It's Going to Be a Hot Week; Good Time to Think about Hell

The weather report for the next week is grim: in the 90s every day but feeling over 100. Fourth of July is expected to be a scorcher here in northwestern Virginia especially if the humidity is high. Thank God for it. Miserably hot weather invites us to reflect on the reality of hell. Despite the statement of Cardinal Fernandez that everyone will be saved, they won't. And no, Bishop Barron, we cannot have a reasonable belief that all will be saved. Why would God die on the cross for the salvation of souls if, in the end, He's the Candyman who welcomes everyone at the Pearly Gates with chocolate bars regardless of the way they lived. He didn't ignore the rebellion of the angels; why would He ignore ours? 

Another Monday: But Not an Ordinary One

No indeed. This is no ordinary Monday. It begins the week leading up to the SSPX consecration of bishops on Wednesday, July first. In 1988 Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops calling the event Operation Survival. The traditional Mass and sacraments likely would have disappeared without his actions. One could call the Wednesday consecrations Operation Survival Redux. It's a sad thing that the Vatican let it come to this, but the pope and Cardinal Fernandez have shown their willingness to allow and even enable dissent and heresy while they punish orthodoxy. 

I began my day with morning prayer and reading from the Credo Catechism by Bishop Athanasius Schneider. I'm in the section on faith, a providential place to be this week. 

The Powerful Witness of Persecution

I was talking to a friend last Friday after our holy hour for priests and she made a brilliant point about what's happening these days in the modern, post Vatican II Church. Here's the question. In the history of the Church over the millennia, who were persecuted and martyred? Who were executed in the Roman Coliseum and covered with pitch and set on fire to light Nero's garden? The Pharisees? The Sadducees?

No indeed! It was those who were faithful to Christ and His Church -- completely faithful! You know, the believers who refused to the point of death to offer a pinch of incense to the false gods.

Somber Weather and Somber Thoughts

Another cold and gloomy day. I suppose one should fight the gloom with sunny thoughts. But my thoughts today center around the reality of hell. At least those are hot thoughts unlike the frigid temps we are facing in the coming week. Hell is usually depicted as the unquenchable file, but what if, instead, it's absolutely frigid. Which would be worse do you think?

But I digress.

A Sobering Meme from Facebook. Preparing for a Good Death is the Most Important Goal!

Are you sure?

I received this on my Facebook wall today and thought it was important enough to share. Many people have the erroneous view of God as the Candy Man or the Pillsbury Doughboy dishing out Snickers bars and Cinnabons on Judgement Day. Sorry folks, not true.

When Weird Thoughts Bother You, Invoke Your Guardian Angel

The other day, I had a recurring thought that kept buzzing around me:

Sunday Meditation for Pentecost: Can a Pope Be a Heretic and, If He Is, Does He Automatically Lose the Chair?

On this Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Church, let's consider a question on the mind of many faithful Catholics these days: Can a pope be a heretic? If he does fall into heresy, does he automatically lose the Chair of Peter. And a further question: Who has the authority to make a declaration of heresy and judge that the visually reigning pope is, in fact, no longer pope?

Do These Two Things Every Day if You Want to Go to Heaven!

St. Robert Bellarmine preached on hell.

Do you want to go to heaven? There are two things that will help you make that goal: love God and meditate on the four last things: death judgment, heaven or hell.

 First, as St. John Bosco always told his boys, "Love God!" Isn't that the same thing Jesus told anyone who asked Him about the most important commandments? "The first is this: Love God with your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole soul, and your whole strength!"

But what does that mean? What is love? So many people say they love this or that. Certainly many people love their gadgets. They put their entire heart, soul, mind, and strength into playing games and expanding their list of friends. They spend most waking hours glued to their Ipads, Iphones, and computers. That's where they invest the most time and energy. How many are chasing Pokemon right now? Is he a little god to be pursued and followed and "loved?" How many are addicted zombie-like to their little boxes? Are these gadgets the new gods seducing us?

The Crux of the Matter? To Enable Dissent and Sin!

The Crux -- is a web project of that oh-so-friendly-to-Catholics Boston Globe to feature "Catholic" news. John Allen, former columnist for the National Catholic Reporter (aka, the fishwrap), is heading up The Crux and the site has hired Margery Eagan as a columnist. To see how "Catholic" she is read this column where she goes after those terrible people on the right who oppose the contraceptive mandate and abortion. This paragraph exposes her as one more pro-abortion feminist zealot:

What Hobby Lobby really represents is a continued chipping away at reproductive freedom -- women's reproductive freedom -- which is a necessary prerequisite to our economic freedom.

It's pretty clear that The Crux is the on-line version of the anti-Catholic fishwrap not only enabling, but encouraging dissent from core doctrines of the Church.

So somebody explain to me why Cardinal O'Malley is cheering on this latest assault against the faith?

