A Homily for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 & 12:00 Masses
Numbers 11:25-29; Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Audio Recording
There is so much to unpack in today’s readings that I just don’t have time to do justice to all of the topics in a homily. So, since we seldom hear homilies about hell, I’ve chosen to focus on that aspect of today’s Gospel reading. We’re much more likely to hear about God’s love and mercy in a homily than to hear about hell, aren’t we? And that makes sense.
This is because we know that Jesus loves us unconditionally, and that he never did or said anything that wasn’t motivated by perfect charity. It was Jesus who told us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light; who said that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom; and who willingly suffered and died so that we could have abundant, eternal life. Right?
Yet, the most graphic descriptions of hell in the Scriptures come straight from the mouth of Jesus himself. Today’s reading makes clear how seriously Jesus takes sin and how essential it is that we eliminate it from our lives. He makes it perfectly clear that there are two possible destinations for us after death, Heaven or hell. The eternal joy of union with God or the eternal misery of separation from him. This truth is CLEARLY found throughout the New Testament and is constantly reaffirmed in Church tradition.
Sadly, the possibility of hell as our eternal destiny is often shrugged off or treated with outright skepticism by many Christians today. Many who preach or catechize seem reluctant to talk about this clear teaching of Jesus.
Many struggle with the POSSIBILITY of our eternal suffering in hell, so they either pretend it doesn’t really exist, or they choose to believe that no one is going there because they believe that a loving God would never send anyone to hell.
But the truth conveyed in Jesus’ teaching is that hell IS real and that we CHOOSE our own destiny. God DOESN’T send people to hell, we send ourselves as a result of the lives we lead and the choices we make. God doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to come to repentance.
However, God totally respects our free will to choose. And with every decision, every thought, and every action over the course of our lifetime, we orient ourselves either to Heaven or to hell. Then, at the moment of our death, we receive what we have chosen.
The well-known Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, expresses it well. He said: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”
The Catechism says the following about hell, and I quote:
“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire.’ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God…” (CCC 1035)
While Jesus is not saying in today’s gospel reading that we must LITERALLY cut off our limbs or pluck out our eye to avoid hell, he is saying is that we must do WHATEVER IT TAKES to eliminate any sinful thoughts and actions from our lives so we can enter his kingdom.
We must confess our sins, then do our best to stop sinning. God’s mercy is superabundant and is always available to those who admit their failings and strive to avoid sinning again. There is nothing that can’t be forgiven if we are truly sorry for our sins.
As long as we are alive, we can receive complete forgiveness of our sins, even the most serious sins. This happens whenever we receive absolution from a priest after making a good, honest confession, at which time we are restored to a state of grace, to friendship with God. The Church assures us that if we die in a state of grace, we will go to heaven.
Many people ask me what happens when we die? What does the Church teach about how our souls will be judged when we die? Well, Catholic doctrine distinguishes between the Particular Judgment and the Last Judgment. This distinction is biblically based and clearly defined in Church teaching. Allow me to explain.
Our “PARTICULAR JUDGMENT” takes place at the MOMENT of our death when our eternal soul is separated from our body and is judged by Christ. We will each come to know at the moment of our death our eternal destiny. At that moment it will be too late for us to repent of our sins.
Those who have repented and die in God’s grace and friendship and are PERFECTLY PURIFIED, will immediately go to heaven and see God face to face in his heavenly glory. This is the destiny of those who have no further need of purification before entering God the Father’s presence, as they have made full reparation for their sins here on earth. We call these souls saints.
Those who die in God’s grace and friendship but are still IMPERFECTLY PURIFIED will go through a purification process known as Purgatory. They have repented and their sins have been forgiven, but reparation for these sins has not been fully satisfied. While their final salvation is assured, they won’t immediately experience the beatific vision, but they WILL KNOW FOR CERTAIN that heaven is their final destination.
Then there are those who die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love. They have decided not to acknowledge or confess their sins and have persisted in them. They have ignored God’s many efforts to call them to repentance. This is why we say that they will be separated from God forever by their own free choice. This state of “DEFINITIVE SELF-EXCLUSION” from eternal communion with God is the chief punishment of what we call hell.
At some unknown time after our particular judgement, the LAST JUDGMENT will take place when Christ returns in glory with all the angels to completely subject EVERYTHING to his authority, including death itself. When he comes, he will call forth ALL the living and the dead into an unimaginable assembly.
At that time, everyone who has ever lived will receive their eternal reward. Those who have loved and served him will have their eternal souls joined with their glorified body and inherit eternal life, eternal bliss. Those who have served only themselves, have lived a life of unrepentant sin, and caused others to sin will be eternally separated from God and experience eternal torment.
In warning us to eliminate sin from our lives, Jesus’ purpose is not to needlessly frighten us or angrily scold us. Rather, he wants us to understand the terrible tragedy of turning away from love, from life, and from goodness. Like a concerned physician, he is providing a prescription for spiritual life and health, and warning us away from attitudes and actions that ultimately destroy us.
Dear friends in Christ, in spite of what many well-meaning people may believe, hell is real. The biggest deception of the devil is that hell does not exist or that we just don’t need to be concerned about the possibility of going there.
God has given each of us the time we need to turn to him and embrace his love, but our time is not unlimited. We must each make a choice as to whether or not we will follow Christ by following the teachings of his Church, teachings which lead to eternal life in heaven.
The choice is ours and we must choose wisely. Our eternal destiny is at stake.
God bless you.