How hard is it to get to heaven?

[consumedconvert]

OK, here’s a newbie convert question. I asked it in the Apologist forum (as yet unanswered), but I’d like to see some of your answers as well.

Some of my Catholic friends talk about “hoping” they get to heaven as if they didn’t have much to do with it–as if they were saying “gosh, I hope the Cubs win the World Series…”

As a former once-saved-always-saved Baptist, this rather horrifies me. That, and people who talk about private revelations which talk about how few people get to heaven, is enough to make me very nervous. I can’t and don’t want to imagine any fate but heaven, albeit through purgatory.

So how hard is it to get to heaven? All that’s required is to die in a state of grace, correct? Than how hard can that be? Can a person try his best to live a clean, holy life and still be in mortal sin, unbeknownst to himself?

Is it presumption to actually plan on going to heaven, albeit through purgatory? I mean, I wouldn’t be caught dead in hell (horrible pun intended), and I certainly try my very hard to avoid mortal sin at all costs, and to avoid venial sin as well.

If it is that hard to get to heaven, then this seems an invitation to dispair (Ack! A mortal sin!) Help!

 

[blessedstar]

For us it is very hard, infact impossible, to get to heaven, for God it is very easy for us to get to heaven.

So we simply trust Jesus, we follow Him and do as He says and repent and stay with Him in His Church availing ourself of all of the Sacraments and ask for His mercy striving everyday to do our best to love Him and each other.

If we trust Jesus He will do everything and we respond embracing His grace.

In the Living Prayer of my life.

 

[cyberwolf001]

I’d say pick up a few devotions that have salvation as a benefit if you do them devoutly.

The following are ALL church approved.

The Two Divine Promises

Many of my Catholic friends HATE this one. Basically go to Mass for 30 days receiving communion worthily, say 1 Our Father and 1 Hail Mary for the welfare of the Church and you will have eternal salvation.
You might say it is the truest form of prayer evangelism.

Wear a brown scapular.

Pray the Rosary every day and promote it in every way you can.

Recite daily the chaplet of Divine Mercy.

An finally the practice of the Three Hail Marys practice which is as follows:

  * With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin above all angels and saints in Paradise, Daughter of the Eternal Father, and I consecrate to Thee my soul with all its faculties.

Hail Mary…*

   With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin above all angels and saints in Paradise, beloved Mother of the Son of God. I consecrate to Thee my body with all its senses.

Hail Mary…*

   With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin above all angels and saints in Paradise, beloved Spouse of the Holy Ghost, I consecrate to Thee my heart, with all its affections and beseech Thee to obtain for me from the Most Holy Trinity all the graces necessary for salvation.

Hail Mary…**

Those should help.

The trick according to St. Josemaria in preserve to the end is this.
Fall in Love with God. Then everything else is easy.

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

OK, here’s a newbie convert question. I asked it in the Apologist forum (as yet unanswered), but I’d like to see some of your answers as well.

Some of my Catholic friends talk about “hoping” they get to heaven as if they didn’t have much to do with it–as if they were saying “gosh, I hope the Cubs win the World Series…”

As a former once-saved-always-saved Baptist, this rather horrifies me. That, and people who talk about private revelations which talk about how few people get to heaven, is enough to make me very nervous. I can’t and don’t want to imagine any fate but heaven, albeit through purgatory.

So how hard is it to get to heaven? All that’s required is to die in a state of grace, correct? Than how hard can that be? Can a person try his best to live a clean, holy life and still be in mortal sin, unbeknownst to himself?

Is it presumption to actually plan on going to heaven, albeit through purgatory? I mean, I wouldn’t be caught dead in hell (horrible pun intended), and I certainly try my very hard to avoid mortal sin at all costs, and to avoid venial sin as well.

If it is that hard to get to heaven, then this seems an invitation to dispair (Ack! A mortal sin!) Help!

It is impossible to commit a mortal sin unknowingly - though, one can commit a mortal sin and later forget about it. But a good confession will cover all sins even those mortal sins you forget.

It is a sin (presumption) to take the attitude that I am definitely going to Heaven and even worse to think that God owes it to you or that you deserve Heaven. But it is a virtue to Hope for Heaven (CCC 1817 - 1821).

