Are most people going to hell?

[Sir_Knight]

How far do you extend the “Act of Perfect Contrition?”

As far as it take. God does not need the sacrament of confession to forgive sins. If one is in perfect contrition, God CAN forgive that person.

Is it only when one is in imminent danger of death?

No. Anytime.

Does the sinner need to expunge his sins through Confession as soon as possible if he survives?

Yes. God doesn’t need the sacrament of confession but we do.

Are their other times an act of “Perfect Contrition” allows a soul “safe passage?”

I don’t understand the question. If we are in a state of perfect contrition, God will forgive us our sins but we are obligated to confess them as soon as possible because the sacrament of confession is the means by which God established for the forgiveness of our sins.

Again, God is not bound by the sacrament but we are.

 

[Contarini]

I have to disagree with this statement. If the souls in hell yearned for God, they would not be in hell. They are in hell precisely because they did not yearn for God, but rather for the things of this world.

One of the best explanations of hell I’ve ever heard was given at the one SSPX Mass I’ve attended (and before you guys jump on me for going to a schismatic Mass, remember that I’m a Protestant!). The preacher said that we are created for God by nature, but that the souls in hell have fixed their wills in opposition to God. So there is what he described as a “tearing” between the will and the nature–our nature indeed yearns for God, but our will has fixed itself in the opposite direction. And this, he said, is the agony of hell–an eternal conflict between our God-created nature and our perverted will, between what God made us to be and what we have made of ourselves. It really blew me away.

Ediwn

 

[johnstown_johnn]

I don’t deny that this may be true. But, love is a gift. By our nature we require loving God. Without loving God the ultimate result is hell. For some reason, I have difficulty understanding why God would sustain eternal punishment just for the sake of punishment. Perhaps it has to do with the gift of existence, that He has given us which is a gift He is does not Will to do away with. He wants us to be in existence even if we completely reject Him. Maybe this is a part of what Love is. Is Love to give completely even when it mean eternal sorrow for the gifted and eternal loss for the Giver. His ways are far above my ways and understanding.

Just thinking about what you just wrote about “difficulty understanding why God would sustain eternal punishment…”

Remember the Final Judgment (Apocalypse) where Jesus says to the wicked, {paraphrasing} …“depart from Me to eternal damnation that was PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS…”

To my sense of it that Hell was never the intent by God for man…Heaven instead was and is God’s only intention.

However, when damned souls embrace evil; live their lives loving evil then those souls have alined themselves with Satan and inherit Satan’s kingdom. Evil is incompatible with God and cannot co-exist in Heaven. The key is “unrepentance.”

Satan is NOT in Heaven…neither are those that follow him.

IT IS ABOUT CHOICE…it always is.

 

[Brooklyn]

How far do you extend the “Act of Perfect Contrition?”

Is it only when one is in imminent danger of death?

Does the sinner need to expunge his sins through Confession as soon as possible if he survives?

Are their other times an act of “Perfect Contrition” allows a soul “safe passage?”

The Catholic Encyclopedia defines Perfect Contrition as "**Catholic teaching distinguishes a twofold hatred of sin; one, perfect contrition, rises from the love of God Who has been grievously offended; the other, imperfect contrition, arises principally from some other motives, such as loss of heaven, fear of hell, the heinousness of sin, etc. **

It goes on to say, “Perfect contrition, with the desire of receiving the Sacrament of Penance, restores the sinner to grace at once. This is certainly the teaching of the Scholastic doctors”

A further quote: **Therefore he who has fallen into grievous sin must either make an act of perfect contrition or supplement the imperfect contrition by receiving the Sacrament of Penance; otherwise reconciliation with God is impossible. This obligation urges under pain of sin when there is danger of death. In danger of death, therefore, if a priest be not at hand to administer the sacrament, the sinner must make an effort to elicit an act of perfect contrition. The obligation of perfect contrition is also urgent whensoever one has to exercise some act for which a state of grace is necessary and the Sacrament of Penance is not accessible. **

The link for this is newadvent.org/cathen/04337a.htm

I hope that helps.

Mary

 

[johnstown_johnn]

The impact the above has on me is that living in a state of mortal sin is alarmingly risky to one’s eternal consequence.

If a person is killed suddenly (motor vehicle or some such) without even having the notion of penance …

 

[bilop]

The impact the above has on me is that living in a state of mortal sin is alarmingly risky to one’s eternal consequence.

If a person is killed suddenly (motor vehicle or some such) without even having the notion of penance …

This is very true. There are some revelations that say that God gives a last chance to repent before death (St. Faustina?), but we certainly can’t count on this.

God Bless

 

[johnstown_johnn]

This is very true. There are some revelations that say that God gives a last chance to repent before death (St. Faustina?), but we certainly can’t count on this.

God Bless

The revelation/promise of having that “last chance” to repent is attached to the First Fridays promise.

It is a concentrated effort to make these First Fridays and it proves to Heaven that you are sincere in desiring eternal life in Heaven.

In a similar way the Fiver First Saturdays has an embellished promise too.

If accomplished one will not spend more than a week in Purgatory…that soul will be called up on the First Saturday after his death.

There are so many avenues to reach Heaven and, like Hell, it is all about FREE WILL.

 

[Brooklyn]

The impact the above has on me is that living in a state of mortal sin is alarmingly risky to one’s eternal consequence.

If a person is killed suddenly (motor vehicle or some such) without even having the notion of penance …

Of course, as Catholics we know our salvation is not guaranteed. But if your heart is to be with our Lord, and you truly love him, you will always be in a state of penance. That is why it is so important to pray every day, to truly let him into your heart, as corny as that sounds.

I think I posted this before, but Christ did not come and die on a bloody cross so we could be damned, but so we could be saved. He has offered that to all of us. It is not something we should put off until tomorrow, because as you say, tomorrow may never come. And if we want that Perfect Act of Contrition, we have to get beyond being just afraid of going to hell. We have to obey our Creator because he is worthy of all of our obedience and love, just as the Act of Contrition says, and we have to hate our sins because they offend God who is all good and deserving of all our love, and not just because they will send us to hell.

Remember, a mortal sin is not just an act but a state of mind. Christ says if we abide in him, he will abide in us. That is something that I hang on to with all my might.

Mary

 

[Sir_Knight]

The revelation/promise of having that “last chance” to repent is attached to the First Fridays promise.

It is a concentrated effort to make these First Fridays and it proves to Heaven that you are sincere in desiring eternal life in Heaven.

In a similar way the Fiver First Saturdays has an embellished promise too.

If accomplished one will not spend more than a week in Purgatory…that soul will be called up on the First Saturday after his death.

There are so many avenues to reach Heaven and, like Hell, it is all about FREE WILL.

Nine first Friday masses … five first Saturday confessions … any others?

 

[johnstown_johnn]

Nine first Friday masses … five first Saturday confessions … any others?

I know of no other obligatory exercises that promise the guarantee of final restitution. So, if you complete the 10 First Fridays it would seem that even if you were involved in an accident resuting in your life slipping away you will have a priest on hand to here your contrition before you pass over the veil.

This is so great a show of His infinite mercy…it even tells us MORE of His kind nature. I would advise all who have not yet fulfilled the 10 First Fridays to start with next month…never know we all could drop out at the same time in this day.

Another bonus in keeping the 10 FF commitment is that it changes your life and the attitudes we carry within (the negative attitudes, that is).

 

[Julian_Peters]

Thank you to all who have participated. This thread is now closed.