Mystical Word – Second Sunday of Easter 2025
Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 5:12-16 | Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 | John 20:19-31
We reflect on Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory.
Death is not the end. When Jesus breathes on the gathered disciples, he gives them the Holy Spirit, the very essence of Heaven. After all, Heaven is the divine life and glory. In this brief reflection we will ask the big question: what happens when we die? We will reflect all-too-briefly on Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. We know precious little about life beyond death, but we can say that death is not the end. The Risen Jesus is the definitive promise from God that death will not be our end. The Gospel assures us that our common end is the Most High, good, and gracious God.
To understand the doctrine of Hell, it is crucial to remember that God’s mercy is the last word in our lives. Divine love is the Eschaton, ancient Greek for “the End.” Therefore, the church has never and will never pronounce judgment on who is in hell. There’s always the hope that Hell is empty, because God is mercy. Still, the doctrine tries to account for human freedom, specifically the freedom to reject God. As such, Hell is a theological symbol of the sinner’s self-chosen ultimate fate, allowing for the possibility that any person can be forever frozen in the choice of evil and self-isolation. Also, because we long for evil to be defeated, Hell represents God’s ultimate judgment on all the evil perpetrated by people through history. Hell forbids representing God’s love as tolerating or compromising with evil.
We must stop thinking of Hell in terms of punishment, in metaphors drawn from the criminal justice system, that is, from our prisons. We forget that the fundamental reference point is always the gratuitous mercy of God. We must hope that no one will be damned, but that all will be reconciled with God. The last thing determining the fate of the sinner is not our concept of justice, nor even the possibility of refusing God and being fixed in evil. The first and last reality is the limitless and incomprehensible mercy of God. Even the most isolated human being is never isolated from God.
Now, Purgatory is the symbol of a possible divine transformation beyond time. It is not a time of punishment, nor should we understand Purgatory in an accounting way. God does not go by some heavenly ledger in the administration of an economy of scarce grace. Still, we must be realistic. People die without being “finished” or in any way fully transformed. Purgatory is about purging the soul of any lingering attachments to anything less than the Mystery of God. Thus, it is a state of growth and purification of love after death rather than a state of paying penalties for one’s sins. We must interpret Purgatory in light of God’s saving mercy. It refers to our unfinished or untransformed existence being exposed to the living flame of the Spirit.
Now, no words can ever adequately describe Heaven. We can say it is the mystery of consciously being in God’s Presence eternally, but it is a paltry description. Heaven exceeds our ability to know because it is eternal life within the Triune Mystery of God. It is when we enter into the Trinitarian relationships fully, joyfully, and finally. It is the ultimate state of being in the love of God without end. Catholic tradition calls it the “Beatific Vision.” As such, it is a full and nondual sharing in God’s own knowing. The vision of God is not beholding the Trinity “from outside” as a divine object. To see God is to be in God and to be God all because of God. In Heaven God is all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28). Yet, God does not cease to be Incomprehensible Mystery. Heaven is being caught up in overflowing delight in Divine Mystery, which is inexhaustibly attractive in its infinite expanse and is eternally unfolding.
The rub is Heaven and Hell begin now! Pope John Paul II said they are states of consciousness we can inhabit right now. This is the significance of Jesus breathing the Spirit upon the disciples. We don’t try to get to Heaven, rather Heaven comes to us! Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. There is no need, then, to try to get to Heaven. Heaven is already here! God is with us, within us, and one with us right here and right now. The key to living Heaven here and now is to do what Jesus says. He says to receive the Spirit. Are we open to Heaven-consciousness? Are we desiring God? Do we consciously choose to be present in God through faith? If we don’t, we may come to see how Hell is a state of mind, too. If we do, we can discover just how true it is that Heaven is available this very moment.