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| The vision of the children at Fatima |
This year is the 100th anniversary of the
apparitions of Fatima, where Our Lady appeared six times to three
young children: Lucia (10), Franciso (9) and Jacinta (7). Last week I had the privilege of visiting Fatima with 16 other pilgrims from our diocese. One of the
things that Our Lady showed the three young children was a terrifying
vision of hell. Many questions came up about this
vision and why Our Lady would show these children such a dreadful
thing. So I would like to try and address this event.
Today, as you know, many people scoff at the idea of
hell, as if it were some sort of medieval idea which we no longer
need to believe; after all, everyone goes to heaven, right? I have no
doubt that one of the reasons why Our Lady showed the children this
vision—and it has happened in other places of apparition too—was
to make us realize that hell is real and we should not be naïve to
the idea. If this is the case, should we be afraid? I think the
answer is both yes and no.
First of all, if heaven is real and we have free
will, then it is completely logical that hell must be real too. To
lose all that God wants to give us, God’s destiny for us, is hell.
Heaven is total fulfillment in God, light, beauty, happiness, peace,
joy and the love of God and those who have gone before us. We would
never be in want of anything again. As yet we have never experienced
this, so it is hard for us to grasp that such a place could exist. To
lose that, or reject that, would mean to get the opposite: the loss
of God, darkness, hatred, isolation and the eternal pain of knowing
we have rejected the one thing that could bring us happiness. Images
of fire are often used for hell, as this is an image we can easily
understand, but the reality is that the eternal loss of God would be
far worse, as it is the only thing that would fulfill us. If we have
the free will to accept God and all that He offers us, then we must
also have the free will to reject it, or otherwise it would not be
free will. The vision of hell that Our Lady granted the children, is
a reminder to all of us that hell must be real and we should not
presume that all of us will go to heaven regardless of how we live.
Our actions have consequences and we must take them seriously.
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| The shrine of Fatima today |
Does that mean that those who do not go to church
will go to hell? Of course not. Those who do not go to church have
just as much hope of eternal life as we do, depending on how they
live. Many people who do not go to church cannot understand or relate
to formal religion. If I grew up in a family that never practiced
religion, or where I was constantly told that the Church is corrupt
and evil, then I cannot be blamed for not going to church. What is
important is that I do my best to live a life where I continue to
choose what is right. God guides us through our conscience, so that
even those who have never heard of God still have the chance to live
as God calls us to.
Just because we do go to church doesn’t mean that
we are guaranteed go to heaven either. It depends completely on how I
live from day to day. I have two good friends who are in the Poor
Clare sisters in my home town. They dedicate their lives to God
through prayer. People often say to me that they must be so holy and
they probably are, but just because they are in a convent, any more
than me being a priest, is no guarantee of being holy. It depends
completely on how they live and on how I live.
So is there any advantage to being a Catholic?
Absolutely! We are privileged to have been shown the way that God
himself has revealed to us through Jesus. Jesus is the path to heaven
and God has made this known to us. He has given us the gift of his
Body and Blood in each mass and the Scriptures to guide us. This is a
great blessing and honor for us and helps us to be faithful to the
path that leads to God as we have been shown it. So we are truly
blessed, but it doesn’t mean that we have a better chance than
anyone else because it still depends on how we live from day to day.
Going to mass each Sunday will not help me if I spend the rest of my
week cheating, stealing and exploiting other people.
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| Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta around the time of the apparitions |
By our own strength none of us could ever be good
enough to reach heaven. No matter what we do, we will always be
sinners, but it is the death and resurrection of Jesus that makes it
possible for us to get to heaven, if that is what we choose. In one
sense heaven will always be just out of our reach, because of our own
sinfulness. But Jesus reaches down and lifts us up the rest of the
way. That is what the death and resurrection of Jesus means and that
is why we focus on it so much. Without his self-sacrifice we could
not get to heaven no matter how much we tried. So from that point of
view we need never be afraid of not being good enough, as it is God
himself who makes us good enough, through the death and resurrection
of Jesus. So long as we choose for God by the way we live from day to
day, then we have nothing to be afraid of. Jesus assures us of his
mercy, so long as we make the slightest effort to do the right thing.
Falling into sin is not a problem so long as we are prepared to get
up again and ask his mercy.
God has created us all to be with him in heaven.
That is what God wants for us and God will make that happen unless we
consciously and deliberately reject God by the way we live. God will
not force us to love him and if we reject God’s love then there is
nothing that God can do for us, because He has given us free will.
So going back to the question of whether we should
be afraid of hell or not. We should be aware that it is real and that
we could lose heaven if we reject God. At the same time we need never
be afraid that we will not be able to reach heaven, because it is God
himself who makes it possible. It is for us to continue to try and do
our best. The Lord is asking us for effort not perfection.
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