Hell

No one talks about Hell anymore. Reflections on Hell can actually be strengthening for the soul, in my experience anyway. In Preparation for Death, St. Alphonsus Liguori's vivid descriptions of the torments of hell make any trial of this world seem small and endurable. Pondering on eternity, and saying the words "forever and ever and ever," as did St. Teresa of Avila, has straightened out many a life. To quote from a book on the Spiritual Excercises of St. Ignatius:

THIRD MEDITATION.
On Hell.

First Point.

As regards the punishment of the body, the sinner who is lost will suffer in his senses, 1, all the pains which are possible to humanity. He will suffer them all; and all at one and the same time ; and he shall suffer not only those pains of which we have knowledge, but all possible pains together—" every sorrow shall fall upon him " (a). What horror ! On the authority of Galen, the human head alone may become the subject of several thousand different pains ; and the damned wretch shall be tortured by all of them at the same moment. The pains are innumerable which may attack, from natural causes, or through human agency, the eyes, the ears, the heart, the hands, the feet, and other portions of the human body; and yet, in hell, all these will torture the sinner at one and the same time. Yes ! All of them—as many as the ferocity of tyrants, the cruelty of executioners, and the rage of savages have been able to invent and put in practice—all of them shall wreak vengeance on the sinner, and shall do so united!

2. And the sinner shall suffer all these pains in a most intense' degree; though still a finite one, and proportioned to his sins. S. Thomas assures us that the least degree of the pain of hell surpasses in intensity all the torments endured by the martyrs, all the possible agonies of sickness, and the most severe punishment ever inflicted on criminals, even though all these were put together. How intense, then, how inconceivably great must be the highest degree of the torments of hell. Ah ! many a time a toothache is sufficient to madden us, and drive us into frenzy. "What shall it be, then, to be compelled to endure for ever those innumerable, most acute, and most intense tortures, which shall be rained down for ever upon the damned!

3. And this shall last for ever. Alas ! for ever !— without ever a change, ever a respite, ever relief, ever a comfort of any kind; but eternally, continuously, despairingly, mercilessly. In this present life, every pain, anguish of whatever kind is tempered by some intervals of relief; but within that abyss of punishment the torture is never, never relaxed. Ah! we would deem it an unsufferable punishment, were we compelled to pass even a single night in a most luxurious bed without being able to move: what shall it be, then, to find ourselves chained immovable in that deep abyss, amid such terrible torments ! to find ourselves, after the lapse of a thousand centuries, tortured by the same intense pains which devoured our very vitals on our first entry into that furnace ! to find that neither the lapse of time, nor the habit of suffering brings the slightest alleviation of the agonies which we endure ! O mortals!—"which of you can dwell with devouring fire? which of you can dwell with everlasting burnings?"

Who then will be saved? Michael Liccione discusses the question.

Wasting Time

It is squandering a precious gift from God.

We lose time, first, by doing nothing. All the faculties of the soul seem to be numbed; we think of nothing, we do not know what to do with ourselves and with our time; or, if we do think of anything, we occupy ourselves with useless reveries, with vain projects and chimerical plans. If we are not sufficient to ourselves, we spend whole hours from morning to night in idle talk, in games and amusements, in visits which have no object, in walks without any aim, in all the pastimes which idleness can invent, and we utterly waste all our moments (Prov. 18:9). Have we no reproaches to address to ourselves on this head?

Mystical Theology

God works through everything.

St. Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden reminds us that we cannot brush aside the mystical aspects of the spiritual life. As difficult as it may be in some cases to discern whether a person is genuinely receiving locutions or is experiencing visions that are not the result of illness or a disturbed imagination, we must guard against the kind of dismissive attitude that refuses even to consider that a person may be a genuine mystic, and which often leads to unjust judgements. Bishops and priests, and others who may be charged with the task of discernment, must always remember that just because a person claims to be having visions etc does not mean that he/she is no longer entitled to the respect we owe to every human being. In the name of avoiding error great injustice has often been visited on people. Sometimes they have been genuine mystics or have become great religious reformers (e.g. St. John of The Cross). Injustice cannot be justified on the basis of exercising caution.

As St. Paul tells us, "God works through everything" and it is clear that suffering is allowed by God in such cases, but that does not mean - cannot ever mean - that God approves of cruelty, insults and injustice. Sometimes I have seen and heard the most uncharitable remarks made about people who claim to be having visions as though those making such remarks have a God-given right to do so. Such critics are seriously mistaken. In particular a bishop or priest (or deacon for that matter) has a serious duty of pastoral care towards a person they may regard as deluded or mentally disturbed. Brushing people off with the advice, "You need to see your doctor" or words to that effect should not be the first response. If we do not know the person concerned we need to listen and ask questions, always treating the person with respect. If it becomes clear that theologically, spiritually or - quite possibly - medically, there are serious problems, we must act with gentleness as well as firmness. We should always try to leave a person with hope. No one should leave our presbyteries feeling utterly dejected or abandoned.

 

Having said all that, mystical experiences cannot be relegated to the fringes of the Church. We need only remember the extraordinary conversion of St. Paul to understand this. That was a "private revelation" which was also to become public. Without that mystical experience there would be no St. Paul.

Custody of the Eyes

The traditional way of avoiding near occasions of sin. (Via Esther.)

In her Theology Master’s thesis, written for the DC Dominican House of Studies, pro-life personality Dawn Eden has critiqued Christopher West’s take on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, which is also spread by the Theology of the Body Institute.

