The Rewards of Heaven and Hell

The Catholic Church gives us a lot of freedom when it comes to interpreting scripture, there are very few that have a definite interpretation. The other verses must be interpreted within the boundaries of the Catholic faith, the context of scripture and tradition.

I have been studying the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16. In case you have forgotten the parable is about two men, one rich and Lazarus who is poor and sick. Lazarus begs from the rich man every day but to no avail. Well both men die and Lazarus goes to Abraham’s side and the rich man goes to a place of fire.

We naturally think that the rich man is in hell, until you look closely. The rich man intercedes for his 5 brothers. He says:

Luke 16:27, 28 -  `Then I beg you, father [Abraham], to send [Lazarus] to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'

So it seems that the rich man being in this place of fire is interceding for his 5 brothers right? Isn’t that love? Yet we know that there is no love in hell. Therefore I thought that this place of fire very well might be Purgatory. The rich man is in Purgatory and is interceding on behalf of his five brothers so they might avoid this pain.

But then I read St. Catherine of Sienna, who in her book – The Dialogue – Where God the Father is instructing her about the spiritual life has this to say about hell and the rich man.

“If they finish their life, dying in hatred with the guilt of mortal sin, their souls, by divine justice, remain forever bound with the bonds of hatred, and forever obstinate in that evil, in which, therefore, being gnawed by themselves, their pains always increase, especially the pains of those who have been the cause of damnation to others, as that rich man, who was damned, demonstrated to you when he begged the favor that Lazarus might go to his brothers, who were in the world, to tell them of his pains. This, certainly, he did not do out of love or compassion for his brothers, for he was deprived of love and could not desire good, either for My honor or their salvation, because, as I have already told you, the damned souls cannot do any good to their neighbor, and they blaspheme Me, because their life ended in hatred of Me and of virtue. But why then did he do it? He did it because he was the eldest, and had nourished them up in the same miseries in which he had lived, so that he was the cause of their damnation, and he saw pain increased to himself, on account of their damnation when they should arrive in torment together with him, to be gnawed forever by hatred, because in hatred they finished their lives."

So God the Father, albeit through a private revelation, interprets this verse for us. The intercession of the rich man was selfish. He didn’t want his brothers to come there because he had taught them to be like him and their arrival in hell would only increase his pains.

What about the opposite of this case, what about those who lead a good example to others here on earth.

Well reasoning inside of this interpretation we can see that those who are a good example to others in their holiness and good works and words will be rewarded in heaven over and over.

I am thinking of St. Therese of Lisieux, who isn’t known in her life on earth of being a missionary like St. Francis Xavier. She didn’t have great visions like St. Catherine of Sienna. She was just an obedient nun who did little things with great love, and she wrote this down in a book.

Yet today she is celebrated by over a billion people because of her holiness and example.  Thousands have read her book and millions of heard of her message of the little way.

Now imagine how the joy of St. Therese will increase as people arrive in heaven  because they have followed her good example.

We are not all called to be cloistered monks and nuns, and we are not all called to be missionaries, but we are all called to be holy. When you die, what will people say that you cared about the most?

God's Will - God's Way

Every time that we pray the Our Father, we pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Yet the Bible teaches us that God does things in a certain way and that His hand will not be forced.

The Bible tells us this about God;

Psalm 86:15 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, most loving and true.

We also have the warning of St. James

James 1:19 Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

We see that the Bible tells us that God is slow to anger and that when are wrathful we are not working God’s justice on someone. Obviously you can defend yourself, but we have all felt immediately overly angry about something and sometimes we burst. This is not God working his justice through you.

Sometimes, like these days ahead of us, we feel like God isn’t doing enough in our lives or in the life of our country and we get angry and yell at heaven or worse we decide to take matters into our own hands. This would be the worst thing you could do.

Let’s take for example Abraham. God appears to him and says Abraham I am going to give you a son. Abraham thinks that God doesn’t realize how old he and Sarah are and certainly they wouldn’t be able to have a child. So they take matters into their own hands. Abraham marries Hagar, his servant girl as a wife and she bears him a son Ishmael. Later on God again appears to Abraham and says ok, Abraham I am ready to fulfill my vow of giving you a child. You can imagine that Abraham is in his tent praying and little Ishmael is running around outside. Abraham thought that by taking a second wife, he was fulfilling God’s will; yet he wasn’t.

