Is Pope Francis’ idea of Heaven Way Too Easy?
Vatican City, 9 March 2015 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon Pope Francis visited the Roman parish of Santa Maria Madre del Redentore in the peripheral suburb of Tor Bella Monaca, where he was welcomed by more than a thousand young people. Before entering the Church, the Holy Father visited the Caritas Centre to greet sick and disabled assisted by the Missionaries of Charity. “Jesus never abandons us”, he said, “because on the Cross he experienced pain, sadness, solitude and many other things. … Never lose your trust in Him”.
Later, in the church, he met with a group of children and young people, and answered their questions. The first was: if God forgives everything, why does Hell exist? The Pope replied that Hell is the desire to distance oneself from God and to reject God’s love. But”, he added, “if you were a terrible sinner, who had committed all the sins in the world, all of them, condemned to death, and even when you are there, you were to blaspheme, insults… and at the moment of death, when you were about to die, you were to look to Heaven and say, ‘Lord …!’, where do you go, to Heaven or to Hell? To Heaven! Only those who say, I have no need of You, I can get along by myself, as the devil did, are in Hell – and he is the only one we are certain is there”.
Not to say that Jesus isn’t merciful. Jesus is. But nevertheless it’s vital that we don’t presume upon His mercy, isn’t it? Notwithstanding those convenient and burgeoning tenets of ‘social justice’ there is such a thing as real justice. Pope Francis makes it sound like a serial killer can just call on the Name of Christ at the moment of death and it’s a golden ticket to Heaven! Why repent, atone, or confess?
And what about all that ‘do-gooding’ we keep hearing about? Skipping that will negate all our prayers and ‘religious homages,’ rendering us hypocrites destined for Hell, yes?
Finally, before celebrating Mass, Francis spoke with the parish pastoral council and their collaborators who described to him the situation in the area, in which many marginalised families live, and where there are many problems linked to drug abuse and crime. “The people of Tor Bella Monaca are good people”, emphasised Francis. “They had the same flaw that Jesus, Mary and Joseph had: they are poor. With the difference that Joseph had a job, Jesus had a job, and many people here do not, but they still need to feed their children. And how does one get by? You know how. Goodness is sorely tested by injustice; the injustice of unemployment and discrimination. And this is a sin, it is a grave sin. Many people are compelled to do things they do not want to do, because they cannot find another way. … And very often people, when they feel they are accompanied, wanted, do not fall into that web of the wicked, who exploit the poor. Mafiosi exploit the poor too, to make them do their dirty work, and then when the police discover them, they find those poor people and not the mafiosi who are safe, and also pay for their safety. Therefore, it is necessary to help the people. … The first pastoral commandment is closeness: to be close to them. … We cannot go to a house where there are sick or hungry children and say ‘you must do this, you must do that’. No. It is necessary to go to them with closeness, with that caress that Jesus has taught us. … This is my main pastoral advice to you”.
Take that pastoral advice for what it’s worth. Apparently it’s a mortal sin not to absorb and act upon socialist-sounding drivel, you mafioso-type exploiter. Don’t put demands on the marginalized. They might be driven to commit some unavoidable crime because of you. Just give them things and fulfill my first pastoral commandment of closeness.
Purgatory? Matthew 7:21? (Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.)
The contradictions are staggering. Didn’t he recently say that the beginning of salvation is doing good works?
Half the time that I read something the pope has said, my response is, “Oh, bloody hell. What now?”
I agree with you 100%. I’m loyal to the magisterium. The Pope is the Vicar of Christ on earth. However, this one is REALLY confusing.
You can be the biggest sinner and go right to heaven? We know that nothing unclean can be joined to God so this CANNOT be. In addition, this shoots mortal sin to hell (no pun intended.) I hope and pray that his remarks were misinterpreted.
Being saved at the last moment is not some invention of Pope Francis. Read Dante’s Divine Comedy. Furthermore, Jesus multiple times insists to St. Faustina that even the greatest sinners possible can (and will) easily be saved if only they accept His mercy at the very last moment. Jesus tells her that “even a flicker” of good will shall suffice. Needless to say, a lengthy Purgatory is usually necessary in such a situation. Just because Francis left that out in this quote doesn’t mean he’s denying it.
Okay…….. so what about
“For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it,” (Matt. 7:13-14). and……….
Lk 13:22 – 27, Mt 22:14, Mt 13 – 14, Rev 20:13-15, Lk 16:23, Lk 10:15, Mark 9:4,5 etc etc etc
If everybody get there……. just has to spend time in purgatory……. why it would be a shame to convert anyone – what’s the point? Why force someone do do all the required ‘catholic stuff’ when in the end it doesn’t matter? Who cares which church you belong to: we are all going to heaven – just by different roads ?
In fact, I guess I’m a chump by that logic !!! Have ‘fun’ here and have ‘fun’ there; have your cake and eat it, too……. ’cause who would ever say: I want to go to hell when I can see that the reality of hell is about to be manifest.
It’s one thing for a neophyte to say things that are unclear, confusing, bewildering, contradictory…….. but, the ‘pope-job’ shouldn’t be held by someone who needs on the job training.
You only do good for the sake of the reward it brings?
More for Daniel (dismissing his irrelevant comment)
Daniel 12:2 (and all the rest earlier mentioned)
As Daniel mentioned Faustine here’s some from her Diary……
“…I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was impossible to count them. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings” (Diary 153).
Oh and more……..
If any one saith, that justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ’s sake; or, that this confidence alone is that whereby we are justified; let him be anathema.
(Council of Trent, Session 6, Canon XII)