A dispute over West’s methods erupted in May 2009 after ABC aired an interview with the prominent Catholic apologist, in which he appeared to make several highly controversial statements. Although West later clarified and said the statements in question were taken out of context, one of West’s former professors, David Schindler, of the Pontifical Institute for Marriage and the Family in D.C., took the opportunity to express concerns about various aspects of West’s approach.

In her thesis Eden, like Schindler, specifies that she does not question West’s intention to be orthodox.  Rather, she proposes corrective measures which she suggests would redeem the “unwitting flaws” in West’s catechesis, which “detract from his intended message.”

For Eden, one of the main contentions with West’s approach is that it opposes traditional conceptions of modesty and the recommended practice of looking away from immodesty (‘custody of the eyes’).
Eden notes that the Catholic Church has traditionally stated that chastity education should include instruction on avoiding occasions of sin. “West states, by contrast, that mature purity is found only in those who are willing to ‘risk’ concupiscence so that they might reap the benefits of ‘union with Christ and his Church.’"
Citing examples from West’s writings, Eden explains that, “By ‘risking,’ he means specifically that men who struggle with lust should practice looking at beautiful women so that they might learn to raise their thoughts and feelings from lust, to joy at encountering the image of God in female beauty.”

In her thesis titled, "Towards a 'Climate of Chastity': Bringing Catechesis on the Theology of the Body into the Hermeneutic of Continuity," Eden argues that such advice runs contrary to traditional Catholic teaching.  In the ninth chapter of the Book of Sirach, Eden points out, men are encouraged to look away from shapely women.
Furthermore she points out that Pope John Paul II, who originated the Theology of the Body, has pointed out that after the loss of original grace, man and woman have a “specific necessity of privacy with regard to their own bodies.”  Eden states that John Paul’s “understanding of modesty—seeing it not merely as a reaction to the potential lustful ‘look,’ but as a requirement for a ‘truly human culture of morals’—is absent from West’s TOB.”

On Judging Others

From Esther's blog:

"Remember that the right to judge another is not yours and that, even if it had been entrusted to you, you would be incapable of exercising it with integrity, as you are encompassed by a thousand passions, and only too prone to think evil of another without just cause."

The next time you are tempted to judge someone say to yourself "How dare I, wretched being, buried in this very fault myself, and in far more grievous ones, lift up my head to see and judge the faults of others?"

"...every good and kindly feeling toward your neighbor is the work of the Holy Spirit; and that all disparagement, rash judgment, and bitterness against him owe their origin to the evil that is in ourselves and to the suggestions of the Devil."

- Spiritual Combat, Lorenzo Scupoli, Sophia Press

The Revolution Against Modesty

The conclusion of Dr. von Hildebrand's remarks on the intimate sphere:

Part 4:  The Work of Christopher West and Its Relation to that of Dietrich von Hildebrand
Since Vatican II, the Church has  undergone a severe, manifold crisis: a crisis of faith, a crisis of authority, an intellectual crisis (confusion is widespread), a moral crisis. We should be grateful for any "soldier" who enters the arena and is offering his services to the King. We should be grateful for any written or oral testimony that help people who find their way back to the fold.  As St. Paul writes, we have different gifts, different talents, and use them for God's glory (Romans 12:6-8).

1. “Revolution” or Development of Doctrine?
However, no “soldier” in the service of the Church is ever called to be a “revolutionary”. As previously mentioned, Dietrich von Hildebrand was conscious that he had shed light on one very important truth that had often been obscured, not in Catholic doctrine, but in Catholic practice. He would call it—referring to his revered Cardinal Newman—a possible development of doctrine, but never a “revolution.”  There is no revolution in the Catholic Church. Divine revelation ended with the death of the  Apostles. The mission of the Church is to spread the Divine Message, and to clarify and re-clarify it over the years.

Christopher West is fond of quoting George Weigel’s provocative statement that John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is a “theological time bomb.” But what does that mean? Does it mean that “Christians must complete what the sexual revolution began,” as West told Nightline? Even the highly influential Weigel himself, to his credit, wrote in a foreword to one of Christopher West’s  books: “A sex-saturated culture imagines that the sexual revolution has been liberating. The opposite is the truth.” (Theology of the Body Explained, 2003, p. XVI).

Words such as "revolution” and similar bombastic expressions are appealing—but irresponsible. Inflated words and phrases are like a psychological massage—used throughout the ages by people who know the power of words. Most people live in such a state of spiritual and intellectual somnolence that such expressions might be useful to shake them out of their lethargy. But they are misleading. As stated, there is no revolution in the Church: the one great tsunami was the Incarnation.

Love and Pleasure

Dr. von Hildebrand explores dualism and language issues and how they relate to the intimate sphere.

2. Other Issues of Language

Love and Pleasure

The prevalence that certain words have in a text give us a key to the author's approach to his topic. Those acquainted with Dietrich von Hildebrand's books on purity, marriage, sex etc. will immediately notice that the key word he utilizes is "love". He tells us, explicitly and repeatedly, that it is love which gives meaning to the intimate sphere, and that the beauty of the union between the spouses is proportionate to the tenderness of their love.  It is love that "baptizes" pleasure, and brings it to a much higher level; for pleasure can be experienced by animals, but the sweetness of human pleasure, fortified by love, is altogether different: the word "pleasure" is then no longer adequate. We need a richer vocabulary to refer to it; there is joy, there is gratitude, there is happiness. Isolated pleasure (which by its very nature, does not last, and cannot last) is totally incapable of  giving a faint idea of what this "baptized" pleasure is; and is something, of course, denied to animals.