Beloved Family:
It turns out that God is a strong supporter of choice. We know how the culture applies this terminology: as a license to “decide” who lives and who dies. However, the same statement applies to God in a rather critical way.
We stand in the month of November. The Church calls upon us, her members, to offer strident prayer and sacrifice on behalf of those who have died. She also admonishes us to take the time to consider the reality of the limit of our own days on earth and how we are living in preparation for Eternity. During this November, we are offering a group viewing and discussion of the Formed series entitled “Eternal Rest: The Art of Dying Well.” Episode 2, showing this weekend, bears the session title, “The Afterlife.”
The content addresses the cluster of themes known as The Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. These are not overtly pleasant topics; however, it is vital that we consider them, not only ourselves but also within the communal context, as families and as fellow Catholics.
When I say that God is a strong supporter of choice, I am echoing the teaching of the Church regarding judgment—our standing before God at the end of mortal life in two phases, particular and general. Many people view it as God imposing heaven or hell on us. Rather, the reality is that we are choosing on an ongoing basis within the days of our lives, whether to attach ourselves to virtue or to sin, making God the center of our lives or something else. Ultimately, God will simply ratify our choice. So, while we correctly ascribe to God the title “all powerful,” much of our eternal destiny actually lies within our hands (and minds and hearts). I find that pretty scary at times!
The fact is that relatively few parishioners will view the session this Sunday in person in the parish hall. However, the same content is accessible for anyone within the parish, because for quite a number of years now, you as parishioners have been funding a parish-wide subscription to Formed. We can easily help you set up a user profile, if you have not already established one.
Here are some of the questions raised and points made within the episode:
• Am I actually participating in the love of God? Is God alive in my soul?
• Will God be able to say to me, “I recognize you as one of my own?”
• We could eternally separate ourselves from God
• Judgment is when we will recognize the truth of our situation
• Universalism, the belief that everyone automatically gains heaven, is a dangerous ideology—heaven is not a “participation trophy” that comes to everyone. It represents a thin concept of the gravity of life and our decisions, CHOICES
• “Hell” is the name of rejection, not God rejecting us but we rejecting God
• Purgatory, an experience of final purification, is a gift of God’s mercy, since it has been said: Absolutely no souvenirs of hell—attachment to sin—can enter the Eternal Presence of God
As I said, these are not overtly pleasant matters, but they seriously matter. Deepening our understanding now will set us up for amazing joy up the road—I say “up” since the direction for us to move in is lifting our minds and hearts upward to God, not downward to destruction.
Let His peace be with you,
Fr. Stephen
