Does Hell exist? What about Heaven? And who inhabits these two places (or states of being) in the afterlife?

It’s a mystery. Our faith tells us that being in Heaven is being with God for all eternity. Hell is the opposite—being cut off from God forever. Our faith also tells us that God’s love and mercy are available to everyone in spite of our sins if only we turn to God and seek the divine mercy. No sinner, regardless of the evil that he or she has done, will be denied God’s forgiveness, which is the gateway to Heaven, if only we repent. 

So who has been, or will be, condemned to Hell? And what will that be like? 

Catholic teaching says that those who absolutely refuse to repent and accept God’s forgiveness end up forever damned. “The fires of Hell” (an image, not an actual description of what Hell is like) are therefore occupied by those who have resisted God’s every attempt to reach out to them in love and offer them the transformative experience of conversion and reconciliation with God. 

Are there people who refuse God’s love to the bitter end? We must admit the possibility—maybe even the likelihood—based on our human experience. But we must also acknowledge that there is a chance (maybe even a good chance) that God’s love, which we know is stronger than death, is also strong enough to overcome (by persuasion, not by force) the stubborn resistance of the most recalcitrant sinner. 

This is what Divine Mercy Sunday celebrates: the amazing grace of God that can save every wretched human being (like me) from the powers of Hell. 

Why are people so threatened by the idea that Hell may, in fact, be empty—a place of everlasting misery that no one inhabits because, in the end, every sinner ultimately chooses to repent and be saved?

We have no idea who—if anyone—is in Hell. We have only the vaguest ideas about what the experience of eternal damanation might be like. To be cut off from God’s love forever is the unthinkable consequence of the ultimate sin unto death— refusing God’s every attempt to offer divine mercy. Surely this ultimate sin is not easy to commit or, once committed, to sustain. The saving grace of God surrounds us at every moment of our lives here on earth and beyond. Who’s to say that  anyone, including the evilest people in human history and Satan himself, will continue to resist the persistent, powerful overtures of divine mercy culminating in the Day of Judgment?

I believe in the existence of Heaven and Hell. But I couldn’t begin to say who inhabits these two “places” of everlasting joy and eternal damnation. Who am I to judge? 

My job is not to judge but to pray. So, I pray that every man, woman and child will open their hearts to the grace of God—sooner or later—and accept the amazing gift of divine mercy which frees us from the consequences of our selfishness and sin, and which ensures us a place in the heavenly homeland forever. 

My friend Father Sal Polizzi is amazing by any standard. Well into his 80’s (in fact closer to 90), he is still an active, full-time pastor,  a highly respected civic and church leader and a devoted brother, uncle and great-uncle. 

Monsignor Sal Polizzi (aka Father Turiddu)

Father Polizzi is the inspiration for my four Father Turiddu novels (available on Amazon). These may not be great works of literature, but I hope they are loving tributes to a man who has inspired me since the first time I met him more than 30 years ago. Using thin plot lines and, some would say, contrived situations such as the kidnapping of a controversial Cardinal from the Vatican, I have tried to illustrate Father Turiddu’s exceptional gifts as a pastor who cares deeply for his family, his friends and all God’s children. 

As a young priest, Father Sal was an activist who earned a Master’s degree in urban planning and used it to fight for the Italian American community in his beloved St. Louis. In the 1950s and 60s, when “white flight” was frightening people in other neighborhoods into abandoning their homes and moving away, Father Sal urged his parishioners to stay and fight. As a result, the Italian neighborhood known as “The Hill” remains a vibrant community—an excellent place to live and raise a family—to this day.

Similarly, when a new superhighway threatened to cut off residents of The Hill from ready access to essential services such as firefighters, police and emergency medical personnel, Father Sal organized the community and persuaded the “powers that be” by nonviolent resistance to build an overpass that guaranteed access to the neighborhood at all times.

Father Polizzi is still active, but he’s slowing down some. Holy Week and Easter Services wore him out this year. And he can’t wait until the parish fundraising dinner scheduled for April 15 is successfully concluded. This is as it should be—the natural rhythm of life.

After all these years, there’s only one thing Father Sal asks for in return for all that he’s given me as a friend and mentor. “Pray for me, Dan,” he asks every time we talk. “I do, Father. Every day,” is my response.

I pray for his peace, for his health and for God’s continued blessing on a man who has served the Church and the city he loves with such distinction for so many years.

Happy Easter, Father Turiddu! Ad multos annos!

Thirteen years ago, I attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II along with millions of others from all over the world. What a great privilege! What an experience! I will never forget the shouts and signs demanding (respectfully) Santo subito! Sainthood now! 

The Church recognizes the sanctity of this great man and includes him among those whose holiness has become a model for us all. St. John Paul, pray for us! Inspire us with your fidelity to God’s will and to the teachings of God’s Church. May Santo subito! always be our motto. May we learn holiness through prayer and action, following your example, as we seek the Lord Jesus every moment of our lives. 

“It was 13years ago today when Pope John Paul II passed from this life into his eternal glory. We thank God for his extraordinary life of holiness and the huge impact he has had on the faith of generations of people. We pray for his intercession. St. Pope John Paul II, pray for us!” (Bishop Paul J. Bradley)

Easter joy overcomes all sadness. Christ is truly risen!

