What will send me to hell?

[St_Benedict]

The story is told of a wise man who met three pilgrims on the road. The first was pale and withered and cringing with fear. The wise man asked him, “Why are you in such a frightful state?” Haltingly, the man answered: “All that I have ever done wrong haunts me. I fear the consequences of all the evil I have done knowingly or unknowingly. I am afraid that I will suffer the eternal punishment of naraka, what men call hell.” The wise man spoke to him, saying: “It is sad and distressing that you do not turn your heart and thoughts to God, who alone is the source of all wisdom. Instead, you live in continual fear of hell. So your pilgrimage is not genuine. You are trying to offer your pilgrimage as a bribe to God, so that you will not be punished for your sins. You will never find peace along this path.”

The second pilgrim was consumed with worries and doubts. The wise man asked him, “Why do you seem so sad and worried?” The pilgrim answered, “I desperately want to find the bliss and peace of the heavenly realm, but I fear I will not find it.” The wise man rebuked him sharply, saying: “It is shameful that you fail to think of God’s creative power and love. This alone should fill your heart with great awe and thankfulness. Instead, you are consumed by your own desire for peace and joy. You only pray in order to gain fulfillment of your own selfish desires. Such prayer is worthless and will never lead you to peace.”

Afterward, the wise man turned to the third pilgrim who radiated joy and contentment. “Friend,” he asked, “what is the secret of your joy and peace?” The pilgrim answered: “My heart is filled with joy, and I am filled with thankfulness to God who has opened the way for me to know his presence and find unity with him. May he open my heart more and more so that I can love and serve him with heart and soul and strength and so that I can worship him for love alone.”

bruderhof.com/e-books/WisdomSadhu.htm

 

[Other_Eric]

Though there are many ways of ensuring one’s own damnation, they all boil down to the following six errors:

1. 
   *]Presumption of God’s mercy.
   *]Despair.
   *]Impugning the known truth.
   *]Envy at another’s spiritual good.
   *]Obstinacy in sin.
   *]Final impenitence.

 

[Trelow]

Other Eric:

Though there are many ways of ensuring one’s own damnation, they all boil down to the following six errors:

1. 
   *]Presumption of God’s mercy.
   *]Despair.
   *]Impugning the known truth.
   *]Envy at another’s spiritual good.
   *]Obstinacy in sin.
   *]Final impenitence.

1. 
   Witch can be further distilled to: Pride.

 

[Bishopite]

[Magicsilence]Is it ONLY unrepented mortal sin?

Yes, if it were deliberately disobeying God and with full knowledge and consent and of grave matter it would be mortal. But we have the beauty of the sacrament of confession which restores that relationship with Jesus, and then we again restore sanctifying grace in us which is what we need to get to heaven. So if you think you’ve committed a mortal sin, then get to confession asap.

Or is not praying enough?

No, the first and most important commandment is love your God with all your heart. God made us within time and we can only “do” so much and still keep our sanity; He knows that. The second commandment, love others as God loves you doesn’t require us to perpetually pray in the formal sense or spend all of our time in prayer; Jesus didn’t even do that. When we do acts of charity toward our children or others we are praying with our bodies if we intend and will to. It sounds like you are stressing and obsessing about trying to do to much, slow down relax. Prayer isn’t mechanical, neither is the sacrament of marriage. Families have needs, children with diapers needing changing serving our families as Mary and Joseph did with our actions become prayers if we intend for them to be so. Ask God to help you pray in your actions. It’s not that we can’t do anything but that we can’t do everything, we need to constantly rely on Him.

Or playing cards when I could be praying, is that a mortal sin?

Nope, but praying would be more charitable, however, God knows your mind, He made it, so take time to play cards, but at the same time don’t forget to pray formally and as a family and pray to God to give you a heart to pray more

Gah, this is confusing.

Don’t stress. God doesn’t expect you to do more than you can handle. He’s there for you. Start slow, say one hail Mary a day and one Our Father, for a time. If you forget then start over, God is there for you, He wants you to serve your family, help your husband and know His love. Pray when you have time, say little prayers and do little acts of charity to others.

It is said that God condemns no one to hell, but we choose it by sinning. Im just having trouble seeing ( lets take for example ) a mum of 5 bringing up five kids for her whole life, making them outstanding Catholics, never sinning, making her husband extremely happy, donating to the Church, spending all free time in prayer, and then, on the day of her death, she is so tired from life (but still healthy) that she decides to miss mass just once, and then, WHAM, eternal fire.

Right,God doesn’t condemn us to hell, we freely choose to avoid heaven with Him. Never sinning? Rom 3:23 says we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. He is there for us to help us, that’s why we have priests who can listen to our confessions and give us absolution, restoring our hearts and souls with sanctifying grace.
I don’t know the context of why this mom missed Mass, however, again it’s NOT what WE DO that enables us to have eternal life, but what Christ did for us and if we LOVE and obey Him. The scenario you describe in missing Mass is possible for it to be mortal, however, we have the sacrament of confession. We must repent, go to confession and restore our relationship with Christ back to one of sanctifying grace. If we decide to turn out backs on God then He can’t make us stay, it is our free choice. Please, don’t be to proud to repent, confess and restore you relationship with Christ. Our souls are the most important part of our life, since it determines whether we spend enterity with God in a joyous heaven or without Him in hell.

It does seem a tad unfair.

Well, not really. Think of Lots wife. God explicitly commanded him and his wife NOT to look back upon Sodom and Ghamorah, yet she chose to disobey at the last hour it seems. God didn’t make her choose she freely willed it. God gives us grace to us when we cooperate with Him.

Don’t give in to the devils tricks. God loves you, Jesus died for you and wants the best for you but you have to will it also. Go and talk to a priest, or someone who is a good Catholic who can help you with your sorrows. I’ll say a prayer for you.

 

[Bishopite]

Paris Blues:

If you’re someone who has attention deficit disorder (like you guessed, me), watch out because your brain is going in every direction and that can REALLY effect the way you think and if you’re scrupulous or not! I know I am scrupulous and I haven’t even gone to my first Confession yet!

I swear, having a mental disorder causes more damage to you than a tornado that touches down in a big city!

Some people do have ADD, other deficit disorder’s and others have very sensitive consciences which makes them over react to sin. I don’t have ADD nor anything like that but my conscience used to be over reactive. I learned that many converts get this at first, before they know what mortal sin really entails. When I first converted I used to think everything was a mortal sin, but thank God for good orthodox priests who explained to me what was grave and what wasn’t. After around two to three years I settled down and now have a good grasp on what is grave, although I still frequent confession.

 

[TTM]

Well, to reduce the chance of going to Hell, please obtain and wear the Brown Scapuar (you can find various apostolates who will send you one for free, like this one. It is one of the greatest sacramentals the Church has, and Our Lady has attached an unprecedented blessing attached to it in that, “whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire” - given that it is worn virtuously.

Given what Jesus (in the Scriptures), Mary (at Fatima) and the Saints have said (throughout history) with regards to the innumerable souls who choose Hell, it would be wise to humble oneself and accept all the help that Heaven gives us. Thank God for Mother Mary!

Mary, our Mother, is our powerful advocate, being the Mother of God, the New Arc of the Covenant, and the Queen of Heaven. Please spread devotion to the rosary and the brown scapular for the sake of salvation of souls, for Mary said, “Through the Rosary and Scapular I will save the world.”

God bless you all!
TTM