Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 161 – Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 161 - Part I. What is hell?

(Youcat answer) Hell is the condition of everlasting separation from God, the absolute absence of love.         

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1033) We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 Jn 3:14-15). Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren (Cf. Mt 25:31-46). To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."         

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Someone who consciously and with full consent dies in serious sin, without repenting, and refuses God’s merciful, forgiving love forever, excludes himself from communion with God and the saints. We do not know whether anyone at the moment of death can look absolute Love in the face and still say No. But our freedom makes that decision possible. Jesus warns us again and again not to separate ourselves definitively from him by shutting our hearts against the need of his brothers and sisters: “Depart from me, you cursed… As you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me”(Mt 25:41, 45).      

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1034) Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost (Cf. Mt 5:22, 29; 10:28; 13:42, 50;  Mk 9:43-48). Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather… all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire" (Mt 13:41-42) and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!" (Mt 25:41).      

(This question: What is hell? is continued)