Talking about Hell

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NorthTexan88

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I have been reading on St. Faustina and St. Teresa of Avila an their visions of Hell. I was just wondering how often in your parishes do you ever hear about Hell? I wa going to make this into a poll but I cnt figure out how to do it frm the iPhone 🤷
 
I don’t hear about it from many priests, but the ones who are willing to talk about it definitely talk about it. And we should be!

One of the best things I’ve ever heard a priest say about spiritual warfare, etc. is that you “must know that you are engaging in spiritual battle with the devil every single day, or you will lose. You can’t fight against something you don’t even recognize as being there.”

We can’t pretend Hell doesn’t exist. We can’t sugar coat everything. We must acknowledge we are in the battle to defend ourselves. We’ve done it for years in our society, and it hasn’t gotten us very far.
 
Never, or rarely.

I wish my parish priests would cover it more.
 
The latest of Priests have avoided it in such a way that some people in my parish don’t even believe in Hell no more.

Don’t blame them though, blame the Devil for misleading them.
 
Immaculata90 said:
I don’t hear about it from many priests, but the ones who are willing to talk about it definitely talk about it. And we should be!

**One of the best things I’ve ever heard a priest say about spiritual warfare, etc. is that you “must know that you are engaging in spiritual battle with the devil every single day, or you will lose. You can’t fight against something you don’t even recognize as being there.” **
We can’t pretend Hell doesn’t exist. We can’t sugar coat everything. We must acknowledge we are in the battle to defend ourselves. We’ve done it for years in our society, and it hasn’t gotten us very far.
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Excellent advice, and quite relevant to me personally.

It is often quoted that the greatest thing the Devil has done is convince the world he does not exist.

Our Priests mention Hell often. Their focus is undoubtedly on saving souls and let’s face it, our souls need to be saved from something. I can’t see how Priests can try to save souls if they don’t mention the alternative, Hell.
 
My priest doesn’t talk about Hell as is Hell, but he never fails to remind us about Confession and that “we know not the day nor the hour of when we’ll die” or “remember, every day that goes by, is one day closer to your death” or if it’s more of a festive joyous feast day, he’ll remind us in a less gloomy way and say something like, “every hour that goes by, is another hour closer to eternity”.

I think he might be trying to tell us something…😉
 
ConstantineTG said:
Why?
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Because hell isn’t non-existent. It’s a very real thing, and every single one of us in the room has a very real possibility of going there. I would venture to say even that, sadly, more than likely, at least a few will probably go there.

People need to know that there are consequences for saying no to God.

It’s like priests don’t want to talk about hell because it’s a touchy subject.

Well, sin is real. So is hell. It’s not fluff.
 
DihydrogenOxide said:
Because hell isn’t non-existent. It’s a very real thing, and every single one of us in the room has a very real possibility of going there. I would venture to say even that, sadly, more than likely, at least a few will probably go there.

People need to know that there are consequences for saying no to God.

It’s like priests don’t want to talk about hell because it’s a touchy subject.

Well, sin is real. So is hell. It’s not fluff.
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Not that I’m saying we should deny its existence, but it seems people here want to dwell on it too much when people aren’t even properly instructed on what the right thing to do is.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Not that I’m saying we should deny its existence, but it seems people here want to dwell on it too much when people aren’t even properly instructed on what the right thing to do is.
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I agree. I’m not saying let’s be all about doom and gloom and preach about hell every day of the week.

There are other things of importance, substantive things, that should be taught as well.
It’s very important for people to understand sin and the consequences of sin. Hell is a dogma of the faith. It must be addressed. Most pastors want to bypass it.

Too many pastors want to preach on how the gospel relates to some movie, or sports, or maybe even some private revelation apparition of a saint.

Sadly, several in their flock may be making the trip to hell for all eternity. It’s very important, and of key importance for a priest to teach about hell.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Not that I’m saying we should deny its existence, but it seems people here want to dwell on it too much when people aren’t even properly instructed on what the right thing to do is.
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🤷 I think it’s equally valuable to preach about hell as it is to preach about heaven. Different people respond to different types of preaching.
 
