Tag Archives: Hell

Fear of Death can lead to Life

16 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by in Eternal Life, Repentance, Sacraments

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I have had many failed attempts at making regular posts to my blog. There are many reasons for this, which amount to a pile of excuses. Recently I have been thinking that a regular post of my morning homily might be possible for the to keep up with. But I am going to try to keep it at 200 words or less so that I can actually get it done without spending a great deal of time on it. As a result, I may not explain things as well as I would like. So if you have questions about what I have written it would be an excellent opportunity to post a comment and I will answer.

Today’s Gospel reading for Mass can be found here. It is the story of the healing of the Official’s son.

The distance between Capernaum and Cana was approximately 20-25 miles. And it must be remembered that this distance had to be covered without benefit of modern conveniences such as buses, trains, planes, or cars. Therefore it would have taken a great deal of time for the Official in the Gospel to come to where Jesus was. We all know why he went to see Jesus – to ask for healing of his son. What we need to ask, though, is what motivated him to go to Jesus? His motivation, it seems to me, must have been the fear of losing his son.

Most parents would have a similar motivation for saving their children and other loved ones. That is why people spend billions and billions of dollars every year seeking cures to their various diseases. Therefore, if a doctor or miracle worker was able to guarantee healing for any disease then the line to see that person would never end.

And yet, healing for every spiritual infirmity is offered to us by Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of Penance. So why don’t the lines for Confession stretch out the door and down the street of every Catholic parish? It seems to me that one answer could be a lack of fear. That being, the fear of losing our soul for all eternity. Fear of losing his son drove the Official in today’s to Jesus. In a similar manner a fear of eternal death should drive us to Christ in the confessional. With a word He was able to heal the Official’s son and with a word – I absolve you – He is able to bring healing to whatever ails our souls. It is true that the fear of Hell is not the perfect contrition that God wants from us, but at least it is a start.

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Christ the King

25 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Loving our Neighbor, Salvation, Sermons, Submission to God, Update

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(Editorial note: the comment below by Dr. Delaney is worth noting and, as he suggests, would have fit into my sermon very well. In addition, it was pointed out by one of the deacons at the parish that we in America do not actually have a true democracy but instead a democratic republic. Both of these mistakes find their origin in my own ignorance, which can be attributed to my always taking the easy way out in my studies earlier in my life. I am now trying to remedy that problem. I have left the sermon as is, though, because this is how I delivered it.)

Sermon for Christ the King Sunday

November 23, 2014

What is a king? This is the question posed to us by our celebration today. But secondly, and more importantly, what does it mean for Christ to be our King? Regarding the first question, in an absolute monarchy, the king is one who exercises complete political power over a specific group of people. And if these people are good subjects then they will obey the king’s decisions and follow where he leads. But, of course, this kind of monarchy only works if the king is good and has the good of his subjects always in mind. And this is why earthly kingdoms which have absolute monarchies do not work – because the concerns of an earthly king often devolves into either a concern for what is good for himself or other petty concerns that hurt his subjects. Because of this, when this country was founded, we chose not to have a king, but instead established a democratic system with elected officials. And even though at this time many of our elected officials act more like dictators rather than ordinary citizens who have been elected to represent the people, nevertheless, our choice of government seems to be the best model for a planet of fallen and sinful people. We are all sinful and selfish and therefore, no single one of us should have absolute power over the rest.

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A Man Unafraid to Tell the Truth

22 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Free Will, God's Will, Salvation, The Great Divorce

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On this day 51 years ago C.S. Lewis died. I have had the pleasure of meeting a few men that actually met and talked with Lewis (one of them being my friend Thomas Howard) but I never had the pleasure of meeting the man himself. In fact, I was not even alive when he died. But even though I never met him he has greatly impacted my life. He was the first one that helped me to truly see what Christianity really is through his book Mere Christianity. Even though he never converted to the Catholic Faith, I count him as one of the influences that led me necessarily into the Catholic Church. I owe him a great deal. So much do I owe him that I even nicknamed my first son Jack (my wife wouldn’t let me name him Clive Staples, or so I jokingly tell people). Lewis is on my top 10 list of people I most want to meet when I get to Heaven (assuming that in the end I choose that instead of my own miserable desires.)

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.

The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis

Thank you St. Jack for everything you did in serving Christ and His Church.

