Hell is “the outer darkness.” (Matthew 8:12)
YOUCAT Catechism +
Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 53
Ave Maria series
53. What is hell?
Our faith calls “hell” the condition of final separation
from God. Anyone who sees love clearly
in the face of God and, nevertheless, does not want it decides freely to have
this condition instead. [1033-1036]
The parable of the Rich man and
Lazarus depicting the rich man in hell asking for help to Abraham and Lazarus
in heaven by James Tissot. .....53
Jesus, who knows what hell is like, speaks about it as the
“outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12). Expressed in our terms, it is cold rather
than hot. It is horrible to contemplate
a condition of complete rigidity and hopeless isolation from everything that
could bring aid, relief, joy, and consolation into one’s life. 161-162
“Jesus came to tell us that he wants us all to be in
Paradise, and that Hell—of which one speaks little in our time—exists and is
eternal for all who close their hearts to his love.” Benedict XVI May 8, 200
“We long for the joy of heaven, where God is. It is within our power to be with him in
heaven even now, to be happy with him in this very moment. But to be happy with him now means to help as
he helps, to give as he gives, to serve as he serves, to save as he saves, to
love as he loves. To be with him
twenty-four hours a day, to encounter him in his most frightening
disguise. For he said so: “What you did to the least of my brethren,
you did to me.” Blessed Theresa of
Calcutta (1910-1997)
1033-1036
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 John 3:14-15.)612 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.( Compare Matthew 25:31-46.)613 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 from communion with God and the blessed is called
"hell." –Catechism. This
state of definitive self-exclusion of
the Catholic Church, Second Edition
1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its
eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of
mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell,
"eternal fire."( Compare
Denzinger-Schonmetzer 76; DS 409; DS 411; DS 801; DS 858; DS 1002; DS 1351; DS 1575;
Paul VI, Credo
of the People of God § 12.)617 The chief punishment of
hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and
happiness for which he was created and for which he longs. –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."( Matthew 7:13-14.)618
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."( Lumen
Gentium 48 § 3; Matthew 22:13; compare Hebrews 9:27; Mt 25:13,26,30,31-46.)619 --CCC
No comments:
Post a Comment