Is this person going to Hell?

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Erethorn

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I don’t know if the question fits the section; if not, a mod please move it to the apropriate section.

On with the question. I understand that missing Mass is a mortal sin. So here’s a situation:

A certain person leads a good life, believes in God, tries hard to do good things, to help others, to preach the Gospel. He reads the Bible, goes to church, goes to Confession, receives the Eucharist.

However, one particular Sunday he doesn’t feel like going to Mass. Perhaps he is just tired, perhaps he has had a nasty experience last Sunday, perhaps he decides to say some prayers instead.

The next day, he dies in an accident, without having confessed the sin of skipping Mass.

Is he going to Hell for all eternity ?
 
without even reading the post, only God knows.
Only God knows the condition of the man’s soul at the moment of death and the decision he made during his personal judgment when he came face to face with God and was granted full knowledge of what his choice would mean, for heaven in eternity with God, or hell for eternity without God. The CAtholic Church does not teach that you automatically go to hell if you die with mortal sin on your soul. There is a missing adjective: unrepented. And God gives each soul the chance to repent at the moment of death. It is taking a huge chance to approach God in this fashion, without his sanctifying grace, so dread mortal sin worse than you dread death itself.
 
Thank you for your answers.

However, I find that the CCC is quite clear on the matter:

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, “eternal fire.” The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

Also:

980 It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church:

Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers “a laborious kind of baptism.” This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn.
 
puzzleannie said:
without even reading the post, only God knows.
Only God knows the condition of the man’s soul at the moment of death and the decision he made during his personal judgment when he came face to face with God and was granted full knowledge of what his choice would mean, for heaven in eternity with God, or hell for eternity without God. The CAtholic Church does not teach that you automatically go to hell if you die with mortal sin on your soul. There is a missing adjective: unrepented. And God gives each soul the chance to repent at the moment of death. It is taking a huge chance to approach God in this fashion, without his sanctifying grace, so dread mortal sin worse than you dread death itself.
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I could not have said it any better. 👍
 
Erethorn said:
Thank you for your answers.

However, I find that the CCC is quite clear on the matter:

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, “eternal fire.” The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

Also:

980 It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church:

Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers “a laborious kind of baptism.” This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn.
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Why did you ask the question if you think that you already have the answer? :confused:
 
Cristiano said:
Why did you ask the question if you think that you already have the answer? :confused:
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I do not think I have the answer. I see something in the CCC and, as far as I am able to interpret it, it seems to point to a certain answer.

If this is not the correct answer, then I would like to understand how and where my interpretation is not ok.
 
The Church teaches that THREE conditions MUST ALL be met for something to be a mortal sin:

it must be serious matter

the person must know it is serious

the person must do it deliberately knowing it is serious matter.

The judge is Jesus.

He and He, alone, can and will read each person’s heart.

He will decide who will be admitted to Heaven and who will not. And who needs some time in purgatory to get the kinks worked out before moving on to Heaven.

One priest, speaking his own opinion, said that in purgatory, among other things, you stand on a high place and look out at your own life … and see the path God had planned for you … and the path that you actually took.

No outside person can make a determination as to whether someone will or will not go to Hell.

Only Jesus.

Suggestions: use confession frequently … pray a daily Rosary most people like it if you are nice to their mother … and Jesus is no exception. Make prayer a daily part of your life … pray constantly … even if not for a long time. Pray when you are driving. Pray when you are in a supermarket check out line. Pray when you fall asleep and when you wake up. Doesn’t need to be organized or formal.

For your own peace of mind, do a search using the search button at the top of the page for “scrupulosity” …

Offer prayers and Masses for your deceased friends. I worry a lot about deceased friends who died outside the Church. Maybe since God has no time … everything is in the present, maybe … maybe … if I appeal to Him, and all time is in the present, then maybe some of my prayers will benefit my friends. If a sinner gives up his life to save the life of someone else, will that supreme act of charity and love count? Only Jesus will decide what matters …

There used to be a talk radio station and one day during drive time the host, who was Jewish, by the way, was reading a quote from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: “When I get to heaven, there will be three surprises. First, that there will be people there who I NEVER expected in a million years to see there. Second, that there are people NOT there, who I figured for sure, would be there. And, third, that I am there.”

Give Jesus an excuse to rule in your favor.
 
Erethorn said:
I do not think I have the answer. I see something in the CCC and, as far as I am able to interpret it, it seems to point to a certain answer.

If this is not the correct answer, then I would like to understand how and where my interpretation is not ok.
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I apologize for being testy but I got the wrong impression from your post. What you quote from the Catechism is 100% correct, however, there are quite a few other things that must be considered and Puzzleannie gave you a good example (e.g. perfect contrition, already planning to go to confession etc.). Never underestimate God’s mercy.
 
Erethorn said:
I don’t know if the question fits the section; if not, a mod please move it to the apropriate section.

On with the question. I understand that missing Mass is a mortal sin. So here’s a situation:

A certain person leads a good life, believes in God, tries hard to do good things, to help others, to preach the Gospel. He reads the Bible, goes to church, goes to Confession, receives the Eucharist.

However, one particular Sunday he doesn’t feel like going to Mass. Perhaps he is just tired, perhaps he has had a nasty experience last Sunday, perhaps he decides to say some prayers instead.

