Heaven: Taking It By Force

We Catholics are waging in the battle of good versus evil. Whether we like it or not, we are in the midst of an eternal war between heaven and hell, and we have the freedom to choose which side we fight on. There is no option of sitting this one out, so choosing: "neither" will put us default on the side of hell. It isn't a pleasant thought, and it isn't always comforting - but it is just and it is true.

Today is the feast of St. Pio of Pietreclina (aka Padre Pio). He was once asked what he thought of those folks who were too modern to believe in Hell, and he responded that "they will believe in it when they get there."  Isn't that the truth!

Or is it? We think we have it all figured out - we live our lives according to our version of the faith, maybe we believe in Hell and satan, maybe we don't, or maybe we believe in something, but it certainly isn't strong enough to trap us. We are fairly good people, we sin of course - everyone does, so in reality it isn't a big deal. We will get around going to confession one day. By the time we are old and ready to give up the "good life" we can really get down to some serious faith. The whole daily Mass, daily Rosary, etc... is just too much right now.

Heaven and Hell

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If I could convince other Catholics of one thing it would be that we are actually, really, truly, in the midst of spiritual warfare. That demons exist, the devil is real, and we are bombarded with temptation, deception and seduction every single day.

In Matthew 11:12 we read that the violent take Heaven by force. I know this verse has a lot of different interpretations, but I trust the patristics, especially St. Jerome: it is meant that by our sin we are not guranteed heaven, but through the battle of our spiritual life, through a pursuit of what Jerome calls "excellence" we just might obtain Heaven. Might. It isn't like Kindergarten where everybody wins. God is just, and a just God would not allow those that have chosen to live apart from God through their free will, to enter heaven just because. Therefore heaven is not a done deal, we have to work towards it, we have to work to perfect ourselves - we must take heaven by force for it is not given to us, or granted automatically.

I think that we are called the Church Militant because we are in a battle. We can't find Jerome's excellence on our own, we need the Angels and Saints, their intercessions and promptings, and of course we need the Grace of God. They will do their part, as long as we do ours. This battle isn't physical of course, Ephesians 6 tells us that it is against principalities and powers, which are types of angels - or demons. So we must pray, we must do penance, and we must seek the Sacred Heart of Christ. We can't do it on our own, so we might as well accept that we need the help and seek the best help we could ever ask for.

As part of the Church Militant we must do our part and accept the reality of our strife. We are locked in battle, and we do our God, our Church, and our comrades-in-arms any good if we attempt to "pretend away" the reality of the situation. Everything matters, everything in our spiritual life is part of the war. Our Sacramental participation, our prayer life, the lack thereof, our relationships, our penance, and our defense of the faith. It all matters. As I said, we really only have two choices. We either courageously stand up, pick up our sword, and storm heaven, or we build up the devil's side through our complacency, laziness, and sin.

We are the Church Militant, Hell exists, and regardless of what we believe - it serves us much better to storm of into this war, then to sit back pretending it doesn't exist and hoping that we are right. Like St. Pio said, "we will know when we get there."

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