since that sounds pretty boring then there's no point in believing in any kind of religion, ergo, atheism.
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They use that for an excuse but ironically in the end, it doesn't excuse them.
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Our Lord ascended into heaven and Our Lady was assumed body and soul into heaven, and that has always meant "up" to Catholics.
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Wherever you are in the world, "up" is away from earth. So what about for astronauts,
which way is "up" for them? What if someone is on another planet, could "up" be in the direction of earth, then?
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What if the sun is directly overhead -- is "up" towards the sun? Is the sun heaven then, or is it never heaven unless it is overhead, then heaven changes from place to place? I thought heaven never changes. See the problems?
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We are given to know that heaven is "up," and that we will each have a resurrected body in heaven, the same body we now have on earth, just as Our Lord had the same body when He appeared to his disciples after His resurrection. It was the same body but a glorified body. So it is given for us to know that we will have the same body but it will have no defects, and it will be a perfect body, and it will not be subject to injury, and it will be able to pass through obstacles. So we can suppose that contact sports won't be a main attraction anymore in heaven, even for sports fans. But some sports fans don't want any part of heaven if there's no sports there. That's all they find interesting here on earth.
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See the difficulty?
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How do we make sense of a world where all the rules are changed, and the natural "laws" we are so familiar with no longer apply?
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How did Our Lord in His glorified body eat normal food in the presence of his friends when the material of the door did not keep Him from passing right through it?
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Some things, we have to just step away from them, and realize they're not for us to know -- yet.
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There are mysteries in the Catholic faith, and that has to be okay, that we can't have all the answers here and now.
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Topic: The Physical Location of Heaven (Read 5579 times)