The next day, he dies in an accident, without having confessed the sin of skipping Mass.

Is he going to Hell for all eternity ?
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No. Cheers.🙂
 
It seems to me that the crux of the matter is that we can’t know the condition of the person’s soul at the time of death. The catechism rightly states that if someone dies in mortal sin they will go to hell. However there are other ways the person could have had his sin forgiven before death. He could have made a perfect act of contrition and resolved to go to confession as soon as possible; or he could have repented at the time of death. T
 
Predicting who will go to hell and why is a very Protestant thing to do, at least among some Protestants. The Church does not say who is and who is not in hell or going to hell – ever. That’s solely within God’s purview. She informs us, warms us, about the sins that could result in hell. She does declare that certain people – the Saints – are in heaven.
 
Jim_Dandy said:
Predicting who will go to hell and why is a very Protestant thing to do, at least among some Protestants. The Church does not say who is in hell – ever. She does declare that certain people – the Saints – are in heaven.
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However, the Church makes it quite clear that the path is narrow and then there are choices that will lead individuals to hell. We do not know who will be in hell but we also should know quite well which choices are a guarantee for hell. Before I said to never underestimate God’s mercy, but we should never underestimate God’s justice either.
 
Cristiano said:
However, the Church makes it quite clear that the path is narrow and then there are choices that will lead individuals to hell. We do not know who will be in hell but we also should know quite well which choices are a guarantee for hell. Before I said to never underestimate God’s mercy, but we should never underestimate God’s justice either.
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Amen! But there may be extenuating circumstances that God alone knows, so there’s so “guarantee” of either heaven or hell.
 
Jim_Dandy said:
Amen! But there may be extenuating circumstances that God alone knows, so there’s so “guarantee” of either heaven or hell.
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The circumstances are about individuals and not about choices and behaviors. There is no guarantee of heaven because we can access it only by the gift of grace; however, there is guarantee of hell if we do choose so.
 
Life is a giant eternal gamble that God takes on us.

This poor soul had very bad timing in choosing when to sin; If only he had known death was as near as it was. That’s the risk you take with mortal sin.Mortal sin is so serious you are betting when you mortally sin that God is going to be REALLY merciful by giving you TIME and the GRACE or repentance, either of which he may choose to withhold.

When you commit the serious sin, it’s like playing a round of Russian roulette with endless torture in hell hitting you instead of a mere bullet.
 
What a bunch on this site. You know very well that the Church teaches that if you die in the state of mortal sin you go to hell. You also know that it is entirely possible that a person can commit a mortal sin by not going to Church on Sunday. There are no reasons for attending Mass, at least not very many. What is there about not going to Mass on Sunday that wouldn’t be a Mortal sin? I doubt if the person could claim ignorance that it is a grave matter not to go. How many Masses are said on Sunday, you can always go to a latter Mass if you didn’t get up in time, or you don’t feel well. So, own up to it, missing Mass is a Mortal Sin.

So, now you are coming along and saying that you can go to heaven if you died with a Mortal Sin and Jesus just felt like letting you in. I guess what bothers me is that there are people on this site that positively jump at the chance to say something is a mortal sin. The implication is that Mortal Sins make you go to hell. Then there are some people that come along and say Jesus will let you in anyway, maybe. Is it that nobody really wants to treat missing Mass as a Mortal Sin because too many people do it? Or because it doesn’t somehow have to do with sex?

Is there a Church teaching that I don’t know about that says there are Mortal Sins that don’t count?

I wish that Catholics everywhere would be a little more aware that they do not follow all the teachings of the Church all the time. Not necessarily because we don’t want to, just because we don’t know about them, or like the person that missed Mass, we make a mistake. But, from the point of view of the CCC and Canon Law we are sinners and if we don’t go to confession we go to Hell. Now you can believe that or not.

Personally, I go for what Jesus said about judging others. I also believe what PuzzleAnnie posted. So, if you are willing to say that you can miss Mass and still go to heaven how many other sins are you willing to throw out? Gosh, can a mass murder go to heaven? If so, I am not sure I want to live next door to him in heaven.
 
Erethorn said:
Thank you for your answers.

However, I find that the CCC is quite clear on the matter:
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The Church may be clear but that is for our own personal instruction and as a guide for those whom God has placed in a position of responsiblity for our spiritual wellbeing. It’s not a rule which was established for us to try to determine if other people are going to hell or not, not unless we are addressed as Father or Monsignor or “Your Excellency”.

95 percent of us can’t even stop from looking around out of curiosity or staring at the pretty ladies and guys who are walking back to their pews after receiving. Jesus is still on our tounge and we are already sinning. Then we get in our cars and cut each other off in the parking lot and complain that the stupid Church doesn’t have enough parking. And then when we get home, we come to the world’s largest Catholic website to publically discuss who is and who is not going to hell.

Ya know what…? I"m probably going to Hell. That’s what. At a minimum, Purgatory is gonna suck. And if I happen to make it into Heaven by the skin of my teeth, I’m gonna be like THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS… I’m not gonna be like, “Dang, I can’t believe Hugh Hefner made it!”

-Tim-
 
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