Time to weigh in on what is (in
my opinion), a high end pissing contest between Catholics in/on the
blogosphere. Three questions that I, the
man beast Optimusmastro will address are 1.
Does hell exist? 2. Do people ‘go there?’ and 3.
Can we reasonably hope that hell is empty? Before I answer, let me give the pretext that
I, and most men with testosterone were force fed during the ‘Cabbage Patch
Jesus era’ that we grew up with!
Remember going to a funeral where Fr ‘Nice’ complete with a colourful
stole (no chasuble! Too Roman!!! ) with
pictures of butterflies and other crap on it, delivered his sugary coated
‘homily’ of our loved one who died, in Heaven cheerfully feeding squirrels and
singing with Mary Poppins… Then freely
accepting money to offer Masses for him!
I mean, why Fr McFruitloop? He’s
in Heaven, he doesn’t need prayers. It
wasn’t a funeral Mass, it was a canonization!
(Even though he died suddenly in a car crash, while coming back from a
drug deal..) A little harsh? It needs to
be.
The purpose of priesthood, the
meat and potatoes is to shepherd souls, that God entrusts to them. As seminarians, we are training to prepare
for that reality. Priests sherpherd by
assisting the local Bishop to administer the Sacraments of Christ, Offer Holy
Mass, preach the Word, and lead people to Jesus. It is Jesus who Saves! However, when the above scenario takes place,
(it used to regularly throughout the 1970s and 80s..) We should stop and ask
the priest point blank; ‘What does Jesus
save us from?’ Think about it,.. If universal
Salvation is the norm, then why would we need the Mass? Morals?
What kind of sicko psychologically unbalance freak would give up sex for
nothing? Who cares! That generation turned the Christ of the
Gospels, Our Ressurected Lord, into a bubblegum pink unicorn who wants to hug
you. (Unless you pollute,..don’t ever pollute
or question pollution and global warming climate change.)….
My friends, the battle is real,
Salvation is at stake. Jesus calls men
to be priests. To offer Sacrifice, the
one Sacrifice, Calvary made present in our time and space. OF Mass, EF Mass, Maronite, Anglican
Ordinariate, Eastern Divine Liturgy,…ALL have the Sacrifice! Why?
Because Heaven and hell are at stake!
One player, (We will call him the
Intellectual Thomist) while doing a video, states that we can have a reasonable
hope that hell is empty. This notion,
often attributed to Hans Urs Von Balthasar, can be mis-interpreted to mean
Universal Salvation. The reality is,
that no…(despite the fact that it could lead someone to believe that,especially
in this day and age. The anecdote
regarding Fr McFruitloop’s canonization/funeral was/is a reality that far too
many of us experience. That being said,
it is true that many Saints and Mystics have been shown visions of hell and
yes, there are souls there. The question
of ‘hope’ though seems absent. To ‘hope’
is an entirely different story.
The second player, (Magic Hair
Man) responds with videos criticising the content of the former (Intellectual
Thomist) saying that ‘Hoping’ that hell is empty is unreasonable. Again, in context, this goes back to the post
Council insanity, and Fr McFruitloop’s canonization. From a pastoral perspective, what would magic
hair man say to a mother who lost her son?
Perhaps the son didn’t live a holy life?
We cannot pronounce the soul in hell, but we can recourse to God’s
mercy. This won’t change the reality of
the soul in question, as at the moment of death, judgement is pronounced. It will however give recourse and comfort to
the loved ones.
I believe that this issue if one
of competing extremes, and I can easily sympathize with both points of view. Does
hell exist? Yes, Jesus spoke of it. Do people go there? Yes, as a consequence of free will, God
accepts the choice of those who do not follow His commandments. Can we reasonably hope that hell is
empty? Hope? Yes, we must hope! Reasonably,…ughhh,.. sorry. Although God is merciful, I highly doubt that
it is empty. (Not to pronounce
judgement.)
My friends, we need to be united…
EF, OF whatever, be Faithful to Christ and His Church, then let the chips fall
where they may. I am reminded of the
prayer to Our Mother of Perpetual Help,..
Our Lady of Perpetual Help,…………………………….ora
pro nobis!
