“Life is short; enjoy it!” is a saying often heard. But perhaps the better motto that should be shared is, “Eternity is long; prepare for it!”
Our Almighty Father gives us the freedom to serve Him or to choose to serve Satan by how we opt to live our lives during our brief, temporary time on Earth. Upon our death, if our choice in life was to take the easy way through the wide gate that leads to destruction, we will belong to the evil one and be with him in hell for eternity.
It will not be God choosing to send us to this place of unquenchable fire. That choice was entirely up to us based upon what we decided to do during our mortal lifetime.
Hell Is Real
Catholics have always been taught that the “Four Last Things” are death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The first two are definitely happening to everyone; and as for the latter two, one or the other will definitely occur.
The truths God revealed in the Old Testament and that Jesus confirmed later in the New Testament are that hell is real and it is the place to where, not just a few, but the majority of people will end up after they die.
[Jesus said:] “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few. …Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7: 13-14, 21)
The Catechism states, “Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live forever with Christ [in Heaven].” Conversely, it also states:
“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire.’ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.” (Catechism 1035)
As Christians, our primary goal in life is to get to heaven. Everything is secondary to this. Earthly problems fade away, but heaven and hell are forever. Thus, we must choose to live our lives congruously, knowing that what we are experiencing now is a temporary stay as our real, ultimate home will (hopefully) end up being in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Analogy of Moving Into a New House
For those of us who at one time had to go through the house-selling/house-moving process, this can be an analogy for how as Christians we understand that our time on earth is finite, and we hope for eternal life in paradise.
My wife and I went through this house-selling/house-moving process a few years ago when we had both retired and chose to move from a home we built and lived in for 20 years in Washington state to a new home that was still under construction in Tennessee. (You can read here my past article about this moving ordeal.)
We had no house to immediately move into after the closing of our sold house because our new house had yet to finish construction. So we had to move all our belongings in two moving “pods” that were transported to a warehouse in Tennessee to be temporarily stored. Meanwhile, for a number of months we had to find short-term places in which to live as we drove 2,500 miles across the country to our new state. We ended up living out of a couple of suitcases as we jumped from multiple extended-stay hotels to friends’ and relatives’ homes.
We knew this difficult part of our life was brief in the big picture, as these would all be temporary stays – not our ultimate destination. Even though we experienced frustrations and hardships in this process, what kept us going was keeping our focus on the eventual achievement of the true, final objective – the finished construction of our new house, at long last being able to move our belongings into it, and the joy of living our retirement in a new state.
There Is a Reason He Is Called ‘The Father of Lies’
Scripture clearly tells us that the road to heaven is narrow, while the road to hell is wide. Satan wants us to fall for the lie that most people, if not all, will get to heaven.
The evil one is wringing his hands in delight that people don’t believe he exists while likewise believing their “all loving” God would never send people to hell. Satan finds glee in realizing these erroneous views will end up causing many to have no worries about making frequent immoral decisions while living their temporary time on Earth because they fear no negative consequences.
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” (C.S. Lewis)
A Catholic dogma is not only that people truly go to hell but in addition that Satan is truly a spiritual being who really exists. He is not merely a symbol of evil but one who fell into sin of his own free will by rejecting God, and thus is eternally damned. People, too, will be eternally damned if during their brief “layover” on Earth they choose to live a sinful life and never repent.
The existence of hell and Satan was a commonly held belief by almost all Catholics up until around the 21stcentury. Unfortunately, too many of the modern generation of Catholics are either not hearing this dogma preached by today’s lukewarm clergy, or are actually hearing a false, counter narrative that the existence of hell and Satan are hyperbole.
Most notably, Pope Francis a few years ago made a deceptive “misspeak” which added to people’s ignorance when he suggested no one is in hell. It is not surprising to see that a recent survey showed only 17% of Catholics believe that the devil is real and not just a symbol.
Satan hates us because, unlike him, we still have the ability to get into heaven. Therefore, the father-of-lies tests us with evil temptations, hoping to trip us up so we don’t make it to God’s Kingdom. The devil’s objective is to destroy the grace of God in our soul so he can then take our soul to hell.
God allows the evil one to tempt us so that we may grow in our love for God. If we can resist Satan, we can demonstrate our loyalty to God. Jesus tells us that if we believe in Him, follow His Commandments, and repent of our sins when we fall, we will avoid hell and instead will be with God in heaven forever.
Our Time on Earth Is Finite
Therefore, authentic Christians believe that there indeed is punishment for all eternity looming for those who ignore the truths Christ preaches. We must always realize our time on Earth is finite, while the wonderful life waiting for us in our new, ultimate home in heaven will be infinite.
We must consider this time of our lives similar to the house-selling/house-moving process. We are to remember that all the challenging bumps in the road we go through in this process are temporary, and if we keep at it determinedly, we will eventually reach our ultimate goal of moving into a permanent, new home.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:7-8)
A PRINCIPAL'S PRINCIPLES FOR PARENTING 
These pollsters never asked me: I’m petrified of Hell and convinced that I am not a good enough Roman Catholic to get to Heaven. I am scared to death to die.
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As Catholics, we have what is needed to not fear death.
We have the supreme model of Jesus. Jesus died after first asking His Father if it could be avoided. He then accepted His death and then rose! We too will rise.
We have the Sacraments. They can consistently help us in our journey towards earthly death. The graces they provide help us overcome our fear.
Catholics also have the motivation to live the Gospel. By believing in Jesus, following His truths, and receiving the graces of the Sacraments, who can be afraid?
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