YoungTradCath said:
🤷 I think it’s equally valuable to preach about hell as it is to preach about heaven. Different people respond to different types of preaching.
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In fact IIRC didn’t Jesus himself mention Hell a lot more often than Heaven in the gospels?
 
exoflare said:
In fact IIRC didn’t Jesus himself mention Hell a lot more often than Heaven in the gospels?
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I don’t think so (though that factoid is often quoted), though it’s not as simple a question to answer as it appears.

Jesus certainly uses the word ‘heaven’ far more often than ‘hell’, ‘Gehenna’, etc. But there are a few uses of ‘heaven’ which seem to just mean ‘the sky’ rather than referring to the spiritual heaven, and quite a few which do mean the spiritual heaven without specific reference to human souls going there (eg the phrase ‘my Father in heaven’). Also some ‘kingdom of heaven’ references may refer to the Church on earth as well as the Church triumphant, so how should those be counted?

Furthermore, there are parables which refer to heaven and hell without using the words (eg the wheat and the tares, the wise and foolish virgins) - but these usually refer to both so probably don’t affect which is mentioned more.
 
apfal said:
I don’t think so (though that factoid is often quoted), though it’s not as simple a question to answer as it appears.

Jesus certainly uses the word ‘heaven’ far more often than ‘hell’, ‘Gehenna’, etc. But there are a few uses of ‘heaven’ which seem to just mean ‘the sky’ rather than referring to the spiritual heaven, and quite a few which do mean the spiritual heaven without specific reference to human souls going there (eg the phrase ‘my Father in heaven’). Also some ‘kingdom of heaven’ references may refer to the Church on earth as well as the Church triumphant, so how should those be counted?

Furthermore, there are parables which refer to heaven and hell without using the words (eg the wheat and the tares, the wise and foolish virgins) - but these usually refer to both so probably don’t affect which is mentioned more.
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There’s plenty in the Bible about Hell, but more along the lines of parables.
 
Jesus talked about Hell more than ANYONE else in the Bible. Scott Hahn has estimated it as more than everywhere else combined. To not talk about Hell is to grossly, criminally, distort and change the teaching and identity of Jesus, God Incarnate.

Sure, I don’t like hell as much as the next guy. I also dislike that it is the wide, often traveled, easy rout. But, who are we to edit God? Who are we to redact the Lord? Who are we to re-write the Faith so it agrees with us?
 
Joseph_LaMothe said:
Jesus talked about Hell more than ANYONE else in the Bible. Scott Hahn has estimated it as more than everywhere else combined. To not talk about Hell is to grossly, criminally, distort and change the teaching and identity of Jesus, God Incarnate.

Sure, I don’t like hell as much as the next guy. I also dislike that it is the wide, often traveled, easy rout. But, who are we to edit God? Who are we to redact the Lord? Who are we to re-write the Faith so it agrees with us?
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I don’t mind not talking about hell as long as what is discussed is doctrinally sound.
 
ConstantineTG said:
I don’t mind not talking about hell as long as what is discussed is doctrinally sound.
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hehehe, Great point though. And I guess that not having a strong catechetical foundation can lead to an increase in error as a second argument in favour of talking about such things. Or, better yet, listening to what the Church teaches. Because, the other thing, is that Hell does not exist because God is evil. I think that a lot of fear about Hell is two fold: One I don’t want to go there and Two it makes God seem like a meanee. Hell exists because God loves too much to make us into autonomia and we have free will. The other thing is that people in hell are miserable, but their misery and nature is such that they would be even more miserable in heaven. “one drop of contrition would empty hell” as St. Catherine said. But, they have not that. God longs for each of us to be with us far more than we long to be in heaven. Think of a angst ridden teen having to sit through a wonderfully prepared family meal. They are unhappy. In their gross room eating a nasty pizza pocket they are also unhappy. They are less happy at the meal of the family. Strange, but true.
 
DihydrogenOxide said:
Of course. How is fire and brimstone, though not doctrinally sound, or is this what you’re trying to say?
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I just think Constantine is trying to say that he prefers to get to heaven by thinking about heaven, which is obviously perfectly fine. I wish I could be so positive. 🙂 However, I do think people need constant reminders about the other possibility.
 
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