Every Catholic Christian has that one doctrine that they struggle with most- the one they just cannot get their mind around. The weak Christians fall away, some to protestantism, some to the cults, some to other religions,even to atheism. The wise ones cling to the authority of the church, knowing that their will must yield to what their mind cannot grasp.
Hell is one of those realities that is difficult for the mind to penetrate. First of all, the sheer horror of hell should be enough to make one shudder. Physical pain beyond anything we have ever dared to imagine, against which even the most horrid tortures of earth are unworthy of comparison. St. Vincent Ferrier said that, in comparison to the fires of hell, earthly fire is cold. Hunger beyond imagination, without a crumb of food. Thirst that an ocean of water could not quench, with never a drop to be received. Un-ending shrieks and groans assualting our hearing, suffocating stench, frightful images, never ending exhaustion withouteven a second of rest....
A lost soul, in a vision, once said that one can be mistaken in depicting hell but one can never exxagerate. Saint Jacinta, the Fatima visionary said that one vision of hell would cause one to never sin again.
However, the most terrible realities of hell stem from the complete loss of hope. A Catholic Saint has said that a sign outside hell's gate reads "All hope abandon ye who enter here".
No hope of water, food or sleep. No hope of even a second's relief from the unimaginable pain. An inexpressable longing for God with no hope of ever being with Him. Ne hope whatsoever.
Ever.
A soul damned gets no consolation from the fact that it has been in hell ten thousand years...or even ten thousand times ten thousand times ten thousand years.
This is the frightening reality that causes one to bristle. This is what causes one to see hell as the ultimate overkill. Why would God not simply destroy the sinner rather than hold him/her into existence for the means of torture?
It is not a reality that is easy to be reconciled with. It surely is a reality that should invoke a healthy fear.
A healthy fear.
To remain in a morbid forbid of hell is to lose sight of some very precious and important things;
Hell is one of those realities that is difficult for the mind to penetrate. First of all, the sheer horror of hell should be enough to make one shudder. Physical pain beyond anything we have ever dared to imagine, against which even the most horrid tortures of earth are unworthy of comparison. St. Vincent Ferrier said that, in comparison to the fires of hell, earthly fire is cold. Hunger beyond imagination, without a crumb of food. Thirst that an ocean of water could not quench, with never a drop to be received. Un-ending shrieks and groans assualting our hearing, suffocating stench, frightful images, never ending exhaustion withouteven a second of rest....
A lost soul, in a vision, once said that one can be mistaken in depicting hell but one can never exxagerate. Saint Jacinta, the Fatima visionary said that one vision of hell would cause one to never sin again.
However, the most terrible realities of hell stem from the complete loss of hope. A Catholic Saint has said that a sign outside hell's gate reads "All hope abandon ye who enter here".
No hope of water, food or sleep. No hope of even a second's relief from the unimaginable pain. An inexpressable longing for God with no hope of ever being with Him. Ne hope whatsoever.
Ever.
A soul damned gets no consolation from the fact that it has been in hell ten thousand years...or even ten thousand times ten thousand times ten thousand years.
This is the frightening reality that causes one to bristle. This is what causes one to see hell as the ultimate overkill. Why would God not simply destroy the sinner rather than hold him/her into existence for the means of torture?
It is not a reality that is easy to be reconciled with. It surely is a reality that should invoke a healthy fear.
A healthy fear.
To remain in a morbid forbid of hell is to lose sight of some very precious and important things;
- There is noneed for you to go there.
- God does not will it.
- Jesus Christ suffered and died to prevent it.
- It is your decision whether you will go there or not.
By far, the most maddening fact about hell is that every soul that is there, or ever will be, is there by it's own choice. This notion is the most absurd sounding of all. What person, in his right mind, would choose this place of torment?
True, you do not explicitely choose the punishments of hell. Yet, the punishments of hell are the consequence of your willful rejection of God. It is the cost of your decisions.
God does not force His love and mercy on you. He, not only offers you His mercy but He even freely gives you the grace, without which you could not choose it. Think about this. God actually choose you to choose Him! (1 Thessalonias 1:2-4, John 15:16).
The most frightening aspect of rejecting God's mercy is that, one day, you will get your way.
At life's end, do not presume that God will entertain your pleas for mercy, your excuses, your moral rationalizations. Stripped of free will, you will not be able to be contrite, to rationalize, to make excuses.
True, you do not explicitely choose the punishments of hell. Yet, the punishments of hell are the consequence of your willful rejection of God. It is the cost of your decisions.
God does not force His love and mercy on you. He, not only offers you His mercy but He even freely gives you the grace, without which you could not choose it. Think about this. God actually choose you to choose Him! (1 Thessalonias 1:2-4, John 15:16).
The most frightening aspect of rejecting God's mercy is that, one day, you will get your way.
At life's end, do not presume that God will entertain your pleas for mercy, your excuses, your moral rationalizations. Stripped of free will, you will not be able to be contrite, to rationalize, to make excuses.
Fixed in the choices you have made,you will simply respond in the affirmative as your just judge recounts your sins. You will be unrepentant and frozen in your own selfishness.
That is what makes hell eternal. God repeatedly offered Himself, you repeatedly said no. Finally, you got your way.
Be very careful what you wish for.
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