On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
How do we know there’s really a heaven or hell? What do they look like?
We believe in heaven because Jesus promised that the Father has prepared a special place for us. We believe in heaven because God loves us so much that he sent his son to redeem us and show us how to live the way the Father desires. God wants us with him always.
A priest in my parish once likened people trying to imagine what heaven is like in the same way that a child in utero might try to
imagine what life outside the mother’s womb is like. It’s just impossible for us to grasp. The Catechism puts it this way: “Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.”
Hell is permanent separation from God. Can you think of anything worse? Think about those times in your life that have been the hardest: the loss of a loved one. An addiction problem. A seemingly simple lie or omission that led to a web of deceit and dishonesty. Betrayal by someone you trusted, a hurt so deep that it rocked your ability to trust and love. Where did you look for help? Counseling? Group therapy? Talking it out with friends? Those are all good resources for learning coping mechanisms. As Christians, we have the ultimate weapon for those times and for every day: our faith. In our darkest hours, even as we argue with God or are angry with him for not providing the relief we believe we need and deserve, faith may be the only thing that gets us through.
God is always there with us, even when we push him away. He is patient and he is optimistic. However, if we spend our lifetime here rejecting God and working against him, why would we think we would have a place in his kingdom after this world?
Does hell have devils dancing around with pitchforks, or flames shooting high and people screaming and writhing in pain? Who knows? But as a person considering a return to the Church, think about the agony you felt during life’s crises when you weren’t connected to a faith community. Do you really want that for eternity?
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