Can one be too far gone?

[Sebrina]

When it comes to procrastination, join the club. I’m an expert.

I’ve also been meaning to join the procrastinator’s club, but I keep putting it off.

 

[R_C]

my father …] apologised …] I think he’s in hell. …] The departing scream was one of absolute fear and terror.

To apologize means repentance, and a damned soul is simply unable to repent. There is always hope, always.

CCC 1864 There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.

As for the impression of fear, it may very well have been inspired by purgatory. Somehow we carry this erroneous idea that purgatory is sort of a nice place, just a bit short of heaven, where we have to wait. Even if we consider the purification, we still don’t think is too bad - surely not as bad as hell, we say.

It is not so.

St. Catherine of Genova, one of many saints who were shown purgatory, said:

No tongue can express, nor any mind form any idea of what Purgatory really is. As to the suffering, it is equal to that of hell.

Purgatory has all the pains of hell, except one: the eternal separation from God.

A clear example of how painful purgatory is comes from the private revelation to ven. Stanislaus Chocosca, O.P. On one occasion, a soul was allowed to ask for his prayers. Not entirely sure of the severity of the state of purgatory, the holy religious said:

“I wish to have a proof. If God will permit, for your relief, and for the good of my soul, I consent to suffer a part of your pains.”

“Alas! you could not do this,” she replied, “no human could suffer such torment and live. However, God will permit you to feel it in a light degree. Stretch forth your hand.”

Stanislaus put out his hand to her. The girl then let fall a single drop of sweat. The moment the sweat touched his hand he let out a great cry of pain and crumbled to the floor in a faint.

After that day, Stanislaus had to stay in his bed. He suffered the most terrible torments from the wound. He lived for one more year in this condition and then peacefully died in Our Lord.

So, in terms of pain, we should fear purgatory just as much as hell. But back to the original point: a sign of repentance is a wonderful sign of hope! God’s mercy is infinite. From your words, I’d say he is in great need of prayer and of Holy Mass of suffrage. Prayers never go lost. They always benefit poor souls. And the soul that prays, as well.

Thank you for sharing, will keep your story in my heart.

 

[DAML72]

Nope. Not at all. I’m 40, and I was just a little younger than you when I realized I felt absolutely nothing spiritually. I had an infant, so wanted to have her baptized. Eventually, through attending church and praying, I got back a little. Then my husband left. It’s been 7 years of a faith journey - ups and downs, lots of new age spirituality, etc. Then I took an inventory of my life and saw how much I had suffered and sinned and how much my heart had been hardened by all I went through, and I started praying for guidance and started ‘cleaning house’ so to speak. Nine months later, I have discovered an intimate relationship with the Lord and he is leading me to the Catholic church. He works in very mysterious ways. My suggestion would be just to pray, read a little scripture, get a book that speaks to you - one or all three. If you believe, He will speak to you. It’s a life-long journey!

 

[Bob_Crowley]

To apologize means repentance, and a damned soul is simply unable to repent. There is always hope, always.

As for the impression of fear, it may very well have been inspired by purgatory. Somehow we carry this erroneous idea that purgatory is sort of a nice place, just a bit short of heaven, where we have to wait. Even if we consider the purification, we still don’t think is too bad - surely not as bad as hell, we say.

It is not so.

St. Catherine of Genova, one of many saints who were shown purgatory, said:

Purgatory has all the pains of hell, except one: the eternal separation from God.

A clear example of how painful purgatory is comes from the private revelation to ven. Stanislaus Chocosca, O.P. On one occasion, a soul was allowed to ask for his prayers. Not entirely sure of the severity of the state of purgatory, the holy religious said:

So, in terms of pain, we should fear purgatory just as much as hell. But back to the original point: a sign of repentance is a wonderful sign of hope! God’s mercy is infinite. From your words, I’d say he is in great need of prayer and of Holy Mass of suffrage. Prayers never go lost. They always benefit poor souls. And the soul that prays, as well.

Thank you for sharing, will keep your story in my heart.

Thanks for your thoughts, but I’ve been through this before. He’d just died. If I’d had the presence of mind to note the time, I’d have been able to give a very accurate time of death. He hadn’t yet gone to hell.

