As a cradle Catholic, I am comfortable with the concept of purgatory. Hell, however, is difficult to accept. We sing Loving and Forgiving are You Oh Lord at Mass. We are told that God our Father is our perfect parent who loves us as we are. How could God send any of His children to hell?

Nancy in Springfield

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While I was in the permanent diaconate program, the classes could be challenging, and we would sometimes express our concern with the assignments. One day, a professor who had taught us several classes said, “You always start my classes with an A, and it’s up to you to lose it.” I immediately was able to relax and to learn what I could, confident that the professor was not intending to fail any of us. I don’t know how it affected any of my classmates. I hope they had the same response I did and were able to do the assigned reading, learning what they could and fulfilling the class requirements on time.

That is a simple yet concrete way to express how I see God. God created all of creation out of His perfect love. Everything that was created, the book of Genesis tells us, God proclaimed as “good.” In the spiritual realm, God created the angels, and they were created with the powers of reason and free will for eternity. The proper order of these powers is the desire to know, love, and serve God. Satan and many angels refused to worship God, so they were given a place without God called hell.

Still in Genesis we learn that Adam and Eve were also created by God with the powers of reason and free will for eternity. They failed to trust in God’s goodness when tempted by Satan and committed sin. Satan’s sole goal is to deprive our souls of God’s eternal goodness. So, Jesus came to live, die, and rise from the dead so that we might experience eternal life. He left us the Church to help us and lead us to eternity. We believe that hell exists for eternity and for those who refuse God. Pope Benedict put it this way, “Perhaps there are not so many who have destroyed themselves so completely, who are irreparable forever, who no longer have any element upon which the love of God can rest, who no longer have the slightest capacity to love within themselves. This would be hell.”

“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, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs” (CCC 1035).

We don’t know who is in hell, but remember, while God is always all loving and merciful, He also exhibits perfect justice. We all start out with an A. It is ours to lose. God desires us to be happy with Him for eternity, but He will not take away our powers of reason and free will. We must do our part to use our powers toward the eternity we desire. God wants all of us to choose Him and live a life of grace, love, and virtue, but if someone ends up in hell, it’s because of their own choice and not the action of God. So, live your life with this simple prayer on your heart, “Jesus, I trust in you!”

Father Bruce Scott is parochial vicar at St. Francis Solanus Parish in Quincy.