Meditation on Hell

Homily
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
9 December 2007

Matthew 3: 1 - 12

[Mat 3:1] In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
[Mat 3:2] (and) saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
[Mat 3:3] It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: "A voice of one crying out in the desert, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'"
[Mat 3:4] John wore clothing made of camel's hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
[Mat 3:5] At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him
[Mat 3:6] and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.
[Mat 3:7] When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
[Mat 3:8] Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
[Mat 3:9] And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
[Mat 3:10] Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
[Mat 3:11] I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.
[Mat 3:12] His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
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1. Introduction

St John the Baptist, the precursor of Christ, and the last and the greatest of the prophets of Israel, today warns us of the need to "repent, for the Kingdom is at hand". He reminds us that to do otherwise is to risk being winnowed out by Him Who to come, who will "burn the chaff with unquenchable fire".

This time of Advent, in which we are called anew to repentance, is an appropriate time to meditate on the Church's teaching on hell, as a first step toward repentance and amendment of our lives. This is neither a morbid nor a gloomy thing to do--the Church states clearly that meditating on hell is a salutary exercise when what flows from it is a renewed appreciation of the mercy and love of God as expressed in the salvation that His son has won for each of us. For example, the thirty-day spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola begin with a stark, in-depth meditation on hell.

What Our Savior has saved us from, is eternal damnation in hell.

What Our Savior has saved us for, is eternal bliss with the Blessed Trinity in heaven

2. Two Kinds of Fire

In today's Gospel, John the Baptist refers to two quite different kinds of fire. The first is a holy fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit:

[Mat 3:11] I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

Fire gives off light and heat. The fire of the Holy Spirit emits the light of eternal truth and the heat of eternal love--a direct sharing of the inner life of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Besides giving off light and heat, fire can consume and can cause pain. The other kind of fire that St John the Baptist refers to is an eternal, punishing fire:

[Mat 3:12] His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

3. Jesus' Teaching on Hell in the Gospels

Jesus teaches about hell in several places in the Gospels, and nowhere does He minimize its awful reality. In Matthew 18, we read:

[Mat 18:8] If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire.
[Mat 18:9] And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

Again, we read in Matthew 13:

[Mat 13:40] Just as weeds are collected and burned (up) with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
[Mat 13:41] The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
[Mat 13:42] They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

Jesus previews the last judgment in Matthew 25:

[Mat 25:41] Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

4. Further Teaching on Hell

In the book of Revelation, hell is called the "second death":

[Rev 20:10] The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
...
[Rev 20:14] ... (This pool of fire is the second death. )

Hell was not intended for mankind--it was intended only for the fallen angels, as we read in Matthew 25:

[Mat 25:41] ... the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Some men, however, will freely reject the Gospel and follow Satan as their father:

[John 8:43] Why do you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot bear to hear my word.
[John 8:44] You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father's desires...

Men who reject the Gospel and follow the will of Satan as their father will accompany him in his eternal punishment:

[Rev 20:15] Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the pool of fire.

5. The Church's Teaching on Hell

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), paragraph 1033, we read:

We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against Him, against our neighbor, or against ourselves.

[1 John 3:14] We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death.
[1 John 3:15] Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from Him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.

To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from Him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell".

Some theologians refer to hell as a state of indefinite fragmentation in upon oneself.

God offers to the creature a share in His own eternal bliss and glory in the Beatific vision. He did this first to the angels, and then to men.

The holy angels responded to the love of God by embracing Him as the center of their lives, and now enjoy heavenly bliss with Him for all eternity.

The reprobate angels rejected God's offer, and withheld love of him by making themselves the center of their lives. Lucifer, a blazing seraph, preferred his own created glory to the infinitely greater uncreated glory of God, and now is forever separated from God.

Tradition tells us of two angels, one holy and one reprobate. Lucifer, one the angels, exclaimed "I shall not serve!" The other prostrated himself before the Most High and said "Mikh-a-el" ("Who is like unto God").

In his rebellion, Lucifer (now called the Devil, or Satan) led a huge portion of the heavenly host with him into eternal damnation, as we read in Revelation 12:

[Rev 12:4] (The dragon's) tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky...

God used Michael to oust Satan and the angels who followed him from heaven:

[Rev 12:7] Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back,
[Rev 12:8] but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

6. The Reality of Hell as a Motivation for Repentance

It is God's eternal will that each one of us enjoy unending bliss with Him in heaven--it is His will that no one be lost, as we read in Ezekiel 33:

[Ezek 33:11] ...As I live, says the Lord GOD, I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man's conversion, that he may live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! Why should you die, O house of Israel?

In today's Gospel, John the Baptist calls on us to "repent, for Kingdom is at hand". He presents to us a twofold motivation for repentance: fear of hell, and love of God. Fear of hell is an imperfect motivation, but it becomes a salutary motivation whenever we are lacking either in love of God or in love of our neighbor.

True repentance then matures into repenting, not so much for fear of hell, but for having offended the infinitely good and loving God, Who has created us, saved us, and sanctified us, and Who has prepared a place for each of us in which to enjoy everlasting bliss with Him in heaven. The choice is ours--for each moral choice we make now in this, the wayfaring state, we should give pause and ask, as did St Bernard of Clairvaux throughout his life, "Quid hoc ad aeternitatem?"--"What effect will this action have on my eternal destiny?" Stated another way, one hundred million years from now, as I look back on this choice of action, will I rejoice in it or will I regret it?

Let us conclude with the Fatima prayer:

O Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need of Thy mercy. Amen.