Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 15th Sunday of Ordinary time.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The twelfth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in everlasting life.” There are ten (10) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 1057.
When considering life everlasting, as an article of faith in the Creed, there are two (2) major “destinations” which await us, either Heaven or Hell. Those who sadly die unrepentant in mortal sin go to Hell for all eternity. While the principal punishment of Hell is eternal separation from God, there may well be secondary or other punishments which are also suffered by the damned. The punishments of Hell have been depicted variously by artists throughout the centuries. Two (2) artists, Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Michiangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), specifically come to mind.
For his part Dante depicts the secondary punishments of Hell in an order of less to greater punishments: those who die without Holy Baptism, followed by those who die with various vices: lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud, treachery. Perpetual unrest, the continuous stinging by wasps and hornets with maggots and other insects drinking the blood and tears of the damned are among some of the lesser secondary punishments of Hell as presented by Dante. While being up to one’s neck frozen in ice are among the worst secondary punishments of Hell as described by Dante. Sins of self-indulgence are punished one way, violent sins another and malicious sins have yet another form of punishment.
Michelangelo in his fresco depicting the Last Judgment over the Altar in the Sistine Chapel includes depictions of the damned in the clutches of horned demons, being bitten by snakes among the secondary punishments which the damned suffer.
How might an artist depict eternal separation from God? A blank wall or canvas? A solid block of marble?
God has freely made us for Himself. God has freely redeemed us by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we might live with Him forever in the happiness and harmony of Heaven. When we spurn the God who has made us and redeemed us by abusing our free will and abstinently remain unrepentant in our sins we begin to put a distance between ourselves and God in this life. For those who die with the distance which mortal sin introduces the separation is permanent. The primary punishment of Hell is eternal separation from God from whom we come and to whom we naturally tend. The fallen nature we have inherited, with the tendency to sin (concupiscence) can be overcome by God’s grace which we spurn each and every time we sin.
We have been created for God and naturally aspire to God. The damned in Hell reject the Creator God and the highest aspirations which God has placed in our hearts. God does not force us to love or obey Him, in this world or the next. Our actions have consequences.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr