For the sake of justice

Eucharistic Adoration, tonight, 7-8 pm, SAA Church. Come join us!!
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The following is a comment from an anonymous blogger regarding the 2nd talk on Heaven, Hell & Purgatory during our summer Adoration series. I have included the notes from the second talk, and will post the notes from the 1st talk on H, H, & P tomorrow.

Anon: “This was the first time I’d ever heard of justice being of issue (with Purgatory). That was something to hear! I knew there was purgatory, but I didn’t quite understand that a system of justice applied. I thought purgatory was about what we didn’t confess, what we weren’t sorry for, all the times we didn’t do what we thought we should. Now- I get that it’s (also) about justice. That simple fact changes quite a bit.”


Heaven

3. How long does Heaven last?

Scripture
Jesus speaks of heaven many times as "everlasting life…eternal life…living forever"

Paul (1 Cor 9:25) + St Peter (1 Pet 5:4): "imperishable crown"


Church: "the enjoyment (of those in heaven) has continued and will continue without any interruption and without end until the last Judgement and from then on forever" (Pope Benedict XII, 1336)

4. Who goes to Heaven?
Scripture
- Jn 3:16- "everyone who believes in (God’s only Son) may not perish but may have eternal life"

Jesus
- Jn 6:54, 58
– "whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life…and will live forever"
- Mk 16:16- "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved"
- Mt 25: 35-36-whoever feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, etc.
- Lk 10: 25-28 (the lawyer) / Mt 19: 16-22 (the rich young man)- whoever keeps the Commandments

Paul- "it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God" (Eph 2:8)

St. James- "if good deeds do not go with (faith), (faith) is quite dead" (2:17)
John: "whoever does the will of God remains for ever" (Jn 2:17)
Revelation: "the people who have been through the great trial" (7:14)

Magisterium-"those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ" (CCC, #1023)
-baptized by water (#1228), by desire (#1260), or by blood (#1258)
-in union with the bride of Christ, the Church (Eph 5:25-27): Heaven is the wedding feast of Christ and his bride, the Church (Rev 19:7-8, 21:9-14, previewed in Isa 61:10-11)


Hell

c. How long does it last?
- “eternal fire, eternal punishment, eternal separation”
- Lk 16:19-31 The rich man and Lazarus- “a great gulf has been fixed, to prevent those who want to cross from our side to yours or from your side to ours”

d. Who goes there? (we know there are souls in Hell, but can’t know specifically whom)

Scripture
- Jesus :
-“all evil doers” (Mt 13:41)
- “many take the road that leads to destruction” (Mt 7:13)
- “the elect are few” (Mt 22:14)
- “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 19:24) - referring to someone whose god is money
- is Judas in Hell? can't say for sure, but Jesus says it is “better for that man (by whom the Son of Man is betrayed) if he had never been born!” (Mt 26:24)
-“anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a branch-and withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire and burnt” (Jn 15:6)

Paul: Gal 5: 18-21 (cf. 1 Cor 6:10)-"those who behave in these ways (sexual vice, impurity and sensuality, the worship of false gods and sorcery, antagonisms and rivalry, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels, disagreements, factions and malice, drunkenness, orgies and such things) will not inherit the kingdom of God"

John: “sin that leads to death” (1 Jn 5:16)
-i.e., mortal sin

Church- “those who die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love” (CCC, # 1033)
- mortal sin:
1. grave offense (it's wrong) -mainly, direct offenses against the Ten Commandments
2. full knowledge (I know it's wrong)
3. full consent (I freely choose to do it)

- CCC: #1861
- "mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace.
- "if it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back.
- "However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God" (in other words, we can judge an action as a grave offense, but only God can judge what's in a person's heart; that's why we can never say that "so and so" is in Hell; also, we don't know if at the moment of death that he/she showed some sign of repentance-'Lord, have mercy' - that God would take into account in his infinite Mercy)

- 3 distinctions of Hell:
a) damned - eternal punishment
b) limbo (Abraham’s bosom) - holy souls (from OT) there until Christ freed them
c) purgatory - temporal punishment

-“God predestines no one to go to Hell" (CCC, #1037)
- Hell is the result of free will, and ultimately, God's Love
- God loves us so much that He has given us free will in order that we will choose to be with Him in Heaven
- He respects our free will so much that He allows us to choose to reject Him; He helps us so much in our lives (with His grace) to choose Him, but won't ever force us to love Him
- our free will is REAL (the "power to make choices for ever, with no turning back")
- God wills each of us to choose Heaven, but allows us to choose Hell
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*Fatima prayer: "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy."


Purgatory

c. How long does it last?

Scripture
see Mt 25:34-41 : general judgement will only have 2 states, Heaven and Hell, so Purgatory will not continue after the general judgement

Church
Council of Trent (1551): Purgatory is a state of purification which frees one from what is called the “temporal punishment” of sin (Hell is eternal punishment)

- so, we understand Purgatory to be temporal, “in time”; while it may not be in 24-hour days as on Earth, we do associate a soul’s stay in Purgatory with a number of days
- the amount of “time” a soul stays in Purgatory is based on the amount of purification needed- we stay in Purgatory until we “love as God loves” (Msgr. Hill, SSM pastor)
- we can do works (of mercy, penance, prayer, almsgiving, gain indulgences, etc.) on Earth to remove days from our temporal punishment in Purgatory for ourselves or for others; but, once in Purgatory we can’t lessen our own punishment

d. Who goes there?
Scripture (see above)

Church
Catechism (CCC) - “all who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified; (they) are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven” (# 1030).

Council of Florence (1439): “souls who die with true repentance and in God’s love before having rendered satisfaction for their sins of omission and commission by the worthy fruits of penance”

- what about the person who dies just after having gone to Confession and completed the penance? He / she would go to Purgatory to satisfy the temporal punishment due to his / her sins (kind of like a criminal who still has to serve his prison sentence, for the sake of justice, even if he is truly sorry for the crime he has committed)
- serious reparation is needed for serious sins, especially
- can repair those sins in this life through a penitential life (like the saints), acts of faith, hope, and love, corporal and spiritual works of mercy, etc.

- Mt 19:21 – “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; then, come follow me”
- Mt 5:48 - “ Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”