Clean
living is itself experiencing heaven as conscientious lifestyle is followed by a
good karma. But try to embark in the
pleasure of sin and hell without a doubt would be on the lead and for sure the
purgation after realization is painful and tougher than clean living; the
longer the exposure to its gratification, the longer the process of
purgation/correction.
Herbert
Broome died of a cancer within hours of taking a video while on his deathbed.
His last words were messages that he had from God that he wanted to convey to
the world before he died, which his son uploaded on YouTube to keep his promise
of passing it on.
On
his deathbed, Herbert Broome says that absolutely
there’s no security as a sinner, that sinning itself on earth is
experiencing hell.
Everything
changes, the world changes, the seasons change, jobs and clothes wear out. Can
you imagine of anything that does not revolutionize? How are you going to obtain security in an
insecure world? Everything changes but
one thing does not change is the security of becoming Jesus’ friend, all the
security that one will ever need.
One’s
security is where one is going to go when she/he dies. In this world, the Scripture is provided
which is the only direction that one needs to become thoroughly wise, a security blanket that could be found in the
Words of God through the Bible, as it says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Just
being good and just saying you’re a good fellow don’t get it if you’re hurting
anybody, the challenge is one has to be born again/transformed.” (John 3:3-5)
Herbert
Broome says, “If you had seen what I saw in the hospital, there would be no
doubt in your mind forever, because hell is so terrible, so awful. It goes as far as eternity, forever and
ever. Once you’re in hell you're in hell.
The Lord gave me a glimpse of heaven and I saw an angel. I saw my guardian angel. And I also got a glimpse of hell and I'm
telling you now please listen. Hell is
so bad, so awful, you have no idea how bad hell is. Hell is terrible, a terrible place. I don’t
want to see anybody go there. I
heard the mourning that sounded like a thousand voices, all wailing at the same
time. It was a horrible.”
Heaven, hell or purgatory are states of being of a spirit (angel/demon) or human
soul, rather than places, as commonly perceived and represented in human
language.
When
the form of this world passes away, those who have welcomed God into their
lives and have wholeheartedly opened themselves to His love, at least at the
moment of death, will enjoy that fullness of communion with God which is the
goal of human life.
This
perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity, this communion of life and love with
the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed is called
"heaven', which is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human
longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness" .
In
biblical language "heaven", when it is joined to the
"earth", indicates part of the universe. Scripture says about
creation: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"
(Genesis 1:1) .
Metaphorically
speaking, heaven is understood as the dwelling-place of God, who is thus eminent
from human beings (Psalm 104:2 ; 115:6 ; Isaiah 66:1. He sets eyes on and judges from the summits of heaven (Psalm 113:4-9) and comes down when he is invoked (Psalm 18:9, 10 ; 144:5). Nevertheless, the Scriptural metaphor clears it up that God neither
identify Himself with heaven, nor can He be contained in it (1 Kings 8;27); and this is authentic, even though in some passages of the First
Book of the Maccabees "Heaven" is simply one of God's names (1 Maccabees 3:18, 19, 50, 59; 4:24, 55).
The
New Testament intensifies the idea of heaven in connection with the mystery of
Christ. To confirm that the Redeemer's sacrifice obtains perfect and definitive
value, the Letter to the Hebrews declares that Jesus "passed through the
heavens" (Hebrew 4:14), and "entered, not into
a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven
itself" (Hebrew 9:24).
Since believers are loved uniquely by the Father, they are raised
with Christ and made citizens of heaven. St. Paul says," But God, who is
rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead
in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been
saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ
Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his
grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesian 2:4-7). The fatherhood of God, who is
rich in mercy, is experienced by creatures through the love of God's crucified
and risen Son, who sits in heaven on the right hand of the Father as Lord.
After
the course of human’s earthly life, partaking in complete intimacy with the
Father thus comes through human incorporation into Jesus’ paschal mystery. St
Paul stresses "Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall
always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words."
(1 Thessalonians 4:17-18)
By
human’s ultimate communion with God where heaven or peace and happiness are
enjoyed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church condenses Church's teaching on
this precision: "By His death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has
"opened' heaven to humans. The life of the blessed consists in the full
and perfect possession of the fruits of the deliverance fulfilled by Jesus. He
makes significant others in His heavenly glorification those who have faith in
Him and stays loyal to His will. Heaven is the blessed community for everybody
who is perfectly incorporated into Christ."
This
concluding state, however, can be predictable in some way today in sacramental
life, whose heart is the Eucharist, and in the gift of self through fraternal charity.
In
a theological sense however, hell is the ultimate corollary of sin itself,
which turns against the individual who committed it. It is the state of those
who ultimately reject the Father's mercy, even at the last breath of one’s
life.
Hell
is a state of eternal damnation. To explain this truth, the Bible uses a symbolical language. In the Old
Testament, the condition of the dead had not yet been fully unveiled by
Revelation. Furthermore, it was thought
that the dead were amassed in Sheol, a land of darkness (Ezekiel 28:8; 31:14; Job 10:21 ; 38:17; Psalm 30:10 ; 88:7, 13), a pit from which one cannot re-ascend (Job 7:9), a place in which it is impracticable to praise God (Isaiah 38:18; Psalm 6:6).
The
New Testament sheds new light on the condition of the dead, declaring above all
that Christ through His Resurrection defeated death and stretched out His unshackling
power to the kingdom of the dead.
