Third Sunday after Epiphany - 24 January AD 2010

“Many shall come from the east and the west and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness.”[1]

A few years ago, I had a conversation with man who, at best, seemed to be a nominal Christian. And he was very much impressed with the notion that the Jews had been God's chosen people, and at least for the most part, had lost this position by rejecting the Messiah when He came to them. This fellow seemed to simply dislike Jewish people, and he was trying to use this as an example of how materialistic they were—and perhaps a little bit dumb besides.

But when I asked him about his own religion, he became rather defensive. He couldn't see any reason why a grown man had to believe in things like Sacraments, and miracles, and angels, and saints, and such. But, he did go to church regularly—every Christmas and Easter—except that he had missed a few times during the years since his mother died. And, certainly, it was a bit much to expect a modern person to observe all 10 of the Commandments.

This fellow, who had been so “down” on the Jews for rejecting Christ, just could not understand how the exact same criticism applied to him. He was “different,” he was a “Christian,” and no one was going to “cast him out into the exterior darkness; with all the weeping and gnashing of teeth.” He couldn’t understand that as a Christian he had an obligation to Christ, far more serious than the modern Jewish person who was raised in that faith.

And the sad thing is that there are many of us who are just like this fellow. That even though we may be nominally correct in calling ourselves “Catholics,” we fail either through lack of faith, or lack of discipline to properly live up to that name. And, if so, we really shouldn't try to fool ourselves into believing that we will have a share in the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is all too commonly held a mistake among modern people—even among some Catholics—that there is no Hell, or that only a very few especially bad people will be sent there, or that Hell is only a temporary state and that eventually everyone will be reunited in Heaven.

This is perhaps the greatest and most serious heresy of the modern era: that the sins of all mankind will be forgiven through the shedding of Christ's Blood; without regard to their faith and their conduct.

Hell has to be eternal, because it is merited only by those who are unrepentant in their rebellion against an Infinite God—against an Infinite God who became one of us and suffered and died so that we might have something better. The soul in hell has simply spurned God's infinite love and generosity. At judgment day, he flees there himself, with the shameful knowledge that he has thrown away everything for nothing.

The remedy for all of this is simple. God is not asking a great deal—certainly nothing impossible.

We must know our faith by studying it according to our intellectual ability. It is totally inadequate for an adult Catholic to think that their education is complete because they answered all of the questions in the Baltimore Catechism, all those many years ago.

But the intellectual knowledge of God is not enough. We must nourish our faith and our love of God by frequent prayer, Mass, and reception of the Sacraments. No one would expect to have a successful human romantic relationship with a person whom you avoided most of the time. Likewise, faith and love of God come from drawing close to Him on a very regular basis.

And we must practice our faith by keeping the Commandments—all of them. Knowing the Faith and pretending to love God would be hypocritical if we continued to offend Him with mortal sin.

All of the sacred scriptures and public and private revelations; the encyclicals of the popes and the writings of the fathers and doctors of the Church; all of the works of the most humble and most sublime mystics—they all say the same thing: In order to be happy with God in heaven, we must know, love, and serve Him in this world.

To do any less is to cast one's self into the exterior darkness, for an eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

NOTES: * Illustration: http://www.pitts.emory.edu/woodcuts/1670Font/00010559.jpg

[1] Mt. viii. http://www.drbo.org/chapter/47007.htm

[2] Matthew xxv. http://www.drbo.org/chapter/47025.htm

[3] Mark ix. http://www.drbo.org/chapter/48009.htm

[4] Luke xvi. http://www.drbo.org/chapter/49016.htm

[5] Daniel xii. http://www.drbo.org/chapter/32012.htm

[6] Isaias xlvi. http://www.drbo.org/chapter/27046.htm

Third Sunday after Epiphany—24 January A.D. 2010

Hell is Real!