Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

“Among thousands of people, there are not a hundred who will arrive at their salvation, and I am not even certain of that number, so much perversity is there among the young and so much negligence among the old.” - St John Chrysostom

Fr. Kimel of pontifications did an interesting piece on questions surrounding how many souls will be saved and how many will be damned.

I have omitted one important fact: as decent as most people I know may be, I have to admit that every person I know is also selfish, even the nicest ones. My experience, in other words, confirms a fundamental teaching of the Catholic Church—the doctrine of original sin.

… Every human being is born into a world dominated by Satan and corrupted by death and sin. And in a mysterious way which I at least cannot explain, these three elements—spiritual alienation from God, oppression by Satan, and deformation by a sinful world—coincide….

A couple of years ago, I came across a piece called, Cry of A Lost Soul , which is a powerful record of events that led a young woman to ultimately lose her soul. The sobering document has been previously printed with imprimatur, and describes the vision of a young, single catholic woman after learning of her friend from work who had recently died as a result of an automobile accident. Right from the beginning of the ghoulish narrative, it was evident how many times I took on the nature of the damned.

When I was jealous of others, wanting them to share in a misery of failure.

“I should like to see you to come to this state where I must remain forever.”

When I did things for others based not in the spirit of charity, but with self centered motivations - doing it out of obligation or out of fear of rejection by saying no.

“Our wills are hardened in evil - in what you call evil. Even when we do something ‘good’, as I do now, opening your eyes about hell, it is not because of a good intention”.

When life seemed so unfair, and I found solace in a state of self-pity and anger.

“We look appalled at our ruined life, hating and suffering. Do you hear? We here drink hatred like water.”

When deep down inside, I secretly took delight in the misfortunes of others of whom I was either jealous of or held in disdain.

“I hate the devil too. And yet I am pleased about him, because he tries to ruin all of you; In truth every time they drag down here to hell a human soul their own torture is increased. But what does one not do for hatred?”

We never know when our time will end, but be assured that God is a the perfect judge.

“Deep down I was rebelling against God. You did not understand it; you thought me still a Catholic. I wanted, in fact, to be called one; The lost Catholics suffer more than those of other religions, because they, mostly, received and despised more graces and more light. He who knew more suffers more cruelly than he who knew less. He who sinned out of malice suffers more keenly than he who sinned out of weakness. But nobody suffers more than he deserves.”

For he even has mercy on those whose souls are eternally destined for hell.

“God was merciful to us by not allowing our wicked wills to exhaust themselves on earth, as we should have been prepared to do. This would have increased our faults and our pains. He caused us to die before our time, as in my case, or had other mitigating circumstances intervene. Now He shows Himself merciful towards us by not compelling a closer approach than that afforded in this remote inferno.”

Humbling.

“Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who enter that way. How narrow the gate and close the way that leads to life! And few there are who find it.” (Matt. 7:13, 14)