The
Book of Revelation also symbolically depicts in a "pool of fire"
those who exclude themselves from the book of life, thus meeting with a
"second death" (Revelation 20:13) . Anyone who continues to be bunged up to the Gospel is therefore
preparing for 'ceaseless destruction and exclusion from God’s presence and from
the glory of His might" (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
"Eternal
damnation" is not attributed to God's plan because in His kind-hearted
love He can only desire the salvation of the beings He created. In reality, it
is humans who close her/himself to His love. Damnation consists specifically in
ultimate separation from God, chosen by the human person without restraint and
confirmed with death that seals his choice everlastingly. God's judgement
affirms this state.
Humans are saved from going to hell by Jesus who conquered Satan.
Christian faith edifies that in taking the risk of saying "yes" or
"no", which indicates the human human’s liberty, some have already declared
no. They are the spiritual creatures that dissented against God's love, called
demons, which serves as a warning, a continuous call to avoid the tragedy
which leads to sin, and to conform one’s life to that of Jesus who lived His
life with a "yes" to God.
Eternal
damnation keeps on as a real possibility, but no one is granted, without
special divine revelation, the knowledge of whether or which human beings are
effectively involved in it. The thought of hell must not craft angst or misery,
but is an indispensable and healthy reminder of freedom within the proclamation
that the risen Jesus has vanquished Satan, giving humans the Spirit of God who
makes them to exclaim "Abba, Father!" (Roman 8:15; Galatians 4:6)
Humans find the faces either to live with the
Lord in eternal beatitude, or to remain far from His presence.
To
anyone who finds her/himself in a condition of being open to God, but still
imperfectly, the journey towards full beatitude calls fora purification.
To
share in divine life, humans must be totally purified. In the Scripture, there are certain elements that help human to understand the
meaning purgatory, which express the belief that no one can approach God
without undergoing some kind of purification.
What is destined for God must be perfect. Consequently, physical integrity is also particularly obliged for the realities which connects with God at the sacrificial level
such as, sacrificial animals (Leviticus 22:22) or at the institutional level, as in the case
of priests or ministers of worship (Leviticus 21:17-23). Total devotion to the God of the Covenant, along the lines of the
great teachings found in Deuteronomy 6:5, and which must be in contact with this physical integrity, is demanded
to individuals and society as a whole (1 Kings 8:61). It is a matter of loving God with all one's being, with purity of
heart and the witness of deeds(Deuteronomy 10:12)
The
need for integrity evidently becomes significant after death, for entering into
perfect and complete communion with God. Non-possession of this integrity
undergoes purification, as St. Paul says,
" If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that
person will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will
suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire. " (1 Corinthian 3;14-15).
At times, to get through a state of perfect integrity, a person's intercession
or mediation is essential. Moses for instance obtains pardon for the people
with a prayer in which he recalls the saving work done by God in the past, and
prays for God's faithfulness to the oath made to his ancestors (Exodus 32:30) , 11-13). The figure of the Servant of the Lord, outlined in the Book of
Isaiah, is also depicted by His role of intercession and expiation for many; at
the end of his suffering he "will see the light" and "will
justify many", bearing their wickedness (Isaiah 52:13; 53:12 , especially 53:11).
Psalm 51 can be considered, as a
synthesis of the process of reintegration:
the sinner confesses and recognizes his guilt (verse 3 , asking relentlessly to be "cleansed" (verse 2 , 9, 10 , 17) so as to declare the divine
praise (verse 15).
Purgatory
is not a place but a condition of existence. In the New Testament Christ is presented as the intercessor who assumes the
functions of high priest on the day of expiation (Hebrew 5:7; 7:25). But in Him the priesthood is presented in a new and definitive
form, who enters the heavenly shrine once and for all, to intercede with God on
our behalf (Hebrew 9:23-26), especially, v. 24). He is both priest and "victim of
expiation" for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2;2)
Jesus,
as the great intercessor who atones for humans fully reveals himself at the end
of one’s life when expressing Himself with the offer of mercy, and likewise
with the inevitable judgement for those who reject the Father's love and
forgiveness.
And
over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. (Colossians 3:14)
In following the Gospel exhortation to be perfect like the heavenly Father (cf.
Mt 5: 48) during human's earthly life, everyone is called to grow in love, to be
sound and flawless before God the Father "at Jesus coming with all His saints" (1 Thessalonians 3;12). Moreover, humans are invited to "cleanse from every
defilement of body and spirit" ( 2 Corinthians 7:1 ; (John 3;3), because the encounter with
God needs absolute purity.
The
state of purgation is not a furtherance of the earthly condition, almost as if
after death one were given another possibility to change one's destiny. The
Church's teaching in this regard is clear and was restated by the Second
Vatican Council which teaches:
Just
as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, "Since
we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord
and watch constantly so that, when the single course of humans earthly life is
completed (Hebrew 9:27). Just as it is appointed that
human beings die once, and after this the judgment, we may merit to enter
with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not,
like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal
fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth'
(Matthew 22:13 and 25:30)
One last significant aspect which the Church's tradition has constantly stressed out states that those who find themselves in the state of purgation are
united both with the blessed who are already in the fullness of eternal life,
and with us on this earth on our way towards the Father's dwelling.
Just as in their earthly life believers are
unified in the one Mystical Body, so after death those who live in a state of
purification experience the same ecclesial harmony which works through prayer,
prayers for suffrage and love for other brothers and sisters in the faith. Purgation
is lived in the necessary bond created between those who live in this world and
those who enjoy eternal beatitude.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as
some regard "delay," but He is patient with you, not wishing that any
should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Reference:
Pope John Paul II, https://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2HEAVN.HTM
Heaven, Hell and Purgatory
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