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Rubee
Guest
I will be honest about my intentions to commit for life to whomever I marry and to love them with my whole being. “Their job is to keep you from being lonely”…It’ll be my job to be their companion too. Is that not a given? Why would they expect to marry me and not be my companion?
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ConfusedLucy
Guest
I feel for you. I really wish it wasn’t a case of being married or being lonely for most people but it seems society has evolved like that.
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Lee1
Guest
That’s very true. When communities were smaller I think people must have relied on each other a lot more for everyday things and they had personal relationships with far more people. In a village for example you would actually interact with makers of goods, artisans and possibly farmers, woodsmen etc. There was a need for social cohesion too. It may have actually been difficult to be alone for long.
In these modern times there is a dissolution of responsibility too due to the sheer size of the communities we live in. I have often found that on country walks people usually say something in passing, a simple greeting, in towns and cities that doesn’t happen so much.
Of course I’m not talking about intimate relationships, just generalising.
In these modern times there is a dissolution of responsibility too due to the sheer size of the communities we live in. I have often found that on country walks people usually say something in passing, a simple greeting, in towns and cities that doesn’t happen so much.
Of course I’m not talking about intimate relationships, just generalising.
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Rubee
Guest
You’re right on the money. Modernity is a bastion of loneliness. Even marriages are difficult because there’s so little support for raising children.
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Lee1
Guest
It may be possible to still find small pockets in the UK where you can live less anonymously and become part of a small caring community.
I saw a tv program a while ago about Sark I think where they lived in a simpler way relying on each other day to day. My only criticism of some of the islands is that they seem to lack woodland which I like. There is also a premium to be paid on a lot of goods if they have to be imported from the mainland. Tempting though.
Also I’m not sure if you’d find a Catholic Church!
I saw a tv program a while ago about Sark I think where they lived in a simpler way relying on each other day to day. My only criticism of some of the islands is that they seem to lack woodland which I like. There is also a premium to be paid on a lot of goods if they have to be imported from the mainland. Tempting though.
Also I’m not sure if you’d find a Catholic Church!
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Tis_Bearself
Patron
We don’t know if Hell is empty or not. If one believes the approved Marian apparitions at Fatima where Mary showed Hell to the children, it would seem that there are souls in Hell, so it’s not empty. But one is not required to believe Marian apparitions even when approved, so the Church does not definitively say and we cannot know for sure.
With respect to suicides, only God knows their mental state at the time of the act, and for all we know they may have been mentally ill/ mentally stressed so they could not form an intent for mortal sin, and/or they may have repented at the last moment when it was too late to save themselves. We pray for their souls and trust in God’s mercy that he will save them from Hell if at all possible.
With respect to suicides, only God knows their mental state at the time of the act, and for all we know they may have been mentally ill/ mentally stressed so they could not form an intent for mortal sin, and/or they may have repented at the last moment when it was too late to save themselves. We pray for their souls and trust in God’s mercy that he will save them from Hell if at all possible.
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Learner1969
Guest
Does the Catholic Church teach that Hell means separated from God, some prison chaplain taught me that but I do not know what to make of it
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Tis_Bearself
Patron
Yes, that is the definition of Hell. Separation from God for eternity is the worst punishment ever, according to the teaching.
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Annie
Guest
The Church definitively says that there are people in Hell; the Church does not teach that any particular person is in Hell.We don’t know if Hell is empty or not. If one believes the approved Marian apparitions at Fatima where Mary showed Hell to the children, it would seem that there are souls in Hell, so it’s not empty. But one is not required to believe Marian apparitions even when approved, so the Church does not definitively say and we cannot know for sure.
Remember that one’s destination is based on one’s condition at the moment of death. While we emphasize that we should not call people bad or evil (only acts) because people can always change, sometimes people do not change in time to avoid Hell.
And those people are in Hell.
The Church always teaches us to pray for the souls of the dead and puts no prohibition on that. We can pray for the souls of people who did really bad things, non-Catholics and non-Christians, etc.; the Church has never so much as discouraged people praying for anyone or any group.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
Can you please cite a source for the Church saying that there are definitively people in Hell?
CCC 1035 states that hell exists and describes how souls would go there. It is silent on how many souls have already gone there and are in Hell, as again we have absolutely no way of knowing for sure who if anyone goes to Hell, since private revelations even if approved are not part of the deposit of faith.
CCC 1035 states that hell exists and describes how souls would go there. It is silent on how many souls have already gone there and are in Hell, as again we have absolutely no way of knowing for sure who if anyone goes to Hell, since private revelations even if approved are not part of the deposit of faith.
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Rubee
Guest
Right. I’m p sure the Church does not teach that because our beloved Pope Benedict XVI and I believe also St. JPII speculated on the possibility of an empty hell (speaking of humans, not demons). They would not have done so if it was definitively taught that there were people there.
Pope Benedict theorized further on an equivalent of “original sin” in the name of “original grace” or something like that, saying something like: If we could fall by the act of one man (without individual consent, all of us being born without grace since Adam) it’s possible that Jesus may have done something like an original grace that sort of benefitted people the same way, but it was speculative. My point is, I don’t see them theorizing such things if the Church has taught there are definitely some humans in Hell.
Pope Benedict theorized further on an equivalent of “original sin” in the name of “original grace” or something like that, saying something like: If we could fall by the act of one man (without individual consent, all of us being born without grace since Adam) it’s possible that Jesus may have done something like an original grace that sort of benefitted people the same way, but it was speculative. My point is, I don’t see them theorizing such things if the Church has taught there are definitely some humans in Hell.
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Annie
Guest
Yes the Church does not declare that any particular person is in Hell, but Christ Himself, Who would know, said “Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat.”
It’s like looking at a place and saying, I don’t know who is there, or how many are there, but I can see that there are people there.
No one would reply to that, If you can’t tell me who and how many are there, then perhaps there is no one there, nor declare that because I do not know that information, that I do not teach that no one is there.
It’s like looking at a place and saying, I don’t know who is there, or how many are there, but I can see that there are people there.
No one would reply to that, If you can’t tell me who and how many are there, then perhaps there is no one there, nor declare that because I do not know that information, that I do not teach that no one is there.
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Servant31
Guest
Just FYI I’ve heard from a reliable source (can’t think of it at the moment) that if you pray for that person it’s possible the prayers can be used at the hour of their death. If your concerned about his salvation a Divine Mercy Chaplet could be really great here.
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thebible
Guest
Hell isn’t empty. Hell has the people who rejected the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Do victims of suicide go there? If the person who committed suicide accepted the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ then no… If the person who committed suicide rejected the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ then yes.
Accepting the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.
Accepting the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.
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