The Ascension of the Lord (Gospel: Mark 16:15-20) Death, judgement, heaven and hell.

 

With the age we live in, we have more and more scientific knowledge, which is a wonderful thing; more understanding about our universe and how it evolved. But what often seems to accompany more advanced knowledge, is skepticism about religious, or supernatural things. The Lord knows this is difficult for us, which is why He continually gives us all kinds of signs to help us to believe.

 

The feast of the ascension addresses the question of life after death. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostles and others, many times, to convince them of the reality of what had happened. Then He deliberately allowed the Apostles to see him ascend to heaven, to help them to believe in the reality of heaven, but what He said to them before He ascended is also important. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Tell people what? That God is real, that our life has a purpose, that heaven and hell are real, that our actions have eternal consequences, that we can only go to heaven because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. People need to know this so that they will have an understanding of what their life is about. And He also said this: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Whoever does not believe will be condemned.” In other words, there is a choice and we can also lose heaven if we reject God.

 

This past week we celebrated the anniversary of the events of Fatima, where Our Lady appeared six times to three young children: Lucia (10), Franciso (9) and Jacinta (7). One of the things that Our Lady showed the three young children was a terrifying vision of hell. Visions of heaven and hell have also been shown to many other saints and visionaries. You might wonder why Our Lady would show these children such a dreadful thing. Because it is reality. You don’t hide dangers from your children. You allow them to see the dangers and you teach them about the dangers, so that they can avoid them.

 

Fatima, Portugal, where Our Lady appeared to three children in 1917

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? That is not what Jesus taught.

‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and only a few find it’ (Matt 7:13-14).

 

And in Matthew 25: 31-46, Jesus uses the parable of the sheep and the goats, who are divided on judgement day. ‘Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to me… Whatever you did not do for the least of these brothers of mine, you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment and the righteous to eternal life.’ Jesus is telling us that there is a choice and there is a judgement. The way we choose to live in this life has eternal consequences and we must take them seriously. Our time on earth is not a time about trying to find total fulfilment and pleasure for ourselves, it is a time of love and service to God. If our live is focused only on trying to make ourselves as comfortable and fulfilled as possible, then we will miss the point of our life. When we die will come before God with empty hands. By serving God, we will find fulfillment, but that is our primary role, not our secondary role.

 

I have no doubt that one of the reasons why Our Lady showed the children this vision—and it has happened in many 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.

 

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 to be left with the opposite, which is hell. We believe from what Jesus has taught us, that heaven is total fulfillment in God, light, beauty, happiness, peace, joy, the love of God and those who have gone before us. We will never be in want of anything again, totally fulfilled in every way. Since we have never experienced this, it is hard for us to grasp that such a place could exist. To lose that, or reject that, would mean to be left with 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 us that hell is 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.

 

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. We have an instinctive understanding of what is good and what is evil, through our conscience.

 

Just because we do go to church doesn’t mean that we are guaranteed to go to heaven either. It depends completely on how we live from day to day. I have two good friends who are in the Poor Clares convent 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? Of course there is! 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 for us, which helps us to be faithful to the path that leads to God as we have already 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. Jesus says, ‘It is not those who say, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven’ (Matt 7:21).

 

Should we be afraid? No, but we should be realistic. We have a healthy respect for fire, because it is dangerous, but we need not be afraid of it if we are wise and be careful to avoid it. It is the same for how we live. God gives us every possible help we could ask for and assures us of his mercy if we are sincere and repent when we fall into sin. But it would also be a mistake to presume on God’s mercy. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter. God will forgive everyone in the end.’ That is not Jesus’ teaching. God will not be mocked.

 

God offers us a wonderful life, if we listen to how we are meant to live it. The world tells us to do everything to find personal fulfillment and comfort. The Lord tells us to stay focused on him and serve the people around us. Our complete happiness and fulfillment is in the world to come. If we understand just that much, it can help us to live quite differently.

 

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. We do our best to stay focused on God, to live by his commandments and to repent when we sin. That is enough.

 

And the angels said: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking into the sky. This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, will return in the same way you have seen him going into heaven.”