It seems today that we have a large number of high level clerics who believe sowing confusion is a virtue. They call it "mercy" to encourage people to walk a tightrope across the pit of hell laden down with unrepented mortal sins. One can only hope that the sinners are ignorant of the seriousness of their condition. It's hard to believe the clerics are!

Considering it's the feast day of St. Robert Bellarmine, I recommend reading his meditation on hell. Hell is real and we should strive to do everything we can to see that no one goes there. Will tickling ears and spreading a faux "mercy" really help save souls? Will saying "Bravo!" to mortal sin save a single soul? Will holding pre-pride Masses with rainbow decorations that signal approval of the sinful gay lifestyle bring a single soul to repentance? What do you think!

Jesus said "Zeal for your house consumes me!" Meanwhile, our modern pharisees turn the house of God into an amusement park where "all are welcome" and everyone is assured of heaven. I wonder what St. Robert Bellarmine would say if he were here today. He would no doubt be on his way to Malta with Cardinal Burke.

It's Hot as....

When we visited Texas a few weeks ago it was over 100 degrees almost every day. I never appreciated air conditioning so much in my life! It's hot in Woodstock this week too. Yesterday it got up to 98 and the next few days offer more of the same. Hot weather invariably gets me thinking about another very hot place -- much hotter temps than even Texas can boast. If you haven't guessed, I'm talking about hell. St. Robert Bellarmine, who wrote a treatise on the subject, thought priests should preach about hell at least once a month. When was the last time you heard the warning trumpet blaring from the pulpit? You can't remember ever hearing about it? Me neither.

I received a letter from an old friend today saying she had passed around the article on hell I did in the Spring issue of the Les Femmes newsletter. She wrote about the reaction from her family and friends:

I sent copies to my nephew, a priest in the Dominican Republic, my three children so my ten grandchildren would read it. (I sent a checkoff list so they could sign off.), a graduate student at G.W. University from China, a liberal lawyer (was Jewish now Buddhist - she was most impressed!).

The five grandchildren at my oldest daughter's and all the boys' friends wanted to read it also. These were boys who had just graduated from high school and were off to college. One is in graduate school. They were so impressed. Ten young men signed off on your article!... What a powerful message - "snowflakes into hell."

I want to get Sr. Faustina's Diary now myself.

I'm not the one who impressed these folks, but the message of truth which comes from the Lord. Hell is real. We all know it instinctively no matter how much we try to delude ourselves with drugs, sex, false message of universal salvation, happy talk, etc. The human heart was made for God and he draws it like a magnet. When we defy the natural law embedded in our souls, deep down we realize there are consequences. Somebone needs to prick their consciences and offer prayers and sacrifices for their salvation. Will you be that someone today?

The Devil You Say!

Many today don't believe in the existence of the devil. It's convenient not to believe because if the devil doesn't exist there isn't any hell. So you can believe in a nice fluffy God who looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy and who has his angels making tea and cinammon rolls in preparation for your arrival.

Well, one U.S. bishop isn't afraid to talk about the devil. Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput speaking in Rome recently said, “It is very odd that in the wake of the bloodiest century in history – a century when tens of millions of human beings were shot, starved, gassed and incinerated with superhuman ingenuity – even many religious leaders are embarrassed to talk about the devil. In fact, it is more than odd. It is revealing.

“Mass murder and exquisitely organized cruelty are not just really big 'mental health' problems They are sins that cry out to heaven for justice, and they carry the fingerprints of an Intelligence who is personal, gifted, calculating and powerful.... If we do not believe in the devil, sooner or later we will not believe in God.”

The Archbishop focused on the responsibility of believers to evangelize the world. Why, to make sure as many people as possible are spared "the loss of heaven and the pains of hell."

Read more here....

Years ago when I was on a weekend retreat, I spent a late night in the stairwell with another retreatant who didn't believe in the existence of hell. She did after our long conversation. But it isn't surprising that people have stopped believing. I attended a funeral of a priest who committed suicide a number of years ago. The homilist, a senior priest in the diocese cast doubt on the possibility that anyone goes to hell. I was shocked because he never asked for prayers for the poor dead priest! I wanted to scream, "Did you care about your friend? Ask people to pray and fast that he experienced final repentance."

Do a Bible search with a concordance. Jesus talked about hell (Gehenna) more than almost anything else warning people NOT TO GO THERE.

At Fatima the Blessed Mother showed the three shepherd children a terrifying vision of hell. Was she a child abuser? NO! She is good mother who warns us about danger. Those three little ones engaged in heroic sacrifices to, as Jacinta said, "save poor sinners from hell."

St. Robert Bellarmine said that priests should preach often on the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell. We would all do well to reflect on them often. Ultimately, our elternal salvation is the only thing that matters. What a tragedy to lose heaven for the world.