IS OUR DESTINATION HEAVEN OR HELL?

IS OUR DESTINATION HEAVEN OR HELL?

Mk. 13: 24-32

“The sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from Heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”

We tend to associate these words of Jesus with the end of the world and they also make us think about whether we are ready to meet Our Lord as our Judge.  This reading can make some people afraid.  For them it conjures up thoughts of punishment, destruction and death, and it overwhelms them.  Some passages from scripture can certainly be warnings but their overall effect is meant to console and encourage us in times of distress and to give us hope.

Like me you must have thought at some time, 'Where will I be in a certain number of years?'  The older we are the more that thought surfaces and we appreciate that our permanent home is not here on this Earth.  We are pilgrims passing through to our eternal home - Heaven or Hell.  What we must never forget is that where we go is our choice.

If Heaven is our destination, we have reached it with the help of God.  What God has prepared for those who love Him is beyond our imagining.  As St. Paul tells us, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man what things God has prepared for those who love Him.”  It is then we shall enjoy eternal happiness and we can be certain that no person or things on this Earth would make us want to return to this vale of tears.

But before we enter Heaven, our eternal home, there may be a spell in Purgatory for we know that only those who die in perfect love of God and neighbour go straight to Heaven.

When someone we love dies, we miss them tremendously and we wonder, 'Where are they?'  One thing we Catholics and Christians can be certain of is the fact that death is not the end.  The moment our soul leaves our body our particular judgement takes place.  We stand before our loving Father in Heaven:  if we are in perfect love with Him and our neighbour we shall go to Heaven; if we are not ready for His company we go to Purgatory where we have to be purified until we are ready to live in His presence.

Every life is like a tree.  A tree slanting in the direction of the east is very likely, when it dies, fall in that direction - it is hardly likely to fall towards the west!  So too, if our life is directed towards our heavenly Father, we hope that when we die, we shall fall into the arms of God.

What are the pains in Purgatory?  When we die, we shall meet our heavenly Father and are given a glimpse of Him, and from that moment there is only one ardent desire we have, and that is to be with Him forever.  But if we not in perfect love with God and our neighbour, we will not be ready to live in His presence.  We must wait until we are purged of our imperfections and it is this waiting, this separation, that is so extremely painful and is the pain of Purgatory.  The soul is consumed with an such intense desire to be with God, yet the hand of God holds it back.  No words can describe the anguish of this unsatisfied craving.

Saint Gertrude had a great love for the Holy Souls and Our Lord gave her a powerful prayer to help them.  He said that whenever this prayer is recited He would release many souls from Purgatory.  The prayer is “Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious blood of Your divine Son Jesus, in union with all the Holy Masses being offered today throughout the world, for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.”

Before I mention Hell, I would like to say some consoling words about Purgatory given to us by St. Therese of Lisieux.  She teaches, and she is a doctor of the Church, that if you try to lead as good a life as you can and you say to our Father in Heaven, "When I die, please don't send me to Purgatory, take me at once to Your heavenly Home."  She comments, "Why Not?"  Our Father doesn't want His children to suffer and go to Purgatory but to lead a good life and come straight to Him.  I am sure you find that a very consoling doctrine.  The important this is that we must try and lead as good lives as we can.

To try and make sure I will get to Heaven and escape Purgatory I asked the Holy Spirit to help me write a prayer and this is what He helped me to write.  “Heavenly Father, with the help of Your Holy Spirit, may I lead the best life I can today and when I die, please don’t send me to Purgatory.  I want to fall straight into Your loving arms and on the day of my death may I hear Your Son say to me, ‘I promise you this very day you will be with me in Paradise.’

If Hell is our destination, however, we have only ourselves to blame because it will mean that we have rejected innumerable invitations from our loving Father to change our ways, and seek a new direction that leads to Heaven and we have rejected these invitations. The thought of any one of us going to Hell fills me with deep sadness on two counts.  Firstly, it must break God’s heart to know that He is losing one of His children.  He loves us so much that He never wants to lose one of us.  Secondly, His Son generously laid down His life for that person, but His love is rejected and so for that person He died in vain.

Holy Spirit, as we end the liturgical year of the Church, we ask You to let our lives always be pointed in the direction of God, our Father, so that when we die, we will fall into His loving arms.

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