- Feb 5, 2002
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Question: How can someone who makes it to heaven be happy knowing that a loved one is in hell?
— Barbara Allison, Charlottesville, Virginia
Answer: If a loved one is not in heaven, it is not as though God showed no mercy to them. He offered every necessary grace to be saved. And this fact fulfills mercy. As for justice, it is not simply about punishment. God’s justice is his fidelity to his promises. At the heart of his promise is his call — not his demand — to follow him. He knocks, he does not barge in (cf. Rv 3:20).
That some souls are not in heaven is because they preferred the darkness to the light of God’s truth. It is simply not true that everyone desires to go to heaven. This is because heaven is not a designer paradise on our own terms. Heaven is the fullness of God’s kingdom with all its truths and parameters. It is about what God loves and who God loves. It is about values and virtues, such as forgiveness, love of one’s enemies, chastity, the worship of God and a focus on him (not me and what I want).
But there are many who do not want some or all of the sorts of virtues and values just mentioned. They do not want to love their enemy, they want vengeance, not forgiveness, chastity is unwanted, and the worship of God is boring to many of them who often skip church services for just that reason. Such souls as these who have constituted themselves in a way that is averse to what heaven is, would not be happy in heaven. One of the saddest things about the souls in hell is that they would be more miserable in heaven. St. Thomas also teaches, “the damned will not repent of their sins directly, because consent in the malice of sin remains in them; but they will repent only indirectly, angry at the punishment inflicted on them for sin” (cf. Summa Theologica, Supplement, q 98, art. 2).
The saints in heaven surely know this and can rejoice in God’s justice and respect for the freedom of loved ones who sadly preferred the darkness to light.
Striking the breast
Continued below.
— Barbara Allison, Charlottesville, Virginia
Answer: If a loved one is not in heaven, it is not as though God showed no mercy to them. He offered every necessary grace to be saved. And this fact fulfills mercy. As for justice, it is not simply about punishment. God’s justice is his fidelity to his promises. At the heart of his promise is his call — not his demand — to follow him. He knocks, he does not barge in (cf. Rv 3:20).
That some souls are not in heaven is because they preferred the darkness to the light of God’s truth. It is simply not true that everyone desires to go to heaven. This is because heaven is not a designer paradise on our own terms. Heaven is the fullness of God’s kingdom with all its truths and parameters. It is about what God loves and who God loves. It is about values and virtues, such as forgiveness, love of one’s enemies, chastity, the worship of God and a focus on him (not me and what I want).
But there are many who do not want some or all of the sorts of virtues and values just mentioned. They do not want to love their enemy, they want vengeance, not forgiveness, chastity is unwanted, and the worship of God is boring to many of them who often skip church services for just that reason. Such souls as these who have constituted themselves in a way that is averse to what heaven is, would not be happy in heaven. One of the saddest things about the souls in hell is that they would be more miserable in heaven. St. Thomas also teaches, “the damned will not repent of their sins directly, because consent in the malice of sin remains in them; but they will repent only indirectly, angry at the punishment inflicted on them for sin” (cf. Summa Theologica, Supplement, q 98, art. 2).
The saints in heaven surely know this and can rejoice in God’s justice and respect for the freedom of loved ones who sadly preferred the darkness to light.
Striking the breast
Continued below.
Can I be happy in heaven without my loved ones?
A reader asks: “How can someone who makes it to heaven be happy knowing that a loved one is in hell?” Monsignor Charles Pope answers: “If a loved one is not in heaven, it is not as though God showed no mercy to them. He offered every necessary grace to be saved. And this fact fulfills mercy. As...
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