Tag: Hell

Uncertain Truths

I recently came across a memorable article from my archives. According to an old issue of the New York Times Clive James was dying but as I remember it, he was very good-natured about it. Once a three-fisted drinker and smoker, Mr. James, 75, was...

Hell is Empty

I could have entitled this essay, Deliver us from evil, the last words of entreaty in the Our Father. In a recent essay in the Wall Street Journal entitled, Your Periodic Reminder that Evil is Real, renowned journalist Lance Morrow wrote many people...

Dare We Hope

Several years ago, I published an essay for my blog the Gospel Truth that contained my musings on life after death. It created some interesting feedback. My treatment of salvation caused the greatest concern. My main critic erroneously thought that...

Our Sister, Bodily Death

“Praised may You be, my Lord, through our Sister, Bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape.” These inspiring lyrics may be found in the famous Canticle of the Sun composed by St. Francis of Assissi (+1226). Those who have lived or stayed for...

The Womb of My Catholic Imagination

The imagination is the eye of the soul. –Joseph Joubert I think Catholic writers have a distinct advantage over atheists or people of other faiths. This is true because the Catholic Church has a 2000-year history that transcends the material...

In All Things Look to the End

In ancient Greece a famous philosopher visited a certain city and began speaking in the public forum. A wealthy man was entertaining friends, and he and his guests heard the philosopher was in their city. As a joke, the host ordered one of his...

The Idea of Death Frightens Us

The idea of death often frightens us, and so as a society, we sometimes joke about it as a way of coping with our fears and uncertainties. For instance, there’s the story about a man from Illinois who was going to take a winter vacation in Cancun...

Hell’s Bells

Hell’s Bells was a phrase with which a friend of my late mother-in-law in Charleston, Missouri used to punctuate most of her stories, especially when she got irritated or excited. I am not really sure what she meant but I always loved the way she...