All that being said - the question is how hard is it to get to Heaven? The answer is that it is impossible for man - but with God all things are possible. That is why we absolutely need God and His grace.

 

[DrewC]

I am a very scrupulos person, some would say thats a bad thing but it helps me stay close to God and thats what matters most. Im not encouraging you to become scrupulos because it can drive you crazy sometimes but it helps me stay close to the Lord. My advice to you would be to live as holy life as you can and follow in the footsteps of Jesus and ask Him to look upon you with favor.

And remember often time when more graces are asked for, some type of cross sometimes comes with it, and they (the crosses we are to bear) can be offered of for reperation for sin.

Oh and before I forget the chaplet of Divine Mercy is a great prayer to pray to stay in union with Jesus.

God bless you,

 

[consumedconvert]

I’d say pick up a few devotions that have salvation as a benefit if you do them devoutly.

The following are ALL church approved.

The Two Divine Promises

Many of my Catholic friends HATE this one. Basically go to Mass for 30 days receiving communion worthily, say 1 Our Father and 1 Hail Mary for the welfare of the Church and you will have eternal salvation.
You might say it is the truest form of prayer evangelism.

Wear a brown scapular.

Pray the Rosary every day and promote it in every way you can.

Recite daily the chaplet of Divine Mercy.

An finally the practice of the Three Hail Marys practice which is as follows:

  * With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin above all angels and saints in Paradise, Daughter of the Eternal Father, and I consecrate to Thee my soul with all its faculties.

Hail Mary…*

   With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin above all angels and saints in Paradise, beloved Mother of the Son of God. I consecrate to Thee my body with all its senses.

Hail Mary…*

   With all my heart I praise Thee, Most Holy Virgin above all angels and saints in Paradise, beloved Spouse of the Holy Ghost, I consecrate to Thee my heart, with all its affections and beseech Thee to obtain for me from the Most Holy Trinity all the graces necessary for salvation.

Hail Mary…**

Those should help.

The trick according to St. Josemaria in preserve to the end is this.
Fall in Love with God. Then everything else is easy.

I must say, that’s a wonderful idea! It would really help to take part in promises entrusted to saints. Thank you for that very practical suggestion!

I am a very scrupulos person, some would say thats a bad thing but it helps me stay close to God and thats what matters most. Im not encouraging you to become scrupulos because it can drive you crazy sometimes but it helps me stay close to the Lord. My advice to you would be to live as holy life as you can and follow in the footsteps of Jesus and ask Him to look upon you with favor.

And remember often time when more graces are asked for, some type of cross sometimes comes with it, and they (the crosses we are to bear) can be offered of for reperation for sin.

Oh and before I forger, the chaplet of Divine Mercy is a great prayer to pray to stay in union with Jesus.

God bless you,

I believe I am pretty scrupulous, too. It’s something I’ve decided to talk to my priest about; for me, I think it translates into worries and “what ifs”, and by my own estimation I need to learn how to trust the grace of God.

You know, I must say, when I was in the latter process of conversion I was terrified by the idea of confessing all my darkest secrets to a priest. I still don’t like to do it–and I think that’s half the point, right?–but I love absolution. It helps to know that we’ve all been guilty, but we may all find forgiveness, if only we turn and ask for it!

 

[MarcoPolo]

That is a very subjective question “how hard”? But as some of the others have said, we must go to Christ to ease the effort.

Scripture says:*Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.*But also…*Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.*Sooo…if you learn Christ’s gentle and humble heart, He will help you carry your burdens. But compared to the first passage, few find this way, which although it involves sharing His suffering, is a light way especially compared to the eternity of hell if you go through the wide gate of destruction!

 

[Rebelecka]

If the question is “How hard is it to worthy of heaven?” I would say that it is impossible for man (woman). Here is where we must trust in, totally rely on, God’s Mercy. Not to take that mercy for granted but rather pray for His Mercy, act merciful to others, follow the teachings of the Church.

I think it’s too easy to just say “God is Merciful,” and be done right there. But I have heard that He requires us to be open to His Mercy and to respond to His Mercy. This is a life-long effort on our part. What struck me most about the Diary of St. Faustina is her amazing growth throughout the writing of it. Let’s face it, she started out a very good, devout Catholic. But she always grew in trust of the Lord. She slowly got rid of her faults or sublimated them into something pleasing to God. I think that’s what makes “getting into heaven” so difficult.:yup:

 

[water]

If God were only merciful without being a Just Judge, we all would be spoiled like …hmm…I have not word for it

– help fill in the blank.