For much of the time he was looking over my head at something behind me, with an expression of awe. At other times he was hiding his face behind his hands, as though he couldn’t bear to see what he was looking at. I personally think he was alternating betweeen looking at a heavenly vision, and then seeing some of his past actions in the light of that vision.

The scream came at the end, and he was clearly terrified of something coming for him. He even said during the proceedings at one stage, “There’s no hope for me …” along with a few other things that made it clear he was in big trouble.

If he went to purgatory and ultimately heaven, then you may as well chuck the Catholic Catechism out the window. He died unrepentant, in mortal sin, with a foul temper he hadn’t bothered to do anything to control, having deliberately wrecked the good little family God gave him, and had been brought up in the Catholic Church, and knew the consequences.

He was only “remorseful” because he could now see, in his own words, that “(he) can’t believe how cruel and stupid I’ve been!”

To be honest with you, I’m inclined to agree with my old pastor’s comment “I think Catholics tend to soft-pedal judgment. I think they do anyway.”

 

[R_C]

Thank you for your kind reply.

However, God’s mercy is beyond our understanding. Even though this idea, this hope, may as well appear as nonsense to you, remember that “God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom”.

I am not saying he was saved, nor you can say that he wasn’t, because it is not up to us to know this. If God allowed his soul to visit you, is for excellent reasons. Perhaps, to give him one last opportunity to do a good work for the greater glory of God and for the good of your soul.

I don’t know about Catholics soft-pedaling judgment. I only know that God’s love is so incredibly great that it can take the worst tragedy and the greatest darkness, only to turn it into the brightest light. The sorrowful passion and death of Christ is evidence of this.

So again, my advice is that prayer is never wasted. If by the Lord’s ineffable mercy his soul was saved from eternal separation from God, then he desperately needs your prayers; if on the other hand that is not the case, then other poor souls in purgatory will benefit from your prayers (as the Lord clearly told St. Maria Faustina Kowalska).

I see a lot of resentment in your feelings. It is both understandable and justifiable. However, remember that it is the will of our beloved Jesus to love even our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He did it before us, asking the Father to forgive those who had just scourged Him, crowned Him with thorns, and nailed Him to a cross. He does not ask for anything He has not done, and He has done it while experiencing greater pains and sorrows than we ever will. Beyond the physical pain, consider that it was his children who were putting Him to death. Yet, He forgave, even when He felt abandoned by all…even by his Father!

The path to forgiveness is hard, but the benefits for our soul are truly great. It’s a path worth walking. You can count on my prayers.

 

[daisybee]

No, you are NOT too far gone. Find someone you can talk with about this, perhaps a Catholic friend or family member you respect. Or make an appointment with a priest at a local parish. If you are thinking about this, it could be very helpful to find a group of supportive parishioners whom you could get to know…perhaps through a Bible study or faith-sharing group.

You may also enjoy spiritual reading, using books from sites such as Ignatius Press ignatius.com/ or Sophia Institute Press sophiainstitute.com/

No, it’s never too late to pursue holiness! Last weekend I came across this passage from the meditation booklet My Daily Life, by Anthony J. Paone, S.J., which you may appreciate.

From My Daily Life:
God does not expect the impossible from any man. He asks only that each individual do what he honestly can to live in accordance with the principles of truth, justice, and personal honesty with himself. Where human powers fail, God will somehow supply further supernatural assistance.

To those who feel that it is too late to begin again, Jesus presents His personal example. He accepted the last-hour petition of the dying thief on the cross (Luke 23:43) To those who think that a new commitment to Christ would require too much “catching up,” Christ presents his parable of the workers in the vineyard. (Matt 20:1-16) The person who feels that he has sinned too much to change his ways might do well to reflect on Christ’s visit to the home of Zacchaeus the tax collector. (Luke 19:1-10) The divine understanding and personal love of Jesus toward sinners defies all description in the Gospel account of the woman taken in sin. (John 8:3-11

 

[Lady_Love]

Come back to Me with all your heart
Don’t let fear keep us apart

Long have I waited for your coming home to Me and living
deeply our NEW life. -Hosea