Saturday, July 9, 2016
Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 161 – Part III.
(Youcat
answer - repeated) Hell is the condition of everlasting separation from God,
the absolute absence of love.
A deepening through CCC
(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).
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 1821) We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised
by God to those who love him and do his will (Cf. Rom 8:28-30; Mt 7:21). In
every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to
persevere "to the end" (Mt 10:22; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1541) and
to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works
accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all
men to be saved" (1 Tim 2:4). She longs to be united with Christ, her
Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven: Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the
day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though
your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time
into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love
that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your
Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end (St. Teresa of Avila, Excl. 15:3).
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