ym central’s last things semester unit #4: heaven, hell ... 04 - heaven hell a… · we will...

The Last Things Semester Unit #4: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory 1

YM Central’s Last Things Semester Unit #4: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory By Eric J. Westby Copyright © 2006 YM Central Publications. All rights reserved. Unless stated, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without first obtaining written permission of the copyright owner. Further copies can be obtained at http://www.ymcentral.com. YM Central grants parishes permission to duplicate this document for the sole purpose of implementing it in their parish setting. Welcome to the Last Things Semester, Unit #4: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. This product includes: I. A Youth Group Meeting - An evangelistic session for teens of all Faiths. II. A ‘Going-Deeper’ Meeting – A catechetical session for teens who want to draw

closer to Christ. God bless you as you help bring young people closer to Christ and His Church. May this meeting be a blessing to you, your staff, and your teens. All references taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1965, 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

I. Youth-Group Meeting Outline

A. Goal for the Session

Always begin by clearly defining what you want to accomplish.

This meeting will attempt to help the teens understand the basic differences between heaven, hell and purgatory. It will give the teens an opportunity to examine their own lives and begin to evaluate them based on our eternal destiny. We will invite the teens to not settle for spiritual immaturity and commit themselves to loving Jesus above all else.

B. References

1. Questions in the Mind of A Teen

Be sure to know your audience. Brainstorm as many questions they may have about this topic. Some might include:


a. Why would a good God send someone to hell? b. Why is it essential that we believe that hell exists? Can I not believe in it and still

be a good Catholic? c. What is it like in heaven? Will I still have my own personality and individuality? d. Where are heaven, hell, and purgatory?

e. Why not just coast along and go to purgatory?

2. From The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Know what the Church teaches and why by studying the following references from the Catechism. The Catechism discusses heaven, hell and purgatory in paragraphs #1023-1037. Summary of the Catechism.

Immediately after we die, our souls have the option of going to one of three places. (In this sense, the ‘place is not in a geographical location on earth.) Option number one is heaven. Heaven is where we will see God face to face. It is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ. Every person in heaven has been perfectly cleansed of sin. Once we are in heaven, we will be there for eternity. Option number two is purgatory. This is the condition of final purification after death. If a person has died in a condition of venial sin, and still has temporal punishment due to sin, they are purged of that punishment in purgatory. Think of ‘temporal punishment due to sin’ as the bad effects of sin. Every sin brings with it guilt and bad effects. We overcome our guilt when we fess up to it and ask Jesus for His forgiveness. Even with His forgiveness, we have to overcome any effects of the sin. This is what penance does; this is what purgatory does. Once we are in purgatory, we cannot go to hell. We will eventually arrive one day into heaven when all the effects of sin have been washed away from us. Option number three is hell. Hell exists; it is not the result of medieval fairy-tales. We only go to hell if we chose to go there. Once in hell, our stay is eternal. God wants no one to go to hell, but will allow them to go there by their own free will.

3. Important Point to Keep In Mind Most teens do not believe that sin is really that bad. As a consequence, the reality of hell is not even on their radar. The idea that their actions will have an impact on their eternity is foreign to most teens. Through the Natural Law (God’s moral law stamped into our nature as humans),

http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm#II


each one of us has an innate ability to know that doing evil is not good for us. The problem is that we cannot hear our conscience speaking to us, and it becomes difficult to do good. Most teens today have had no formation in conscience. They do not know how to listen to God’s quiet voice within them. An important part of our entire outreach to teens is helping them to develop the ability to listen to their conscience and chose good over evil. In a certain sense, every meeting you ever have with them is about helping them to tune in to the voice of Christ speaking to them in their conscience.

4. Semester Resource

Dr. Peter Kreeft. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990.

5. Important Related Topics Our beliefs are all interconnected, forming One Faith in the One Christ. Conscience. Doing good is connected with getting to heaven. In order to do good, we have to follow our conscience. We are bound to follow our conscience at all times. Our conscience is our inner moral coach that encourages us to do good and avoid evil. God placed it in our hearts. The key comes into the formation of conscience. We are bound to form it in truth, not through popular opinion. Jesus is One Who can best form our conscience. Sin. When it comes to our eternal salvation, our actions matter. We will be judged based on what we do and based on our response to God. Sin is the only factor that can cause us to lose our eternal salvation. Sin is the choice we make to rebel against God, either in word, thought, deed or an act of omission. God will not just look at our hearts, but at our actions as well as our intentions. Our actions will truly reveal what is in our hearts. This is why it is important to avoid sin, especially mortal (deadly) sin. Judgment. Immediately after we die, the Lord will judge us. This is known as the individual or particular judgment. It is at this point that we will go to either heaven, hell or purgatory. At the end of this age will come the Last Judgment. We will not be re-judged at this time, but the judgment of every person will be made clear and known.

