In today's world, most do think that heaven is their final destination because we all long to be free from pain, loss, fear, and tears. But primarily, heaven and Hell is either where our Holy God is or isn't. Do we want to spend an eternity with Him or not? Are we willing in this life to consider nothing and no one our own, and lovingly serve His Majesty? Are we willing to strive in order to assimilate and obey the teachings of His Church? Lord, give me the grace to long only to bring your Heart joy, never grief! Guardian angel, watch over my choices today; be diligent! Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
Interesting topic, if not a little scary. I once had an inner locution from the Lord that if I were to die today, I would receive a long purgatory. This surprised me because I thought I was a “good” Catholic. I went to Mass every Sunday, daily Mass as much as possible. As a 3rd Order Lay Carmelite I said the Liturgy of the Hours, Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet everyday and went to confession once a month. I did all of things and would still be given a long purgatory? It made me examine my thoughts and my heart and I realized that I did not love the Lord above all things, and had many issues of anger and resentment. Also the thought came to me that I was presuming salvation. I also didn’t trust Him completely and I needed purity of heart in all things. I decided I would try to go to confession every two weeks for greater purification and fortification, surrender to His Divine Will in everything and once again fulfill Our Lady of Fatima’s requests regarding the First 5 Saturdays (2 more Saturdays to go). Since I’ve done this I hope I've shortened my purgatory!
I'm a 3rd Order Carm too and your life sounds just like mine! EXCEPT although I pray the Rosary daily, I usually only add the Divine Mercy Chaplet daily during lent. I better buckle down and do better!
Carmel333 - so nice to meet a fellow Sister in Carmel! Typo on sixth line - I meant to say: "I did all of these things..."
I can't vote because there doesn't seem to be an "I don't know" option ! Reminds me of the saying, "There are three types of people. Those who count, and those who don't."
Thanks for the clip! It's been too long since we've heard from you: Three months! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Thanks Mario. Time runs so fast that we have to use it well and prioritize. Besides it seemed to me that the interest had drifted into speculations I don't find helpful, so I took some time off. I've followed a little from the distance though . The embedded media is not just a clip but the full movie. I think it's interesting because it shows some characters that match some of the posts in this topic, and gives a credible portrait of a person who might reject the mercy of God. Even though it is made from a Protestant perspective I think it has great value and can be translated into our lives.
Well you got me reflecting on this. So I started looking up Jesus's teachings on hell. I was surprised by what I found....guess how many times Jesus actually mentions the word hell? 10x? 20x 50x? Nope, only 5 times. And perhaps three of those times the point of his teaching was really concentrated on something else. I gave up counting the number of times Jesus spoke about heaven after 50!
Msgr. Charles Pope has a great article on this topic: Jesus certainly saw fit to appeal to the fear of punishment, loss, and hell. In fact, it is arguable that this was his main approach and that one would struggle to find very many texts where Jesus appeals more to a perfect contrition and a purely holy fear rooted in love alone as a motive to avoid sin. But over and over in dozens of passages and parables Jesus warns of punishment and exclusion from the Kingdom for unrepented sin and for the refusal to be ready. Here are just a few: Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt 7:13-14) The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 13:41-42) “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” (Mk 13:35-37) And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with carousing, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come on you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:34-36) “But about that day or hour no one knows…For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away…“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Matt 24:36-44) The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 24:51) Then the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matt 25:10-13) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat…“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matt 24:41-42, 46) Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. (Matt 5:28-29) Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matt 5:22) And if your foot offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mk 9:45-46) Friend, how came you in here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matt 22:12-14) Then said Jesus again to them, I go my way, and you shall seek me, but you shall die in your sins: where I go, you cannot come….I have told you that you will die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins (John 8:21, 24). by their fruits you shall know them. Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt 7:20-23) He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16) He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. (John 12:48) “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give youthis testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” (Rev 22:14-16) http://blog.adw.org/2013/08/sinner-...the-readings-for-the-21st-sunday-of-the-year/
That most people will perish is highly disturbibg to me...I immediately think of myself and my family...how can I bear this up. Jesus did not stutter...nor do I think he exagerates...He distincly says..."small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it". "ONLY A FEW" ??? This is definitely disheartening...I'm almost certainly doomed...as is my family. This is where trust in Gods mercy comes into play...avail ourselves of the Divine Mercy that St Faustina has revealed while we still have time for many of us aren't going to make it...and many of our loved ones are hell bound...Jesus implies this...not me. It is almost to hard to fathom. Lord have MERCY!
