Dear SHW,
If you refer to CCC# 633, I think you will have the answer to your question. Jesus refers to Sheol/Hades as the place where the righteous (prophets, holy men and women of the Old Testament) were waiting until Jesus opened Heaven for them in His Passion, Death and Resurrection. Until that time, all good souls, who died before Jesus, could not enter Heaven.
However the “great chasm” that is described in that parable refers to Gehenna, or to the hell of the damned, because in Luke 16:26, Abraham states Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.
God Bless!
To Jesus, through Mary
H Little Dove,
Thank you for the CCC clarification. I had heard it to be both Purgatory by some persons and Hell by others and I wanted to make sure that I had the correct interpretation of Luke 16:23 so that I do not mislead any one in future.
CCC #633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, “hell” - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.480 Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into “Abraham’s bosom”:481 "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell."482 Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.
Jesus stated, "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “
Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:22-24
Revelation 3:17-18 “
Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”
Luke 3:9-11 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” 11 He answered and said to them, “**He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
**
Luke 12:16-21 "Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
So the rich are required to use their bounty to help others instead of purchasing more things and better things for themselves. God has made them “stewards” of “wealth” in order for them to help others. Most rich persons fail this test of stewardship and that is why it is very difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a gift,
minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Pax,
SHW
