Missive

As we continue to make our way through these challenging times, it occurs to me that we need reminding that we are not mere mammals: we have been created by almighty God body AND soul; one is mortal and will die, and the other is immortal will simply pass through the doors of death into eternity.  But wait, it gets better!  Our mortal body will rise on the last day and be rejoined with our soul so that we, like Christ into Whom we have been baptized, will exist in a glorified body for all eternity.  How great is that???  Also, how calming is that when faced with pandemics, natural forces of weather, or social unrest?  Personally, I take it as a tremendous comfort – except for one thing…What is the state of my soul?

Yes, Hell is real and, well, “hell”; and Purgatory is not going to be a picnic.  While arriving in Purgatory we are assured, eventually, of heavenly glory, there will be suffering involved in overcoming those last vestiges of sin.  So, where is my soul?

It has been a great lie put forward by the present culture, and abetted by the Satan, that hell doesn’t exist, and that everyone goes to heaven.  Scripture, including the words of our Lord Himself, do not bear this out.  We can discuss the justice and, ultimately, the charity of this another time; my concern is in encouraging everyone to be busy about caring for the soul so that when death comes knocking we can receive Him as a friend, and not as a thief in the night.  So, what to do?

In this season of anxiety, fear, and so many temptations, let us be serious about living the life of charity to which we have each been called in Baptism.  And, having recognized our failure in this in our nightly examination of conscience, let us approach that beautiful sacrament of reconciliation with God and man – Confession.

Nothing will prepare us better for the glory of heaven and for the challenges of life in this world than a clear conscience and knowledge of God’s infinite love and care for us.

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Trial, or distress, or persecutions, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword?  Yet in all this we are more than conquerors because of Him Who has loved us.”  (Romans 8:35, 37)