What Abraham should have done is be faithful and patient. That is our lesson for today. Yes get involved with church events, yes get involved with politics, but it is all for nothing if you are not faithful to your prayers and that face-time with God.

If we attempt to do things without God, they are futile.

The Bible says:

Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

We as humans are designed to have an intimate perpetual conversation with God. That little voice in your head, that conversation that you are having with yourself when all the noise stops; that interior monologue that turns on when you turn the TV off; is not supposed to be a monologue but a dialogue with the most Holy Trinity.

Listen, I am just a regular guy, let me tell you, when the TV turns off another turns on in my head and I am working on silencing this clutter. I am convinced from my study of Scripture and the Saints that the salvation of our own selves and our country is located in this dialogue which is strengthened by the reception of the sacraments and in prayer.

I have not forgotten our topic of not forcing our will on people saying that it is God’s will as I say this next bit.

Superheroes recently have caught our countries attention with some pretty amazing films. I enjoy watching them myself but I recently noticed something about them. They defeat the bad guys by their own power. Now this isn’t such a big revelation until you compare it with the gospel. In the gospel it is weakness, love, and the will of God the Father that defeats evil. In the superhero movies it is science, human ingenuity, and good aliens that defeat the bad guys.

Just think who the heros of the church are: Noah, because he was obedient; Abraham, for his faith; Joseph; because he didn’t lose heart; David, for his love; the apostles because they told people about Jesus and died for it; cloistered nuns and monks; and archbishops with a television show on catechesis.   

At Mass we do more for the world than world than can be possibly imagined.

I am not saying super heros are bad, there is something in us that cheers them on. It is that desire to be super ourselves. That desire comes from God to each one of us, it is in our nature. But how do we apply it? Pray that a radioactive meteorite hits us to gives us the power to fly?

Ironically God gives us that power through the sacraments and we exercise its power in the beatitudes, when we have a spirit of poverty, when we mourn, and are meek; when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, are merciful and pure of heart; when we are peacemakers and are persecuted. This is true power, because it comes from the cross of Christ.

Listen to St. Paul:

^RSV 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. ¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

So if your desire is for the greater good of our country and yourselves, let us spend our days and nights before that box in church – the tabernacle, and not before the box at home – the TV and THIS will affect the election box.

Parallels in the lives of Jacob and Joseph.

There are many similarities between Jacob the son of Isaac and Rebekah and Joseph the son of Jacob and Rachel. (Everything in Italics is from Louis Ginzberg's - Legends of the Jews - Volume 2. - I don't recommend it)

1.   As the mother of Jacob remained childless for a long time after her marriage, so also the mother of Joseph.

a.   Rebekah and Isaac had to wait twenty years before having their twin boys Jacob and Esau

b.   In the first place Rachel had to wait 14 years to even marry Jacob because Uncle Laban had tricked Jacob into marrying Leah. Then Everyone was having children but Rachel who eventually died giving birth to Benjamin.

2.   As Jacob's mother bore two sons, so also Joseph's mother.

a.   Rebekah bore two sons, Jacob and Esau.

b.   Rachel bore two sons, Joseph and Benjamin.

3.   Like the father, the son appropriated his older brother's birthright.

a.   Jacob received the birthright from Esau because Esau sold it to him for a bowl of soup.

b.   Joseph received the birthright for a few reasons.

                                                 i.    The first is the Reuben the firstborn son, tried to take over the family in an incestuous way and fell out of his fathers favor.

                                                ii.    The second was that Rachel was Jacobs favorite wife and therefore her children were his favorite children, Joseph being the eldest.

4.   The father was hated by his brother, and the son was hated by his brethren.

a.   Jacob was hated by his brother Esau because not only had Esau lost the birthright for a bowl of soup, but he lost the blessing from his father Isaac because Jacob tricked Isaac into giving it to him.

b.   Joseph was hated by his brothers because he was clearly the favorite of his father and he kept having these dreams that his brothers would one day bow down to him, and he told his brothers the dreams.

