The presence and continuity of God
A reflection on the readings of April 14, 2024 — the Third Sunday of Easter In our parish office we like to have a bowl of chocolates to offer to people who stop by. We are always amused at the...
Tagged: salvation
Can Prayer Empty Hell?
Pope Francis, in a recent interview, said that “I like to think hell is empty; I hope it is.” There will no doubt be a lot of discussion about this, but I would like to add my viewpoint on the...
Salvation in Imperfection
There are, in every parish, those who can be relied upon to be always late for Mass. They are sometimes referred to as the “Gloria crowd.” My deacon in one parish was a retired military man, whose adulation for the...
Why do we pray for those who have died?
November is the month of All Souls. It is a time when we Catholics remember and pray for those who have died. The Church sets aside this month especially for prayer on behalf of the souls of those in Purgatory....
Salvation for all
A reflection on the Mass Readings for August 21, 2022, the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Audio of Homily will be posted here. Today, I would like to reflect on the same question that the disciples asked Jesus, “Will only a...
Hell
WPI contributor Paul Fahey and SmartCatholics founder Dominic DeSouza have a new episode of “Pope Francis Generation” out this week in which they talk about hell. They discuss Church teaching, debates surrounding the theory of universalism, and how a Catholic...
Universalism and Hell
Where Peter Is · Universalism And Hell in Catholic Theology When Pope Francis said last year, “The good Lord will save everyone,” not many Catholics seemed to notice, despite the enormity of the statement. Perhaps after nine years we have...
Sacramental Validity and Scrupulosity
The abbot dipped his right thumb in the chrism and made the sign of the cross on my forehead, He said, “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.” I responded, “Amen.” The abbot then said, “Peace be with...
How non-Christians can be saved
My previous two posts were historical-theological prolegomena to my main question, which is how non-Christians today can be saved even though they don’t believe in Jesus Christ. (This will lead to my fourth and final post on the question of...
Views of the Scholastics on Non-Christians Who Can Be Saved
In the writings of scholastic and early-modern theologians, we can distinguish four main categories of non-Christians able to be saved: catechumens, babies who die before baptism, people who lived before Jesus, and people who have never heard of Jesus. As...
Who will be saved?
For as long as we Christians have been doing theology, that is, seeking to understand our faith, we have been asking questions about salvation. How are we saved? From what do we need to be saved? Who will be saved?...
No one is an accidental creation
In my thirty years on this earth, I have strived to live according to the commandments handed down by God fully manifest in the incarnate and risen Jesus Christ. It is never easy, regardless of which commandment. While all are...
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