 

In Regards to the Fall

29 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Salvation, The Fall, Thought for the Day

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The doctrine of the Fall (both of man and of some ‘gods,’ ‘eldils’ or ‘angels’) is the only satisfactory explanation. Evil begins, in a universe where all was good, from free will, which was permitted because it makes possible the greatest good of all. The corruption of the first sinner consists not in choosing some evil thing (there are no evil things for him to choose) but in preferring a lesser good (himself) before a greater (God). The Fall is, in fact, Pride. The possibility of this wrong preference is inherent in the v. (very) fact of having, or being, a self at all. But though freedom is real it is not infinite. Every choice reduces a little one’s freedom to choose the next time. There therefore comes a time when the creature is fully built, irrevocably attached either to God or to itself. This irrevocableness is what we call Heaven or Hell. Every conscious agent is finally committed in the long run: i.e., it rises above freedom into willed, but henceforth unalterable, union with God, or else sinks below freedom into the black fire of self-imprisonment. That is why the universe (as even the physicists now admit) has a real history, a fifth act with a finale in which the good characters ‘live happily ever after’ and the bad ones are cast out. At least that is how I see it.
The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume II

St. Gregory the Great

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Catholic Church, Christian Unity, Eternal Life, Loving our Neighbor, Pope Benedict XVI, Saints, Salvation

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St. Gregory the Great and St. Augustine of Canterbury

Perhaps you have heard this story before but not perhaps from St. Bede the Venerable. This passage starts on page 86 of the pdf, which is numbered 74 in the text of the book. The whole book can be found here for free.

Nor must we pass by in silence the story of the blessed Gregory, handed down to us by the tradition of our ancestors, which explains his earnest care for the salvation of our nation. It is said that one day, when some merchants had lately arrived at Rome, many things were exposed for sale in the market place, and much people resorted thither to buy: Gregory himself went with the rest, and saw among other wares some boys put up for sale, of fair complexion, with pleasing countenances, and very beautiful hair. When he beheld them, he asked, it is said, from what region or country they were brought? and was told, from the island of Britain, and that the inhabitants were like that in appearance. He again inquired whether those islanders were Christians, or still involved in the errors of paganism, and was informed that they were pagans. Then fetching a deep sigh from the bottom of his heart, “Alas! what pity,” said he, “that the author of darkness should own men of such fair countenances; and that with such grace of outward form, their minds should be void of inward grace. He therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation? and was answered, that they were called Angles. “Right,” said he, “for they have an angelic face, and it is meet that such should be co-heirs with the Angels in heaven. What is the name of the province from which they are brought?” It was replied, that the natives of that province were called Deiri. (Note: Southern Northumbria) “Truly are they Deira,” said he, “saved from wrath, and called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that called?” They told him his name was Aelli;’ and he, playing upon the name, said, “Allelujah, the praise of God the Creator must be sung in those parts.”

Then he went to the bishop of the Roman Apostolic see (for he was not himself then made pope), and entreated him to send some ministers of the Word into Britain to the nation of the English, that it might be converted to Christ by them; declaring himself ready to carry out that work with the help of God, if the Apostolic Pope should think fit to have it done. But not being then able to perform this task, because, though the Pope was willing to grant his request, yet the citizens of Rome could not be brought to consent that he should depart so far from the city, as soon as he was himself made Pope, he carried out the long-desired work, sending, indeed, other preachers, but himself by his exhortations and prayers helping the preaching to bear fruit. This account, which we have received from a past generation, we have thought fit to insert in our Ecclesiastical History.

The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, St. Bede

I have always thought this to be a wonderful story. I suppose the main reason I find this story so intriguing and inspiring is because it led to the salvation of the English people, which is very important for me as an Anglican convert to the Catholic Faith. But of course there would be no ‘Anglican’ if St. Gregory had not first sent St. Augustine, which eventually led to Anglicanism after Henry VIII. So it is very appropriate that as Gregory sent Augustine to preach the Catholic Faith to the people and bring them into the one Fold of Christ, so also Benedict XVI published Anglicanorum coetibus to bring the lost sheep of Anglicanism back into the one Fold originally proclaimed by Augustine.

But there is another reason I am bringing up this story today. Notice what happens when Gregory sees the Angles being sold in the marketplace. His immediate and primary concern is not to see the slaves freed from their physical chains that hold them down. Instead, he is focused on another slavery that is far worse – that of being pagans, of being completely and hopelessly lost without a knowledge of Christ. It was the chains that enslaved their souls that he sought to free them from because it is those which have eternal consequences.

