213. How can one reconcile the existence of hell with the infinite goodness of God?
(Comp
213) God, while desiring “all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9),
nevertheless has created the human person to be free and responsible; and he
respects our decisions. Therefore, it is the human person who freely excludes
himself from communion with God if at the moment of death he persists in mortal
sin and refuses the merciful love of God.
“In brief”
(CCC 1058) The Church prays that no one should be lost:
"Lord, let me never be parted from you." If it is true that no one
can save himself, it is also true that God "desires all men to be
saved" (1 Tim 2:4), and that for him "all things are possible"
(Mt 19:26).
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1037) God predestines no one to go to hell (Cf. Council
of Orange II (529): DS 397; Council of Trent (1547):1567); for this, a willful
turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until
the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful,
the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish,
but all to come to repentance" (2 Pet 3:9): Father, accept this offering
from your whole family. Grant us your peace in this life, save us from final
damnation, and count us among those you have chosen [Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 88]. (CCC 1036) The affirmations
of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are
a call to the responsibility
incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny.
They are at the same time an urgent call
to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the
way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For
the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find
it are few" (Mt 7:13-14). Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we
should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the
single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him
into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the
wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into
the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth" (LG 48
§ 3; Mt 22:13; cf. Heb 9:27; Mt 25:13, 26, 30, 31 46).
On reflection
(CCC 1428) Christ's call to conversion continues to resound
in the lives of Christians. This second
conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who,
"clasping sinners to her bosom, [is] at once holy and always in need of
purification, [and] follows constantly the path of penance and renewal"
(LG 8 § 3). This endeavor of conversion is not just a human work. It is the
movement of a "contrite heart," drawn and moved by grace to respond
to the merciful love of God who loved us first (Ps 51:17; cf. Jn 6:44; 12:32; 1
Jn 4:10). (CCC 1429) St. Peter's conversion after he had denied his master
three times bears witness to this. Jesus' look of infinite mercy drew tears of
repentance from Peter and, after the Lord's resurrection, a threefold
affirmation of love for him (Cf. Lk 22:61; Jn 21:15-17). The second conversion
also has a communitarian dimension,
as is clear in the Lord's call to a whole Church: "Repent!" (Rev 2:5,
16). St. Ambrose says of the two conversions that, in the Church, "there
are water and tears: the water of Baptism and the tears of repentance"
(St. Ambrose, ep. 41, 12: PL 16,
1116).
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