 None of us is asked: “Are you happy with what is happening in the world? Are you willing to carry this cross further?” And the cross goes forth and faith in Jesus comes down from it. Today, the Church continues to say: “Stop. Jesus is Risen.” And this is not a fantasy. The Resurrection of Christ is not a celebration with many flowers. This is beautiful, but this is not it. It is something more. It is the mystery of the discarded stone which becomes the foundation of our existence. Christ is Risen. This is what it means. (Pope Francis)

“Faith in the Resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered. Through Jesus we do know ‘the room where exiled love lays down its victory.’ He himself is this place, and he calls us to be with him and in dependence on him. He calls us to keep this place open within the world so that he, the exiled love, may reappear over and over in the world.… God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

The death of God becomes the source of new life for us all. “Death is hell no longer.”

“Holy Saturday is the day of the ‘death of God,’ the day which expresses the unparalleled experience of our age, anticipating the fact that God is simply absent, that the grave hides him, that he no longer awakes, no longer speaks, so that one no longer needs to gainsay him but can simply overlook him…. Christ strode through the gate of our final loneliness; in his Passion he went down into the abyss of our abandonment. Where no voice can reach us any longer, there is he. Hell is thereby overcome, or, to be more accurate, death, which was previously hell, is hell no longer. Neither is the same any longer because there is life in the midst of death, because love dwells in it.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

 Behold the pierced one—crucified for our sake—grim death, with cruel rigor, has robbed him of his life.  Today we mourn, but tomorrow (and for all time) he will triumph over death’s cruelty and restore life to all. 

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss till now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.

What thou, my Lord, hast suffered,
Was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
’Tis I deserve thy place;
Look on me with thy favor,
Vouchsafe to me thy grace.

Now from thy cheeks has vanished
Their color once so fair;
From thy red lips is banished
The splendor that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigor,
Hath robbed thee of thy life;
Thus thou hast lost thy vigor,
Thy strength in this sad strife.

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson reflects on the joy of the Resurrection. 

1. 

Christ the Cornerstone

By

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson

Easter joy, constantly born anew

The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, #1).

The publication date for this column is March 30, Good Friday. This may be the saddest day of the Church’s year, but it is not joyless. Good Friday is joyful because it celebrates a beginning, not an ending. It is an affirmation of life and of the love that is stronger than death itself. 

We are right to be sad today as we recall the humiliation, torture and brutality of our Lord’s death on a cross. But we’re also right to seek and find the Easter joy that is constantly born anew during this sacred time. 

Our faith tells us that the death of Jesus set us free. Because he suffered and died for us, we are “free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness.” That in itself should be cause for joy. But the real source of our joy is the personal encounter with Jesus that was made possiblebecause of his death on this holy day and his resurrection three days later. 

In the coming weeks, throughout the Easter season, we will hear once again the wonderful stories of Jesus’ appearances to his disciples and friends—in the garden near the empty tomb, in the upper room behind locked doors, by the Sea of Galilee where the Lord cooked breakfast for his disciples, and on the road to Emmaus where he was recognized in the breaking of the bread. These joy-filled encounters with Jesus, the risen Lord, are made possible in spite of his ignominious death on the cross. His selfless sacrifice on Good Friday earned forgiveness for our sins and allowed Easter joy to fill our hearts in the place of guilt or sorrow or despair.

Good Friday reminds us that we have been ransomed by the cross of Christ. The unending love of God has shattered the walls of our prisons and shown us the way out. Sin and death have been overcome by the selfless love of Christ, and no one ever has to be condemned to unending death again. This is why on Easter Sunday we rejoice in the cross of Christ, why we sing alleluia, and why we give thanks to God for the gift of his saving grace. We have been liberated by the risen Christ. As a result, no one can ever take away our fundamental rights or our dignity as the free daughters and sons of the living God!   

The freedom we have been given as a result of Christ’s death on the cross is a gift that has to be nurtured and developed. Left untended, freedom too easily becomes confused with license, the notion that we can do whatever we want without suffering any consequences. We mistake freedom for a sense of entitlement that persuades us that we deserve everything that has been given to us—without regard to the sacrifices of others.

But true freedom is the opposite of an irresponsible sense of license or entitlement. True freedom is a gift that we must cherish and take seriously. True freedom, when we recognize it, is a source of joy and gratitude because we know how rare it is and how easy it is to lose this precious gift as a result of our own carelessness.

This Easter let’s thank God for the gift of freedom. Let’s resolve to be good stewards of this precious gift. And let’s combine our experiences of Easter joy constantly born anew with a sober recognition that our freedom is something we can easily lose sight of if we begin to take it for granted.

Our freedom was paid for by the cross of Christ. It has been maintained for 2,000 years by the blood of the martyrs and by the selfless love and sacrifices of all those faithful Christians who have gone before us. Let us rejoice and be glad that we are truly free! But let’s also remember that we are responsible for taking care of our freedom and for sharing it generously. 

Let’s nurture our freedom, and share it with others, by being faithful witnesses to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ has saved us and set us free. That’s reason enough to be joyful even on Good Friday. But the muted joy we experience today will increase exponentially. Very soon, in just two days, we will shout Alleluia! Christ our joy is risen!

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