Fr. Barron comments on Hell

thank you FR BARRON FOR THIS MESSAGE ON FACEBOOK

That is a very good way of putting it Father, however it then begs the question, ” what good is prayer?” If someone turns there back on the love of God can we alter their situation by praying for them?

( please tell me yes! I just lost my 28 year old son )

Amen. People send themselves to hell by rejection. The Bible mentions hell more times than it does Heaven, yet people only accept the good and ignore the bad. The Bible also states that souls go into hell like the falling of leaves on the trees. If you stop and think about how trees lose their leaves in the fall, and each one represents a soul, that is alot of souls. Nothing unclean will enter in. To avoid this, we need to accept Jesus as our savior, go to confession on a regular basis, and do everything that we can to die in a state of grace. That is the only way to avoid hell.

Fr. Barron,
This is a wonderful explanation. As a Catholic who takes seriously my Baptismal call, I run into the New Age “Practical Christianity” belief that Hell does not exist. Hell is a state of mind lived out here on earth, evil is part of God’s plan for something good, and because “God loves us” we will all be in Heaven. This seems to eliminate the need for God’s mercy because it rules out man’s ability to sin.
Practical Christianity New Agers do not believe in Christ as Savior but only as a Teacher of metaphoric lessons. All paths of reason lead back to “but God Loves us.” What advice do you have to explain to the New Age that evil and hell do exist?
May God continue to bless you!
Rick Wykoski

I wanted to respond to the above comment having just read Michael’s comment. I also have children who no longer attend Mass, do as they please, and are influenced by others. My brother was 42 when he was stricken with a sudden brain aneursym. He never went to church, and from outward appearances never lived a Christian life. Never let anyone tell you that your child is in hell. First of all, we do not know exactly what was in their heart. We can not see the inside of a person. We do not know their circumstances. A person could have asked for mercy on their own without our knowledge. I am comforted in that fact. Once a soul is in hell, it is too late. There is no praying anyone out of hell. The rich man died and was tormented while Lazarus was comforted. There was no escape for the rich man. He made his own bed, sort of speaking. I am not a priest, however, these are my thoughts. I am sorry for your son, however, be comforted in the fact that you do not know what was inside of his heart. This is just my opinion.

It seems Fr Barron’s comment on hell has moved a number of peoples minds hm! How much I wish there should been a written comment right here besides Youtube as some of us cannot access it through Youtube okay! Would it be too much asking for such an option? Please! Fr Barron, let there be a pasted information okay or if there is one, kindly, send me through the same email.

Best regards!
Fletcher Musukwa

Many years ago I decided to ask God to take my father to heaven, so I asked my priest what he thought–if my dad was unwilling or unable to pray for himself, could I ask God for him? I thought of St. Monica, who prayed many years for the conversion of her son, Augustine and how her prayers worked to bring about his conversion (He is a doctor of the church) My pastor thought for a moment and mentioned that yes, I most certainly could ask for my dad, but he said he may be in purgatory for a while. So that is what I did, my father passed away two years ago and I do not regret saying any of the prayers I did say. I still pray for the repose of his soul, but I trust in God’s mercy and grace to bring about the best possible outcome for my dad. I think that if even someone passes away suddenly that you can still pray for that person, that since there is no time with God that all prayers now and in the future are taken into account.(Macc. 12:46): “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins.”. Prayer to me is the very essence of time travel in that you are not limited in time to offer prayers for those you love. God Bless!

Cathy

I don’t see that as being free. So God, being love, tells people: “Okay guys, you can do whatever you like, because you’re free. Oh, but, by the way, if you don’t follow my ways, you will be punished and burn in hell for all of eternity.” That’s not freedom, that’s coercion.
Anyway, that’s how I feel about it, and I would love to be corrected by decent arguments.

Barron: I really liked your approach to the “hell-conundrum”. It was a good explanation but i have a question that i would love to have answered.

Gehenna, or “The valley of the son of Hinnom”, was a physical place outside of Jerusalem. It was a heathen place of sacrifice where, apparently, children were incinerated. After the shutdown of these pagan rituals the fires of gehenna were (according to sources)kept alive in order to prevent sickness and to rid people of unwanted things(i.e. a garbage-disposal-site of sorts).

Jesus does mention it by name 11 times (which was (miss)translated as “hell” in king james bible) as a place where wicked people are sent to burn for all eternity(the fires were never put out as i mentioned earlier).
Wouldn’t it be a more accurate interpretation to believe that jesus meant this more literally as in “if you are wicked, you will not have a proper christian burial but are to be thrown into the fires of gehenna”(thrown among the garbage). Thus by not being buried on christian grounds or being blessed by a priest you would be denied entrance to heaven.
The way I see it, the fires of hell does not exist and has never been mentioned in the bible(if you check “Young´s literal translation” instead of king james bible) but if you are wicked you stand outside of gods grace and will not be taken into his kingdom after the passing of your mortal existence(i.e (if i may use barrons party-example)you may not go to gods party)

For Michael Moirs sake i hope it is true(i´m sorry for your loss) as that would not have him burning in purgatory(he´s maybe not part of the party but at least he is not tormented and hurt)

anyone feel free to answer. i would love to hear your opinion in this matter, to hear the catholic viewpoint since i am a swedish agnostic/atheist with a protestant schooling. (yup, i´m way out of my comfortzone here ;-)) In advance I appologize if i have offended anyone, that was not my intention.
sincerely
Marcus

Go Father Barron!
Catechism says it: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which Pope John Paul II stated is “a sure and authentic reference text for teaching Catholic doctrine.” says in paragraph 1446 that, “Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as “the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace.””