 

[cyberwolf001]

I dunno but between these two threads I’m feeling physically sick from fear and worry.

I feel like I’m on the verge of a panic attack on me end… I’m trying to flip through my Bible and documents of the church on the subject of salvation but I’m not finding anything…

 

[consumedconvert]

See, that’s the temptation I’m sometimes faced with, despair. But we have recourse to Christ’s words, “fear not.” I think we need to keep in mind that we’re not heretics, we don’t try to actually earn our way to heaven–that is impossible. We must always rely on the grace of God. I can’t see Christ as a stern judge to those who truly seek Him and perservere to the end. That’s not our Christ.

 

[puzzleannie]

I dunno but between these two threads I’m feeling physically sick from fear and worry.

I feel like I’m on the verge of a panic attack on me end… I’m trying to flip through my Bible and documents of the church on the subject of salvation but I’m not finding anything…

please go to the CA homepage, click on the listing for Salvation on the left hand side, and read the articles. then if you have questons, come back here. for more discussion. if your panic attacks have a medical basis, seek medical help. if they result from a misunderstanding of actual church teaching, take steps to find out the actual teaching, which is pretty easy just by using the search function above. If the panic results from refusal to believe in Christ’s salvific act on our behalf, and to trust in God’s mercy, pray for help in accepting and believing and trusting.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I dunno but between these two threads I’m feeling physically sick from fear and worry.

I feel like I’m on the verge of a panic attack on me end… I’m trying to flip through my Bible and documents of the church on the subject of salvation but I’m not finding anything…

Or just read post #7. You can do that!

 

[Coreopisis]

OK, here’s a newbie convert question. I asked it in the Apologist forum (as yet unanswered), but I’d like to see some of your answers as well.

Some of my Catholic friends talk about “hoping” they get to heaven as if they didn’t have much to do with it–as if they were saying “gosh, I hope the Cubs win the World Series…”

As a former once-saved-always-saved Baptist, this rather horrifies me. That, and people who talk about private revelations which talk about how few people get to heaven, is enough to make me very nervous. I can’t and don’t want to imagine any fate but heaven, albeit through purgatory.

So how hard is it to get to heaven? All that’s required is to die in a state of grace, correct? Than how hard can that be? Can a person try his best to live a clean, holy life and still be in mortal sin, unbeknownst to himself?

Is it presumption to actually plan on going to heaven, albeit through purgatory? I mean, I wouldn’t be caught dead in hell (horrible pun intended), and I certainly try my very hard to avoid mortal sin at all costs, and to avoid venial sin as well.

If it is that hard to get to heaven, then this seems an invitation to dispair (Ack! A mortal sin!) Help!

Well first of all I would like to welcome you to the Catholic faith. Be prepared for lots of questions and lots of mystery.

As for getting to heaven this is a tough question. Essentially it is not one-size-fits-all. There is no formula that will get you to heaven.

I’ve asked this question of a few people and got some answers that might help you as they helped me.

My Grandma said that there are Priests that might not make it to heaven and there are non-religious persons who will. If a Priest lies, he knows it is a sin and therefore it is worse for him to lie than it is for someone who didn’t know the difference.

My brother died last year of a drug overdose and was not leading a holy life. I was completely worried about his soul and I talked to the Priest attending his funeral about it. The Priest told me that only God knows where his heart was at the time of death. He could’ve been a horrible sinner his whole life but at the moment of death he could’ve repented and God could’ve forgiven him.

We are also taught that arrogance or flaunting of your faith or your self proclaimed holiness completely nullifies the good deeds you’ve done because it says somewhere in the bible that if you do flaunt it you’ve already recieved your reward. But those who do not flaunt their praying recieve their reward in heaven. With that being said you can’t look around you and pick out who is obviously going to heaven or who is obviously holy.

I think in the end, only God knows the answer to this question. He is fair. It depends on what you know, what you did, if you repented, and what was in your heart. No one can tell which of us is going and which of us isn’t.

We should pray for our salvation and even if we know we are going to heaven we need to keep praying for everyone else so that they can join us.

Does that help at all?