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Dear Father Angelo,
Why do we believe in eternal life? More specifically, why do we believe in the existence of Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell? What is the proof?
I always believed, and still believe in these eternal realities, but in the last months I started doubting. I now need you to help me dispel any doubts.
Thank you,
Alessandro
Priest’s answer
Dear Alessandro,
1. Yes, we are absolutely certain of the ultimate realities of man’s life: hell, heaven, purgatory.
How do we know for sure?
Because it was revealed to us by Jesus Christ himself. Jesus is God who became man also to tell us and reveal us these truths.
2. No man can say that man’s destiny is to see God face to face with the strength of his own reasoning alone, because mankind is in the natural order and God in the supernatural. It is precisely for this reason that St. Paul said that God is the “King of Kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see” (1 Tim 6:15-16).
3. Jesus Christ, who as God is the creator of mankind, knows perfectly why he created us. He is the only one who can tell us about the ultra-terrestrial destiny of mankind.
He, who instructs us about our future, is not just anyone, but it is “the great God and of our
savior Jesus Christ,” (Tit 2:13), he is “God who is over all be blessed forever” (Rom 9:5 ).
4. Regarding Heaven, here is what Jesus told us: “Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (Jn 17:24).
With his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ “opened” heaven to us.
The life of the inhabitants of heaven consists in the full possession of the fruits of his Redemption.
5. Regarding Hell, here is what we can read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Jesus solemnly proclaims that he “will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,” and that he will pronounce the condemnation: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!” (CCC 1034).
6. Regarding Purgatory, we have an indirect affirmation in Mt 12:31 when the Lord says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this world or in the future.
From this statement it can be deduced that certain faults can be forgiven in this world and certain others in the future world, as St. Gregory the Great commented in his Dialogues (St Gregory Magnus, Dialogues 4,39).
7. It would be strange if the One who created us had not revealed to us the reason for our creation.
With the hope that you will get to Heaven, I bless you and assure I will remember you in my prayer.
Father Angelo