I think of what it be like for me 50,000 years from now. Even just 50 years from now.
Will I care whether I stacked enough sats, or whether I was able to retire early, or whether I could convince friends to use Nostr and encrypted messengers?
No.
This life -- with all its sufferings and pleasures -- won't even be a drop in the bucket of eternity. Nothing about right now will matter in a million years except for one thing: whether I died in a state of grace with God.
That is the one memory that will either bless me in Heaven or haunt me in Hell.
Forever.
A non-denominational preacher, whose biggest disagreement with Catholics centers around our "legalistic" view of #salvation, tells me an interesting view of his own.
He believes a true Christian is able to die in the act of adultery (committed freely, knowingly, and willfully) and still go to heaven -- so long as he has never "renounced Christ" or "lost hope."
Which is more "legalistic" -- his view or the correct understanding of mortal sin?
It's always weird going to a Novus Ordo Catholic parish (like I did today due to weather) while accustomed to the Traditional Latin Mass:
* Lady starts us off: "Good morning! Welcome to Mass!"
* Girl altar boy wearing bell-bottom jeans and athletic shoes
* All prayers said while facing us
* We jump Communion lines to avoid the unnecessary lady extraordinary minister of Holy Communion
* It's a logistical challenge to return to our original seating where our belongings are
* Plenty of piano recitals during Mass
* Gay-sounding showtunes
* Priest ends with "I'm sorry I don't have any dad jokes for you today to close us out"
* When it's over we file past the priest near the front door who frequently administers high fives instead of handshakes
I should have weathered the longer drive in the snowstorm.
Why do some say that when Christians go to heaven, they are no longer concerned about earthly affairs and therefore don't pray for us?
Jesus was a man. He is now at the right hand of the Father in heaven, where he still cares about us and continues to intercede for us.
It's OK -- it's good -- to ask the #saints in heaven to pray for us, with us, in Jesus.
#CommunionOfSaints
Through careful theologizing and precise explanations, Catholics and Protestants can find a way to agree that we are "saved by faith alone."
But that doesn't settle the matter. Select theologians agreeing on how it's possible to use the same words does not make the actual disagreement go away in real life.
Similarly, Christians and Muslims can rationalize that both worship the same God, but that doesn't translate into anything meaningful.
Whatever words might make us feel good, it still stands that obedience in the Christian life -- what we do -- is critical; and worshiping Jesus is critical.
God is not old. He just always is.
"Therefore, you correct little by little those who trespass, and remind and warn them of the things wherein they sin, that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord."
-- Wisdom 12:2
The reason Hell is bad is NOT its undesirable location 📌 or poor climate control 😓🔥.
It's bad because its inhabitants are in a fixed state of mind or soul that opposes the love of God. It is eternal hopelessness, the irreversible deprivation of all goodness by their own choice in this life.
Likewise, heaven is not a location; it's our immediate face-to-face relationship (as it were) with our Creator and Father, who fills our every hope and desire with his love ❤.
Don't presume your eternal fate:
✝️ "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).
Because the stakes are so high, the most important hour of life is the hour of death.
Examine your conscience and pray an act of contrition every day 🙏, because you never know when that last hour will come for you. 💀
