Hell
Are they few in number who will be saved?
This subject seems to be on the mind of several bloggers these days. This surprised me since I have been thinking a lot about it myself. Most recently, considering the moral discussions which have taken place on this blog, I wondered if perhaps St. John of the Cross was correct when he told someone he believed most people go to hell. Of course, no one knows how many people go to hell, in fact, when asked, Jesus simply replied, “Strive to enter by the narrow gate…” You know the rest.
Most of us think we know who will go to hell if they do not repent of obvious sin; murderers, child molesters, terrorists, politicians, and so on, although we cannot know this for certain. God’s mercy is inscrutable.
I’m okay - you’re okay?
As Catholics, hopefully we all strive to live our faith in obedience to the commandments and the teachings of the Church. We pray, frequent the sacraments, and try to live moral lives, therefore, we hope we will be saved. Nevertheless, we dare not become complacent or presumptuous as regards our salvation, as Fr. Kimel reminds us in his post, Counting the Saved.
For the rest of us, it is all too easy to confuse moral decency and goodness, or at least absence of grievous sin, with spiritual life. Christians presume a state of grace for those involved in the sacramental life of the Church, yet the Church has always warned her members of the mortality of sin and the need for continual conversion to Christ. We may not presume that others are saved or in the process of being saved because they are decent or at least not truly wicked people. We may not presume that we are saved or in the process of being saved because we are decent or at least not truly wicked people. There is no substitute for gospel, repentance, and prayer. We must cast ourselves upon the mercy of Christ and pray for the anointing of the Spirit. We must seek to be found in Christ, for he alone is the assurance that we are on the right path. - Pontifications
These thoughts must necessarily give one pause to stop and examine our own spiritual life. Although, in charity, I also cannot help but think of others and feel concern for their salvation, especially dissident Catholics who reject various teachings of the Church, or those who have fallen away and simply do not believe any longer. In the end, will Our Lord say to them, “Ah, my son, I know you could not accept the teaching of the Magisterium and taught others to reject it as well. I know you were sincere and loving, filled with compassion for those who rejected my teaching, therefore, because you were so sincere and loved peace, enter into the kingdom of my Father.”
The chances of the Lord saying that are pretty slim, especially when scripture tells us, “Even the just man is saved with difficulty.” - 1 Peter 4:18
Erring Catholics.
Shelray, a contributor to Cosmos, Liturgy, and Sex, posted a piece on this subject - actually, her article led me to read Fr. Kimel’s piece. Within her post are excerpts from a pamphlet entitled, “Cry of A Lost Soul” - a narrative of a soul who had been damned and appears to her friend. Who knows if it is authentic, the lesson rings true nonetheless:
“Deep down I was rebelling against God. You did not understand it; you thought me still a Catholic. I wanted, in fact, to be called one; The lost Catholics suffer more than those of other religions, because they, mostly, received and despised more graces and more light. He who knew more suffers more cruelly than he who knew less. He who sinned out of malice suffers more keenly than he who sinned out of weakness. But nobody suffers more than he deserves.” - You fool - this very night…
“O my Jesus! Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, help those most in need of thy mercy!” - Fatima prayer.
Links:
Even Fr. Longenecker is writing about it - Go to Hell - his review of Thigpen’s book, My Visit to Hell, a sort of contemporary Dante’s Inferno. I’m ordering it.