One of the Herald’s chaplains answers your questions:
We were raised strict Catholics. I kept practising, but I know my brother, Bill, stopped when he left home. We’re both grandparents now. I was surprised to receive an email from him saying that the Church teaches it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday, and asking how could I possibly be connected with an organisation which thinks he will go to hell. How do I reply?
Please tell Bill that the Church does not think he will go to hell. The Church hopes he will go to heaven! Try to find out why it is that he gave up going to Mass. If he has misunderstood the Church’s teaching on hell, perhaps he has misunderstood other teachings. Thirdly, pray for him – as I am sure you will.
Why does the Church hope that Bill will be saved despite the fact that he does not go to Mass? This seems surprising because the Church does teach that it is a grave sin to miss Mass on Sunday, and also that all those who die in a state of unrepented mortal sin go to hell. But the Church does not know who actually dies in such a state.
As Pope St John Paul II put it: “Eternal damnation remains a real possibility, but we are not granted, without special divine revelation, the knowledge of whether or which human beings are effectively involved in it.” So the Church hopes for Bill’s salvation and with good reason, for the Bible teaches that God wills that all should be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).
In Christ, God has worked to reconcile all things to Himself (Colossians 1:20). When St Paul says “all things”, he means “all things”. Nothing falls outside the scope of God’s salvation. Just as all things are made through Christ (Col 1:16), so all things are to be reconciled through Him (Col 1:20).
Salvation is reconciliation with God. Now reconciliation requires both parties to agree to the restoration of the relationship. God wants reconciliation: He has given His Son to reconcile us to Himself. But God will not impose Himself on us. Hell is when we choose to reject God’s offer of reconciliation. It’s a hell of our own making, a hell that is contrary to God’s will for us (Ezekiel 33:11).
Consequently, the Church teaches that if anyone dies in a state of mortal sin, they will go to hell. But as St John Paul indicates, we do not know “whether or which” individuals this actually applies to. John Paul’s words speak of hope for those currently in mortal sin, and give warning to all.
Bill might say it is absurd to think that missing Mass on Sundays is sufficient to break our relationship with God. And in some cases he is right. If we miss Mass because we are unwell, or caring for the sick, then of course the obligation does not apply to us on that occasion. But that does not seem to be Bill’s situation. He seems to have made a conscious choice not to go to Mass when he could have gone. But why does missing Mass without good reason have such dire consequences?
Let’s put the Sunday Mass obligation into context: in His generosity, God makes us from nothing, He forms us in His own image, and when we reject Him and sin against Him, He does not reject us, but becomes a human being and dies for us to restore us to Himself. As part of that restoration, God asks us to come to Mass once a week – not that He needs us to come, but so that He can give us the gifts that cement our relationship with Him and we can give Him worship and thanks.
After all, how can we be properly reconciled to God if after He has done all that for us, we refuse to spend time with Him, refuse to receive His gifts and refuse to give Him thanks and praise? If we will not do these things, it can only mean one thing: we have rejected reconciliation with God – and if we are not willing to be reconciled with God, we have rejected heaven.
Perhaps an analogy might help: supposing a wife deserts her husband. Later the wife asks to be reconciled to her husband. But when the husband asks his wife to live with him, she refuses. When he asks if she would come and see him at least for one hour per week, she still says no. How would this be reconciliation? The person who refuses to come to Mass once a week seems to be no more reconciled with God than the wife who refuses to spend an hour with the husband she deserted.
The Church does not think that Bill will go to hell. The Church simply does not know. So the Church rightly warns Bill of the dangers of refusing God’s offer of reconciliation. At the same time, the Church hopes and prays that, by God’s grace, Bill will eventually turn back to God. It might seem unlikely that Bill will turn back to God at the moment.
But remember, when the disciples expressed concern about how hard it is to be saved, Jesus replied: “With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). And so when on the Cross the thief repented in the last moments of his life, Jesus said to him: “Truly today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
In those words, there is hope for us all.
This article first appeared in the February 2024 issue of the Catholic Herald. To subscribe to our multiple-award-winning magazine and have it delivered to your door anywhere in the world, go here.
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