2ndly, I forgot something in my review below. Some years ago I read Fr. Benedict Groeshel's The Reform of the Renewal (Ignatius Press). Let me quote a piece from it:
While the battle between what are styled as traditional Catholics and liberal Catholics goes on apace, actual participation in the works of the Christian life, such as the observance of the Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount, actually diminish. On average, many suspect that those who consider themselves good Catholics-clergy, religious and laity-spend less time and energy on prayer, meditation and religious studies and on works of charity and justice ..."
This came to mind reading The Great Divorce because there was some reference to the possibility that one may be surprised at who one finds in Heaven and who one finds in Hell. The exact reference is vague, but the above quote came to mind as soon as I read it.
Now that I have spent so much time talking about others' books, let me just put in a plug for our books. .... Oremus pro invicem!
In the comment boxes below TS asks about the subject and comments: I just read on Pontifications blog this comment: "There is more good theology on this topic contained in C.S. Lewis' whimsical fantasy, 'The Great Divorce', than in a dozen theology books I have seen that try to figure out how to hold together the mercy and justice of God."
Yes! among other things. This point is made especially at the end, let me try to paraphrase: Heaven (or the happiness enjoyed by a soul in Heaven) can not be held hostage by Hell (or because a particular soul is damned.) But surely, read Lewis for the fuller and illustrated explanation.
Probably what struck me the stongest was the oft-"quoted" idea here that when (if) we reach Heaven we will see that Heaven started for us on earth; and if we go to Hell, we will see that our Hell started on earth. I have quoted this idea of Lewis' several times on Bethune Catholic without ever having read The Great Divorce. This idea is a central theme of the book, and while I did not use the idea in my posts erroneously per se, I didn't understand the idea sufficiently to give it justice.
Two points on this: 1) We should (through regular examines of conscience) determine those most prominent habits and tendencies which are barriers to Heaven-or which would not be compatible with a Heavenly existence. We can't just let these slide, but always be working on virtue to eliminate our sinfulness-lest we start to enjoy our vices more than God's love. 2) We should realize all is grace, and so let God's grace help us fan those embers of love in our hearts.
But mostly we should love God and man with all our power and trust God (leaving all worries of the day behind) with all that we have. Our level of love and trust determine our compatibility with Heaven.
And maybe all I have written before this last (in this post) is garbage. If our souls are not compatible with Heaven-we won't enjoy Heaven and will chose Hell. Our time on earth is the opportunity to we mold our future by our decisions-mostly decisions on whether to love and trust God or self.
Lewis' book explores these big ideas and also looks at several types of faults and shows how they are barriers to happiness in Heaven-and how it is our choice.
But read it yourself. 
It is short and easy reading.
What am I reading now? Well through the good luck of visiting a library just when they are cleaning the shelves for newer books, I came home the other day with a goldmine (and the price was real right). I have just started Louis de Wohl's last novel David of Jerusalem. (Sometimes I love deWohl's historical novels, sometimes I hate them. "Throne of the World" was my favorite. As I started it, I just noticed that I had started but never finished The Death of Christian Culture by John Senior. So I will read them in as much parallel as possible.
Oremus pro invicem!
1 comment:
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