<h3>Heaven and Hell</h3>
Oct
1
Written by:
Sunday, October 01, 2006
26th Sunday Ordinary Time
October 1, 2006
Jesus talks about a subject in this Sunday's gospel (Mark 9:38-48) that most of us would just as soon not hear about – hell. And we can sum up his teaching on this subject in just a few words: you don't want to go there. To make his point, Jesus uses three references to the Hinnom Valley (otherwise known as Gehenna), a place very familiar to his contemporary Jewish listeners but not to us.
Today some people are surprised to learn that there was a real live place called Gehenna, where "the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." How is that? Gehenna was the place where all the animal residues from the constant temple sacrifices and all the rubbish of Jerusalem was taken to be burned and/or composted. It was dangerous, had a rotten smell, and had a constantly smoldering fire. The valley lies between the Garden of Gethsemane and Jerusalem, and even today it is unsafe to walk through due to robbers.
Hell is a real place. The definition of hell is The Absence of God. It is what you have left when you take out all the good from this world. Evil is the absence of goodness. God does not send anyone to hell. It exists because human beings have free will, and are free to reject God's offer of salvation. Heaven is, in fact, moving in with God. If someone has spent their whole life at war with God through unrepentant sin, when they reach the Day of Judgment they are likely to want to go somewhere, anywhere that God is most absent. Hell, is therefore, a place where people choose to go, because on earth they chose over and over against God and never repented of it.
The fires that never go out that Jesus speaks of are not so much physical as interior. They never go out because each of us is going to live forever, and the fires are those of anger, hated, blasphemy, and the pain of loss. Hell never ends because the people there have made up their minds not to leave!
According to Catholic teaching and the scriptures, the Lord is rich in mercy. He does not wish for anyone to go to that dreadful place, and gives us every opportunity to avoid it. He does, in fact give each soul an opportunity to choose him before the moment of death. For those who die in the faith, but with grave "issues" between them and God or others, the Lord has given us purgatory, a place that he speaks about in the scriptures and provides for the soul a place to finish being purified before coming into the bright light of heaven in all its splendor.
To that end, Jesus gives us very helpful spiritual advice in today's gospel. He tells us that heaven is so valuable, so important, that nothing, absolutely nothing should take priority over it in our daily lives. Heaven is worth any sacrifice, any pain, any suffering. He says it is better to enter life with one less eye than to be thrown into hell. Does he really want us to cut our eyes out? Of course not!
But if I have a problem with internet pornography, for example, and I can't break the habit, maybe it's time to get rid of the computer. If I can't stay away from sleazy TV programs, cut out the cable! At the very least, I can take steps to make sure my computer is in a place where everyone can see what I am viewing!
If I have a serious sin that keeps turning up, come to confession on a regular basis. In the morning, ask God, the Holy Spirit and my guardian angel to help me with it. I will remind myself when arising that I am watching out to avoid this sin. Do what needs to be done to deal with the issues. If there is one message this week's gospel proclaims it is that Heaven is so great it is worth everything. It is the goal of my life. I want to always choose Christ in this life, so that I will be ready to enter it if he calls me tonight.
Father Gary