5.   The father was the favorite son as compared with his brother, so was the son as compared with his brethren.

a.   Isaac actually favored Esau for a while because he was a hunter cooked food just like Isaac wanted. After he lost the blessing and birthright though, he married some pagan women just to spite his parents.

b.   Joseph was the favorite because he was from the favorite wife, as stated earlier.

6.   Both the father and the son lived in the land of the stranger.

a.   Jacob lived in Haran

b.   Joseph lived in Egypt

7.   The father became a servant to a master, also the son.

a.   Jacob was a servant to Uncle Laban for at least 14 years trying to get permission to marry Rachel.

b.   Joseph was a servant in Egypt.

8.   The master whom the father served was blessed by God, so was the master whom the son served.

a.   While Jacob was in the service of Laban, God blessed the house of Laban.

b.   While Joseph served Potiphar and Pharaoh in Egypt, both were blessed by his presence.

9.   The father and the son were both blessed with wealth.

10.       Great things were announced to the father in a dream, so also to the son.

11.       As the father went to Egypt and put an end to famine, so the son.

12.       As the father exacted the promise from his sons to bury him in the Holy Land, so also the son.

13.       The father died in Egypt, there died also the son.

14.       As the father's remains were carried to the Holy Land for interment, so also the remains of the son.

The significance of these parallels.

As we have seen in other bible tidbits Joseph is a type of Christ figure. And as such I think that it is saying he is so like his father that they do the same things, just like Joseph and Jacob do the same things.

But if we can step back even further we see parallels between Abraham and Isaac. Both bear two children, one blessed, one not so blessed. They both have a hard time conceiving and there are more.

I think in a spiritual interpretation Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph all tell the story of salvation.

Abraham is a type for God the Father who offers his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

Isaac as a type of Christ gives birth to Jacob who is a types of the church with the twelve sons.

The sons of Israel (meaning the church) are sent to the nations to feed them, spiritually and physically.

Hard Saying of Jesus (and St. Paul)

Most people agree that there is something special about Jesus and His message. Many religions, especially new age religions claim that Jesus was a member of their group. But what many people don’t like to lay claim to is the entire gospel message.

What people tend to skip over are those hard sayings of Jesus. Those hard saying that make us cringe a bit and ask – really Jesus, really? Did you really mean that?

Here is one about the gospel itself.

Matthew 7:12-14    "Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 

Great we are all in agreement there…

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.   "For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.

So the road and gate to destruction are broad and many people enter by it, while the road and gate to life is small and few find it.

Ouch. Doesn’t this sound like Jesus is saying that many people are going to hell and few are going to heaven?

The problem, I believe, is that we don’t take Jesus seriously when we should. This time we have right now is a battle, it is us vs. the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now God is on our side, but his army is unconventional. It isn’t made of ‘good people’. It is made of holy people.;

Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

That is hard to hear – without holiness, we won’t see God.

You might be telling this to someone someday, maybe today I hope and they will say. “Good luck Christian, I hope you make it, I don’t want to get involved in such things.”

Tell them this – you are already involved, and the battle is on. By not – so called – choosing a side, you are choosing the wrong side. Now that isn’t a very charitable way of saying it dear listener, but pray the Holy Spirit says the same thing through you but in a more charitable way. 

Matthew 10:37, 38 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Now how are we to understand these words? I think exactly how he says them. Jesus needs to be Lord of our life, not adviser, and role model, LORD.

It is here that we see one of those Christian paradoxes with this verse. If we love Jesus above all people in our lives, you will then come to love those people more than you ever could have imagined because when Jesus is first in your life, you begin you love things with a divine love and not merely with a human love.

Mark 10:17 -27 And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.  "You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"  And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."  And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property.  And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"  And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And they were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?"  Looking upon them, Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

Why is this? Because when we have wealth we find comfort in those things here and our eyes are set on this world, not the one to come.

My wife and I use to pray that we would win the lottery. Now we would never play it, but we would talk about what we would do with the money when we won.