Many people today though have it completely backwards. They might see physical chains of some sort, some form of ‘social justice’ that needs to be performed, and through mere sentiment they seek to put right the perceived wrong. But of the spiritual situation of those in need they could not care less. This mindset is at least understandable in relief work done for the needy through various non-sectarian agencies. But when this is the attitude of those within the Church it makes no sense whatsoever!

Our Lord died to bring eternal, not temporal, salvation to mankind. This isn’t to say that we should not be concerned with the physical needs of our suffering brothers and sisters. We should – in fact our Lord demands it of us. But, we must have our priorities straight and remember that the help that others need most desparately, more than anything else, is not ‘justice’, whether it be social or otherwise. Instead what they need is mercy – the mercy that we can only receive through Christ’s redemption that He won for us on the Cross. St. Gregory understood this and we, as a Church that can see pagans of all kinds surrounding us, need to understand it.

Is Hell a ‘Good’ Thing?

21 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by in Eternal Life, Theodicy

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The main purpose of today's post is as a sort of note to myself for future reference. Due to the fact that part of what I am writing about is found (in English) only on the internet this seemed like the best place to make a note of it. But in addition to it being a note to myself, it is also interesting what the two people (Stratford Caldecott and Don Gabriele Amorth) have to say about hell.

In am nearing the end of Stratford Caldecott's wonderful book The Radiance of Being. Yesterday, I finished reading the chapter titled Time, Eternity, Hell. Basically this chapter has to do with how evil is possible even though God is all good, why mankind sins (and why the angels sinned), and the Christian teaching of eternal punishment in hell for those who reject God. Needless to say this is a difficult topic to tackle in one chapter. But like the rest of the book, the author had some very interesting insights that he deduced from his own reading of several other authors about the subject. While discussing something from the Catholic theologian von Balthasar he writes,

Hell is a Trinitarian event because everything that is created, hell not excepted, must have its archetype in the eternal Principle.

The Radiance of Being, p.246

Due to the fact that I do not understand the author's ideas well enough it would be very difficult for me to explain what he is trying to say here in the context of the rest of the chapter. But really what he 'means' in this passage (and the chapter) is not what I wanted to dispute. My dispute comes from his apparent presupposition that hell was created directly by God as a place of punishment.

Before moving on to what Don Gabriele Amorth has to say I will give my own understanding. I could not find anything in the Catechism stating whether or not God directly created hell. And (to me) it doesn't really make sense to say that He created hell because hell is not a good thing and we know that God, being all Good, only makes things that are good. In other words, only good can come from God. My understanding is that hell is the place, or non-place, from which God has withdrawn His presence completely so that it is not really a place that was 'created' at all.

But, on the other hand, nothing can exist without God willing it. Therefore, perhaps hell is a realm that was orginially created good by God, but then, like those who inhabit hell, it was twisted and perverted by sin. Then, after it was distorted by sin and the damned started to inhabit it, God removed Himself completely from that realm. Therefore, it is the 'place' for those who have definitively rejected God – a 'place' completely devoid of God or anything that is good.

This idea–that of complete separation from God–is supported by the Catechism in the few sections that it contains about hell. In §1033 it tells us, “This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'hell.'” In §1034 it quotes the words of our Lord from Matthew 25:41, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!” In §1035 it states that the “chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God.” And finally in §1861 we are told if mortal sin “is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell.” But on the question of whether or not it was created by God–either directly as a place of punishment or something that was originally good and then twisted–the Catechism appears to be silent. (Unless I am overlooking something which is quite possible.)

Lastly, I want to quote what Don Gabriele Amorth has to say about the subject. But first a little information about Fr. Amorth–he is the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome and has been an exorcist for many years. The interview located here is where I found the following quote. (Here he is discussing the priest who trained him.)

Was Fr. Candido ironic even with the devil?

I want to tell you about one very important episode to help you understand a truth. You need to know that when there’s a case of diabolical possession, there is a dialogue between the exorcist and the devil. Satan is a great liar, but sometimes the Lord obliges him to tell the truth. Once Fr. Candido was liberating a person after many exorcisms and with his typical irony he told the devil: “Go away for the Lord has created a nice warm home for you, he has prepared a little house for you where you won’t suffer from the cold”. However, the devil interrupted him and replied: “You don’t know anything”.

What did he mean?

