Tude5: You already know lots of people in hell

Tude5: You already know lots of people in hell

It’s only in the past thirty years of incredibly poor faith formation and the ignorant arrogance of secularism that humans have assumed hell (“if it exists”) is rare and only for people like historic dictators and mass murderers. Prior to this people understood that there were many, many, MANY people in hell, and that the way to hell is the “wide” and “easy” road that many people opt to take. Jesus said that quite clearly in the Gospels. When Mary appeared to the children at Fatima she too warned people that many in the future will go to hell because of lust. This so distressed her that she showed the children a momentary peek into the reality and horror of hell. Mary explained that she is not the one to judge, but that she intercedes with Jesus, who is not at all hesitant to send those to hell who deserve it. By intercession you need to understand that it is not like people who egregiously sin can be diverted from hell to heaven based on God’s mood or intercessors asking for mercy. The intercession has to take place while the sinners still live, so that even if at the last moment of life they do sincerely repent. Then they can be purified for eventual heaven. However the desire of God is that people receive “intervention” early in their lives so that they live lives worthy of heaven. However, Mary foretold one hundred years ago that many in the future would go to hell due to sins of lust. Remember that lust means both sexual depravity and material coveting (as in the expression “lusting after goods.”) Mary foretold that this was such a threat to the souls of many millions that she took time from the warning about the terrible World Wars to warn about the mendacity of lusting that will send many to hell.

Until the past thirty years people understood quite well that many people around them, even in their own families, were in danger of hell and likely to go there if they did not have a conversion and redemption experience while alive. The most notable example is when the great saint Anthony of Padua proclaimed at a funeral that the rich greedy deceased man that the family was mourning was in hell. He proved it by showing the family that the physical heart in the corpse had mystically transposed out of the very body and was found nestled among gold coins in a treasury box. There’s a family that knew their “loved one” was in hell for eternity for his coveting and avarice.

Until the past thirty years there was a “safety net” of deep family and community faith that kept people in line and for the large part, more directed toward heaven than hell in their mentality. But secular, libertine and liberal “thinking” has destroyed this safety net in previously Christian society so that many people barely give a thought as to what they are doing day to day as being a sin, or if “wrong” not meriting hell. How wrong people are! This is exactly what Mary at Fatima warned against! The lust for irresponsible sex (including viewing pornography, and the use of abortion as birth control) AND the lust for power, control over people, their financial oppression, lying, and for material goods are all “enough” to send the unrepentant and unreformed soul to hell. I know LOTS of people who are in hell. So do you, dear readers. I met someone I once knew a long time ago (he did not identify himself nor realize that I recognized him) who had just returned from his sister’s funeral, and he was mourning that he knew she was in hell. Trust me, I did not “tut, tut” and “reassure” him that “she’s probably OK.” Rather, I admired that at last someone of this time and age understood that many people would not allow themselves to be saved. I suggested that he try to intervene with her children (as he expressed the view that they would follow her footsteps) but he was not optimistic and did not feel personally empowered to do so because of his estrangement in his personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So trust me, there are many people you know, day to day, who are on the road to hell and who if deceased have arrived there. When I read the papers I am often able to look past a “glowing tribute” obituary and like St. Anthony have that “Oh, oh” thought about the person’s true destination.