Reflection #24
On the House of Eternity
"Man shall go into the house of his eternity." (Ecclesiastes 12:5). We err in calling this habitation in which we now dwell our home. The home of our body in a little while will be a grave, in which it must rest until the Day of Judgment; and the home of the soul will be either Paradise or Hell, according as it has deserved, and there will it remain through all eternity.
At our burial, our corpses will not go to the grave of themselves; they will be carried there by others; but the soul will go of itself to the place which awaits it, either eternal joy or eternal woe. "Man shall go into the house of his eternity." According as a man lives well or ill, so he goes of himself to his home in Paradise or in Hell, which habitation he shall never change.
Those who live on this earth often change their dwelling, either to please themselves or because they are compelled. In eternity the dwelling is never changed; where we enter at first, there we abide forever. "If the tree fall to the south or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be." (Ecclesiastes 11:3). He that enters in the south, which is Heaven, will be ever happy; he that enters in the north, which is Hell, will be ever miserable.
He, then, who enters Heaven will be always united with God, always in company with the Saints, always in perfect peace, always fully satisfied, because every blessed soul is filled and satiated with joy, nor will he ever know the fear of losing it. If fear of losing the happiness they enjoy could enter among the Blessed, they would be no longer Blessed, for the mere thought of losing the joy they possess would disturb the peace they enjoy.
On the contrary, whoever enters into Hell will be forever far from God; he will be ever suffering in the fire among the damned. Let us not think that the pains of Hell will be like those of earth, where, by the effect of habit, a pain grows less; for, as in Paradise the delights will never cause weariness, but seem ever new as though they were the first time enjoyed (which is implied by the expression of "the new canticle," which the blessed are ever singing); so on the contrary, in Hell, the pains never diminish their torment. The miserable beings who are damned will feel the same agony through all eternity which they felt in the first moment they experienced the pains of Hell.
St. Augustine used to say that he who believes in eternity and is not converted to God has either lost his reason or his faith. "Woe," cries St. Caesarius, "woe to sinners who enter eternity without knowing what it is through having neglected to think upon it." And then he adds, "But, O double woe! They enter it, and they never come forth." It is a double woe, the first of which will be to fall into that abyss of fire; the second, that he who falls into it will never come out: the gate of Hell opens only to those who enter, not to those who would go out.
No, the Saints did not do too much when they went to hide themselves in caves and deserts, to live upon herbs and sleep on the ground in order to save their souls. No, "They did not do too much," says St. Bernard, "because, where eternity is in question, no security can be too great." When therefore God visits us with any cross of sickness, poverty or other trial, let us think of the Hell we have deserved, and thus every affliction will appear light. Let us say, with Job: "I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I deserved." (Job 33:27). O Lord, I have offended Thee and so many times betrayed Thee, and I have not been punished as I deserved; how, then, can I complain if Thou sendest me some affliction--I, who have deserved Hell?
O my Jesus, send me not to Hell, for in Hell I could no longer love Thee, but would have to hate Thee forever. Deprive me of everything--of goods, of health, of life--but deprive me not of Thyself. Grant that I may love Thee and praise Thee forever, and then chastise me and do with me what Thou wilt.
O Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
At our burial, our corpses will not go to the grave of themselves; they will be carried there by others; but the soul will go of itself to the place which awaits it, either eternal joy or eternal woe. "Man shall go into the house of his eternity." According as a man lives well or ill, so he goes of himself to his home in Paradise or in Hell, which habitation he shall never change.
Those who live on this earth often change their dwelling, either to please themselves or because they are compelled. In eternity the dwelling is never changed; where we enter at first, there we abide forever. "If the tree fall to the south or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be." (Ecclesiastes 11:3). He that enters in the south, which is Heaven, will be ever happy; he that enters in the north, which is Hell, will be ever miserable.
He, then, who enters Heaven will be always united with God, always in company with the Saints, always in perfect peace, always fully satisfied, because every blessed soul is filled and satiated with joy, nor will he ever know the fear of losing it. If fear of losing the happiness they enjoy could enter among the Blessed, they would be no longer Blessed, for the mere thought of losing the joy they possess would disturb the peace they enjoy.
On the contrary, whoever enters into Hell will be forever far from God; he will be ever suffering in the fire among the damned. Let us not think that the pains of Hell will be like those of earth, where, by the effect of habit, a pain grows less; for, as in Paradise the delights will never cause weariness, but seem ever new as though they were the first time enjoyed (which is implied by the expression of "the new canticle," which the blessed are ever singing); so on the contrary, in Hell, the pains never diminish their torment. The miserable beings who are damned will feel the same agony through all eternity which they felt in the first moment they experienced the pains of Hell.
St. Augustine used to say that he who believes in eternity and is not converted to God has either lost his reason or his faith. "Woe," cries St. Caesarius, "woe to sinners who enter eternity without knowing what it is through having neglected to think upon it." And then he adds, "But, O double woe! They enter it, and they never come forth." It is a double woe, the first of which will be to fall into that abyss of fire; the second, that he who falls into it will never come out: the gate of Hell opens only to those who enter, not to those who would go out.
No, the Saints did not do too much when they went to hide themselves in caves and deserts, to live upon herbs and sleep on the ground in order to save their souls. No, "They did not do too much," says St. Bernard, "because, where eternity is in question, no security can be too great." When therefore God visits us with any cross of sickness, poverty or other trial, let us think of the Hell we have deserved, and thus every affliction will appear light. Let us say, with Job: "I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I deserved." (Job 33:27). O Lord, I have offended Thee and so many times betrayed Thee, and I have not been punished as I deserved; how, then, can I complain if Thou sendest me some affliction--I, who have deserved Hell?
O my Jesus, send me not to Hell, for in Hell I could no longer love Thee, but would have to hate Thee forever. Deprive me of everything--of goods, of health, of life--but deprive me not of Thyself. Grant that I may love Thee and praise Thee forever, and then chastise me and do with me what Thou wilt.
O Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
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