When the devil interrupts with a saying like this, it means that God has obliged him to tell the truth. And this time it was extremely important. The faithful often ask me: “But how is it possible that God created Hell, why did he think of a place of suffering?”. And so that time the devil responded to the provocations of Fr. Candido by revealing an important truth about Hell: “It was not Him, God, who created Hell! It was us. He hadn’t even thought of it!” Therefore in the plan of God’s creation the existence of Hell had not been contemplated. The demons created it! During exorcisms, I have also often asked the devil: “Did you create Hell?”. And his response has always been the same: “We all cooperated”.

This seems to shed some light on the subject with the exception that the Church teaches that the devil cannot create anything. Only God can create. Of course, in a certain sense man can 'create' things–artwork, poetry, literature, etc.–but only by using that which God has already created. And of course man can take those good things and twist them for evil purposes. And that seems to be the only explanation for what the devil says in the above quote: the demons took something that was good and 'redecorated' to their own hideous liking.

(There is one other possible explanation for hell which I mention here parenthetically. I suppose hell could be considered 'good' in the following way. God is completely good and God's justice is a part of what makes up the good of who He is. Punishment for the condemned is a part of justice (although I can't find anything in the Catechism to confirm this). Therefore, perhaps the punishment of hell is a good from God's point of view. Although, it is not a good I want to partake of.)

Love the Sin – Hate the Sinner?

09 Friday May 2014

Posted by in Forgiveness, Loving our Neighbor

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It is more than likely that we have all heard the phrase, “hate the sin – love the sinner.” This is the example we have received from our Lord Jesus Christ. This morning, though, it occured to me that Satan does just the opposite and “hates the sinner but loves the sin.” It is, therefore, ironic that we so often emulate Satan instead of our Lord. What do we do (unless we are living saints) when someone offends us? If we are honest we would have to admit that our immediate reaction is, to a greater or lesser extent, to hate the person that offended us. We think to ourselves, “How could he do that to me?!” Or, “He thinks he's so great: I'll show him!”

Satan hates us and wants to drag as many of us to hell with him as possible. When we think such evil thoughts in regards to those who offend us then we are effectively doing the same thing: we are sending people to hell with our thoughts. But is that what we really want to do? Do we really want to condemn people to an eternity of despair and pain for a momentary pain they may have caused us? (And any pain in this life is only momentary.) If we really want someone to go to hell then we have probably condemned ourselves to the same fate because we have become just like Satan.

But I think for most of us, if we really thought about the consequences of our evil thoughts toward others, we would see that in the big scheme of things what has been done to offend us pales in comparison to our wrath at the offense. So the next time someone hurts us we should try to remember that that person has an immortal soul created and loved by God every bit as much as He loves our own. And if we desire to be happy for eternity then let us emulate Him when we are hurt. Yes, we should hate the sin because sinfulness can have no place with God. And we should then love the sinner with the realization that the sinner is our very self.

The Proof of the Resurrection

20 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by in Icons, Resurrection, Salvation, Sermons, Truth

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Sermon for the Solemn Vigil of Easter

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Tonight we celebrate the most significant event in the history of mankind – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And I am sure all of us here tonight believe this to be true. However, outside the walls of the Catholic Church, the world would have us believe something else. The world tells us, “Resurrection from the dead – that is sheer nonsense. That is just a story made-up by people 2,000 years ago to try to bring hope and meaning to our earthly existence. It didn’t really happen. Where is your proof?”

To this question I respond that the proof of the Resurrection is the existence of the Catholic Church. What I mean is this – the Catholic Church, and therefore no other form of Christianity, would have ever existed if Christ did not truly rise from the dead. After all, the Church was founded not just on the teachings of Christ and miracles of Christ but on the witness of the Apostles. Think about this – why would those men give their lives for Christ unless He truly was who He said He was? Jesus did not keep it a secret that He was the Son of God. He spoke openly about it and that was why He was crucified. But if He had remained dead and stayed in the tomb then what possible reason would there be for the Apostles to go around telling people that He had risen from the dead? They wouldn’t have. Instead, they would have gone back to their former lives wondering why they had followed a crazy-man around for the last three years of their lives. And, more importantly, they would have gone back to the practice of their Jewish faith.

But, they did not do that. Instead, their teaching and witness became the very foundation of the Catholic Faith. All of them, except St. John the beloved disciple, gave themselves as martyrs – a word which means witness – of the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And through this witness countless others throughout the ages have also given their lives in witness to the Truth of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead.