This is the era of Divine Mercy. God is a Merciful Father who always waits for the return of the Prodigal even at the last breath. But we must return to Him. One of satan's weapons in this demonic age was to weaken the state of fatherhood in society so many cannot recognise God as a Loving Father for they have no earthly equivalent. So many are ignorant that they are offending a Loving Prodigal God because they are only nourished by the husks of sin which cannot satisfy and that leads to eternal perdition. But a great act of Mercy awaits us and fills us with HOPE! That is why I believe the Illumination of Conscience will happen for many will recognise God as a loving Father because of His miraculous intervention through the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Many will come to their sense when they realise they have sinned against Love. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father --
Yes, its true it is very,very difficult. But it reminds me of Our Lord when He declared His teaching on the Eucharist, on Divorce and on the Rich ( 'It is harder for a rich man to enter heaven...') And so we read how when Jesus declared various things such as the Eucharist many turned away because they could not accept his teachings. So Following Jesus is a bit like a crowd following a leader up a very high, very steep mountain. At the start all follow happilly and without complaint. However as the hours go on more and more drop out until at the peak of the mountain Christ is left with only a tiny remnant. Hard teachings make hard going. If we look around the world today we will see that there are supposed to be over a billion Catholics But when we look a little closer we shall see , many pro abortion Catholics, many Catholics in favour of Gay rights , many Catholics who do not follow the commands of the Church and so on. So that while on first viewing Christ on the mountain appears surrounded by a vast crowd on every side with His disciples , but on looking a little closer we see the mountain almost empty, Jesus with just a tiny remnant. Hell is a such a hard teaching. When a wine is too strong we often tend to pour a lot of water into it to weaken it. But wine that is too well watered is no longer wine, it is simply fruit juice. This being so and without doubt it is, if they are not climbing on the mountains with Jesus , where or where and with whom do they walk? Wither are they gone and what is their Eternal Destination? ..and if not Christ , whom do they then follow?
."small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" - I agree, this is totally disheartening. What I tend to believe and what I hope is true is that you can be saved as long as you acknowledge God before you die. Even if it is at the moment of your death. Mother Angelica used to say this all the time. Maybe that person acknowledged God as they blinked for the last time and they were saved. Now, purgatory may be incredibly long and start at the deepest of levels...but they would be saved. Maybe what Jesus is stating above about only a few finding the narrow road...maybe that's only a few finding it in this life, but due to God's mercy some can be saved even if they didn't walk that narrow road in this life...they will make up for that mistake in purgatory. Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but this is they way I tend to think. I hope and I pray anyway, or else there is no hope for my family or myself!
I also hope this is true Cathy. But I do not think it should be depended on, but only hoped for. It may well turn out to be a leaky life boat when the great storm on our death bed comes..and so Jesus counsels us to enter by the narrow gate. Not to count too much on life boats that may sink.
..and if I have been driving at full speed away from Jesus my whole life I may indeed put on the brakes in the last few minutes on my death bed. But cars that travel at high speed in one direction for many years may well be difficult to stop and swing round in another in seconds. We have a life time's spritual momentum to consider. Better to enter by the narrow gate. A certain reverential fear of God is no bad thing. No bad thing at all.
Guess how many times in 25 years our various priests talked on hell? Yep, zero, 0, nata, none. It's no wonder no one fears hell when the servants of God never mention it. Come to think of it they have never talked on heaven either. I guess that is why so many seem to want to live out their heaven with the things of this world now.
Let us not forget the 15 promises made by our Lady for those who say the Rosary faithfullly: http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/prayer/15promise.htm
