top of page

Where Is My Loved One Now? | The Catholic Church’s Teachings on the Afterlife

Hell

⦁ Catechism 1033: “we cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves…to die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him forever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called hell.”

⦁ CCC 1035: “the chief punishment from hell is eternal separation from God”

⦁ CCC 1037: “God predestines no one to go to Hell, for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin)”

⦁ The Lord does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance (1 Tim 2:4, 2 Pet 3:9)


“I saw the torments of hell and those of purgatory; no words can describe them. Had poor mortals the faintest idea of them, they would suffer a thousand deaths rather than undergo the least of their torments during a single day.” - St. Catherine of Siena


Purgatory

⦁ CCC 1030: “all who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed of assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

⦁ YouCat 159: “Just such a purgatory probably awaits most of us at the moment of our death: the Lord looks at us full of love and we experience burning shame and painful remorse over our wicked or merely unloving behavior. Only after this purifying pain will we be capable of meeting his loving gaze.”


Heaven

⦁ CCC 1023: “those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live forever with Christ. They are like God forever, for they “see him as he is”, “face to face.””

⦁ CCC 1024: “heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.”



" November 27, 1936. Today I was in heaven, in spirit, and I saw its unconceivable beauties and the happiness that awaits us after death. I saw how all creatures give ceaseless praise and glory to God. I saw how great is happiness in God, which spreads to all creatures, making them happy; and then all the glory and praise which springs from this happiness returns to its source; and they enter into the depths of God, contemplating the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whom they will never comprehend or fathom. This source of happiness is unchanging in its essence, but it is always new, gushing forth happiness for all creatures. Now I understand Saint Paul, who said, “Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, not has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him.” And God has given me to understand that there is but one thing that is of infinite value in His eyes, and that is love of God; love, love and once again, love; and nothing can compare with a single act of pure love of God. Oh, with what inconceivable favors God gifts a soul that loves Him sincerely! (Diary of Saint Faustina 777).




53 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Funny Money

The Big One

Comments


ABOUT US

Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish is a Catholic community in the heart of Cheshire. Together we can discover your path to a deeper, more fulfilling spiritual life.

Weekday Masses (Saint Bridget Church):
7AM Monday-Friday

9AM Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Saturday Masses:

9AM - Saint Bridget Church

4PM (Vigil) - Saint  Bridget Church

Sunday Masses (Saint Bridget Church):

7:30AM

9AM 

10:30AM

4PM (9/24/22-5/26/23)

Confession (Saint. Bridget Church):

Saturdays - 3PM until heard

VISIT US

203-272-3531

 

Parish Office

175 Main Street

Cheshire, CT 06410

North Campus

Saint Bridget Church

175 Main Street 

Cheshire, CT 06410

South Campus

St. Thomas Becket Church

435 North Brooksvale Road

Cheshire, CT 06410

 

rectory@cheshirecatholic.org

  • Grey Facebook Icon
  • Grey Instagram Icon
  • Grey Twitter Icon

Looking for St. Bridget School? 

St. Bridget School

203-272-5860

171 Main Street

Cheshire, CT

www.stbridgetschool.org

© 2021 Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish Communications

bottom of page