Hell

If you go up to a random person and tell him that one day his life is going to end and henceforth he is going to die, you might get a quizzical look.  Everyone knows that they will die but many in today's world do not understand the implications of this.  As Catholics, we know that after we die, Our Lord Jesus Christ will judge us and we either go straight to Heaven, enter Purgatory for a time, or.....go to Hell.  Heaven is talked about often by the secular world and by many Catholics.  The thought process for most is that if you are a "good" person you will end up there.  I have heard often times at the news of someone passing a commentary from someone close to deceased saying something like "Uncle Robert is now in Heaven smiling on us" or even the more daring "Uncle Robert is playing baseball in Heaven."  Such a view is truly foolish for it neglects the possibilities of Purgatory and Hell.  Now, we certainly hope that Uncle Robert is in Heaven but Holy Mother Church advises us to pray for his soul and for the soul of all who have left this Valley of Tears.

Now, when one speaks about Purgatory, we can get a better context of death.  Even though many Catholics fall into the Uncle Robert is in Heaven syndrome, there are still many Catholics that are aware of Purgatory and that souls are there.  How wonderful is it when the month of November comes and we start to hear sermons and devotions towards the Poor Souls.  Even though the Catholic identity has suffered over the past few decades, the fact that Catholics still pray for the dead shows our unity with our ancestors.

Hell, however, is an interesting topic.  Souls go here and will be here for all eternity.  Holy Mother Church teaches us that if a soul dies in mortal sin, they will go to Hell.  Our Lord shows mercy on all the members of the Church but mercy is always near justice.  People do not like to talk about Hell.  Many in the Church would rather focus on Heaven and a little bit on Purgatory but they will get angry if you talk about Hell.  Why is this?  Is it because they know about own sins that they enjoy committing and have convinced themselves that these are not grave sins?  I do not know what the reason is but we Catholics cannot be silent about this end.  Hell, my friends, is the most putrid and dreaded place to be in.  The most horrifying tortures here do not compare to the torments of the souls that fall in this dreaded place.  The really terrifying thing about Hell is that not only are the pains indescribable but that it lasts for eternity.  Billions of years will have passed by and hell has only started for the souls condemned there.

I know that thinking about hell (especially after we have fallen from the state of grace) is not a pleasurable experience.  There is an idea that trads take pleasure at souls falling into Hell which I find to be false however we need to remind ourselves and others around us about this real place that souls enter and stay for all time.  Our Lady at Fatima remarked to the children that many souls do enter hell because of sins on impurity.  What is causing you to fall?  Is it pornography, impure acts, gossip, alcoholism, going to parties, homosexual activities, pre-martial sex?  Whatever you struggle with, fight to the death and conquer that vice before you die.  If we want enter Heaven we have to fight for it if we lay down our arms we will conquered by Satan and will go to Hell.  As Our Lord says in St. Matthew's Gospel:

"The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away."

May Our Lady guide and protect us.

20 May 2015
Feast of St. Bernardino of Siena