But what about ourselves? What is it that we believe? In our first set of readings tonight we heard the recounting of salvation history – of everything leading up to the advent of Jesus Christ. We later heard from St. Paul – that we have been buried with Christ through our baptisms and will, therefore, rise again with Christ. And finally we heard an account of the Resurrection of Christ from the Apostle St. Matthew. Then, to all these Truths, we have reaffirmed our belief through the renewal of our Baptismal Vows.

In those vows, those solemn promises we just made, we reaffirmed our renunciation of evil and all the works of the devil and renewed our commitment to the risen Jesus Christ. Three times we uttered the words ‘I believe’ in regards to Father, Son, Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church. Next, five times we promised to live out our faith in Jesus Christ with the words ‘I will, with God’s help.’ Lastly, we reiterated our commitment to all these promises by saying together ‘Amen,’ which signifies that we are truly in agreement with everything we promised.

But too often today people do not understand the seriousness of a promise, much less a promise made to God. People today routinely promise things to get what they want: for example, in business deals, in politics and in marriage. And then when we break those promises we console ourselves by saying, “Oh well, my intention was pure. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you thought they would.” Of course they don’t! But does that mean that you can just break a promise because it is no longer convenient for you – especially a promise to God?

After the sin of Adam and Eve, God promised to send to us a Savior. He fulfilled His promise and tonight we celebrate the fulfillment of that promise – the rising of Christ from the dead and the victory over sin and death that comes with it. But if we want the benefits of that victory to apply to us then we must keep our end of the bargain. If we truly believe that Jesus rose from the dead – which is evidenced by the existence of the Catholic Church – then we will do that which we have promised.

In the end, the final question that must be answered is this – do you believe or not? If you do, then would you give your life in witness to that belief? It was this that the Apostles did in their witness to Jesus' death and Resurrection. Are you willing to do the same? Here I am not just speaking of dying the death of a martyr. Although, we should be willing to do so rather than deny Christ. On the other hand, we are all called to die to our selves: our sinfulness, our pride, our concupiscence. If we will not do this then we will not be worthy of the Resurrection to the life to come.

If we are not willing to die to our selves then we simply do not believe enough in the Truth of the Resurrection. Christ, the Son of God died for you – but He did not remain in the tomb. And He does not wish for a single one of us to remain dead in our sins. His Resurrection is an offer to each of us to rise from our own tomb of sin and death – but will you accept it?

 

Through us, He died; through Him, we Live

14 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in Liturgy of the Hours, Salvation, Thought for the Day

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Something to think about as we move closer Easter.

In other words, he performed the most wonderful exchange with us. Through us, he died; through him, we shall live.

The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves.

He loved us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us sinners the punishment we deserved for our sins. How then can he fail to give us the reward we deserve for our righteousness, for he is the source of righteousness? How can he, whose promises are true, fail to reward the saints when he bore the punishment of sinners, though without sin himself?

Brethren, let us then fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim, that Christ was crucified for us; let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory.

From a sermon by Saint Augustine

A Moment of Clarity

12 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by in Salvation, Truth

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It is ironic that the thing I went to great lengths to avoid as a student (both K-12 and college) is now one of the things that I most enjoy and desire to do – to write. My desire to write stems from the desire to be able to effectively inform others of the Faith. Specifically, I would like to be able to write like Lewis, von Hildebrand, Thomas Howard or others who I greatly admire. These men inspire me because of their great ability to explain what is in their minds and I am not suggesting that I have reached such a level (or that I ever will). But I want to try and that is part of the reason for this blog and why I am posting today about an experience I had yesterday.

Yesterday, while I was in the Chapel for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, I was meditating on happiness and the false idols that people pursue to try to fulfill that happiness they seek. It was one of those moments that you can see the Truth so clearly, but which is always hard to put into words. Nevertheless I tried to do so and below is what I wrote immediately after this moment of clarity.

They catch a glimpse of it but instead pursue the wrong thing, thinking that which they pursue is what will make them happy. As a result, due to never pursuing the right thing they never obtain that which they truly seek – Heaven. If they end up in Hell they then can clearly see what they wanted (Heaven), but then can never and will never reach it. What on earth they could have obtained is forever lost to them.

Like I said, I am no C.S. Lewis. I have not changed any part of it in order to stay true to my initial impression. Tomorrow (if I have time) I will try to explain better what it means. Until then, perhaps I could get some feedback from you. What do you think? Does it even make any sense?