What I came to realizes for myself is that I wanted to be more independent from God, because we were constantly praying to God to help us with the bills or with our broken car. But our Heavenly Father wants us to be dependent on Him, and I stopped dreaming about winning the lottery that I never played. Now even super rich millionaires are dependent on God, but do they acknowledge it? This is where the difficulty comes in. Do we say that we and our work are the source of our life, or God. It becomes easier when you depend on God for everything  like the poor do.

Hebrews 2:1-3  how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

We can loose our salvation through just neglect. Let me ask you dear listener, are you busy about the Lord’s work? Every parish that I know of is busy with activities and it is usually the same 15 people hosting each one of them. Get involved. Is your reading Danielle Steel or the book of Daniel in the Bible? Would Jesus be hanging out with you? If not, why not? Start there and ask Him for help in turning your life around.

The Sin of Human Respect

Today we are going to look at our final judgment in light of works that were omitted.

We have heard the quote by- Edmund Burke

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. "

Our faith calls us in the Mass to confess our sins, the bad we have done and the good we have failed to do.  Today we are looking at that part about the good we have failed to do, because today this is a very popular sin, which I admit here that I am guilty of. To be specific, I am guilty of not doing one of the spiritual works of mercy.

Just to remind you in case you have forgotten them, though these should be memorized; Here are the works of mercy.

The Corporal works of mercy are

• To feed the hungry;
• To give drink to the thirsty;
• To clothe the naked;
• To shelter the homeless;
• To visit the sick;
• To ransom the captive;
• To bury the dead.

The spiritual works of mercy are:

• To instruct the ignorant;
• To counsel the doubtful;
• To bear wrongs patiently;
• To forgive offences willingly;
• To comfort the afflicted;
• To pray for the living and the dead;
• To admonish sinners.

Now out of respect for people I will only speak about myself in such matters because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

                                                                                           

Today, out of so-called ‘human respect’ I don’t always admonish sinners because I was taught, “if you are not going to say something nice, then don’t say anything at all.” Now this saying is good when it comes to your neighbor’s apple pie that had two cups of salt in it instead of two cups of sugar; I am not talking about that. I am talking about when my old friend, who is recently divorced, asks me what I think of his new girlfriend and I say that she is nice. What I ought to have said is remind him that he is still married to his wife. I would say it in some charitable way, but do say it.

Now this might hurt his feelings, and I might loose his friendship, but I might save his soul, and his new girlfriend’s soul as well. John the Baptist lost his head over such a case. In England in the 1500’s when Henry VIII was breaking away from the Catholic Church, only one bishop objected to this, and didn’t fall into apostasy and that was St. John Fisher.

Now I want to read to you what Jesus will say to us on judgment day and notice that all of these sins are sins of omission.

Matthew 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' "Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

God speaks to Ezekiel on this exact same topic, yet on the matter of admonishing the sinner.

Ezekiel 33:7-9 "Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth, and give them warning from Me. "When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.   "But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your life.”

So God tells Ezekiel, if you admonish the sinner, and he doesn’t listen to you then the sin is his own fault. But if you don’t admonish the sinner, his sin will be both your faults. So this is serious business.

Now, does this mean that we should go around and start nitpicking everything everyone is doing? I don’t think so. If we are spiritually alert, I think the Holy Spirit will set the scene and we need to keep in mind that we should do all things with love, but don’t forget to actually do them.

I am fortunate in my own life to have a godfather as well as other friends who have in the past corrected me, sometimes quite forcefully. Yes, I was totally embarrassed, but later when I cooled off, I realized that he was right and I was wrong and that I should correct my behavior, and I thank God for him and others who love me enough to let me know when I am wandering off the path.

Now it is here that I warn myself, that because our society today finds correction such a terrible sin, that this will lead me to the same place that it lead my master and that is the cross. Just think, Jesus admonished the sinners perfectly, and it got him crucified, how can I hope for any better outcome.

Here is an objection.  Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, that you be not judged.” 'Hey man, your judging me!'

Here is our response. No man, I am not saying that you will burn in hell like a bucket of chicken if you keep doing that bad behavior. What I am telling you is that your behavior is bad and that Jesus told us not to do that. If you claim to follow Jesus, he told us that, that kind of thing offends him in a serious way that our souls could be in danger of hell.

So I really need to change my life.