C. Creative Theme

In putting together your meeting with teens, remember that room environment, icebreaker games and using skits/videos can help bring the content to their level. While we believe it is best for you to come up with the creative element yourself, here is a potential ideal:


How to build Heaven, Purgatory and Hell. One of the most popular ways to teach about heaven, hell and purgatory to the teens is to take them there…figuratively. This meeting is an opportunity for you to take three rooms and create heaven, hell and purgatory. Use your imagination with this. The purpose of this is to have the teens feel what each room is like. Divide your group up into thirds, placing each group in one of the rooms. Give each group a guide person to walk them from room to room. Allow them to spend three to five minutes in the room, then have their guide take them into the next room. A person who is an expert at Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ (in which Dante describes heaven, hell and purgatory) will be a great resource for this activity. Heaven is very posh. There should be nice carpet, team members dressed as saints, angels, with one team member (or your priest) dressed as St. Peter at the doors. It should have a party and banquet atmosphere, with good food to eat, Christian music playing, and a (empty) throne/chair for God. Have a fog machine so that the fog can cover the floor, giving it an ‘in the clouds’ look. Purgatory is mediocre. There is no food, the room is plain, with no music, a bit on the cold side, with team members playing those in purgatory. They should feel like they are waiting around, cleaning the room, sweeping and doing the windows as an act of charity. If possible, have the room in a place where they can see the party in heaven, but cannot enter it. Occasionally have St. Peter invite a person into heaven. Hell is hot and unpleasant. Have the room be on the hot side. There are a couple of different ways you can go about the music. You could have loud heavy metal music playing; or you could have kids music, such as ‘It’s A Small World’ repeating over and over again. Have red cellophane on the lights to give it a hell feel. Team members can be demons, with one team member (or your youth minister) as the devil with a pitchfork. The demons should be constantly arguing with each other, and the demons should run in fear from the devil.

D. Opening/Discussion Starters/Icebreakers: Led by _____ (5 minutes) After gathering all the teens and team members, begin by dividing everyone into small groups. Once they are in small groups, have them discuss the following questions to help them get to know each other: To begin this session, have the teens complete the ‘Your Plan for Heaven’ worksheet below. Copy it and make it available for all the teens.

Your Plan for Heaven On your own, rate each statement from a scale of 1-10, ‘1’ meaning you disagree completely, ‘10’ meaning you agree completely. Be ready to explain why you gave each statement that rating.


I want to go to heaven. _____

Going to heaven is more important to me than: My homework _____ My job _____ My car _____ Being popular _____ Going to a good university _____ Feeling comfortable _____

To get to heaven, I will:

Go to Mass weekly _____ Love my enemies _____ Read the Bible _____ Pray on my own _____ Forgive quickly those who have wronged me _____ Live purely _____ Believe what the Church teaches _____ Invite others to Church whenever possible. _____ Go to confession on a monthly basis. _____

When they are done, have the teens explain why they scored themselves the way they did.

E. Teaching: Given by _____________________ (10 minutes)

1. When someone asks you ‘What do you want to do with your life?’, the most popular answers are probably ‘get a good job’, ‘go to a good college’, ‘raise a good family’, and ‘be a good person’. These are all great answers, but there is an answer that is better than them all. For the follower of Jesus, the answer to ‘What do you want to do with your life?’ is to love Jesus and be with Him eternally in heaven. This is the answer that must shape every action we take. What we want to look at now is the options that can happen to a person’s soul after they die. The options are heaven, purgatory, or hell.


2. Let’s begin by looking at the place that we should all long for, heaven. Heaven is

the community after death of all who are in Christ. The path to heaven is simple (not necessarily easy). We are born into the world as orphans, and we must end up as God’s children. Being in heaven is simply being one of God’s children. God loves everyone as if they were the only one who ever existed. Jesus would have died for us if we were the only one who ever existed. Jesus’ death on the Cross showed us the demands of being a child of God. To be a child of God means to be free from sin, imitating our heavenly Father. So the question is really, ‘How do I become a child of God?” There are two conditions for becoming God’s child. First, you must be born again in God’s family through baptism (John 3:5). This is the way God set up for us to be saved, but getting baptized brings with it responsibilities and obligations. Those responsibilities include giving control of our life over to Jesus, avoiding sin and doing good. It includes believing what Jesus has taught and shown us, and trusting Him that He will be stronger than our death. This sounds simple, but it is a life-long process. If we die in a condition of total freedom from sin, then we will enter heaven after we die. Heaven is the place where we can look upon God’s face. There is no suffering or pain in heaven. Our deepest longings, everything we ever really wanted, are fulfilled there. In heaven, all the effects of sin have been cleansed from us. We will be in heaven for all eternity, and each day will get better and better.

3. God loves us so much that He wants us to be purified from all the effects that sin has

had on our lives because He loves us and wants us to be healed. This is where purgatory comes in. Purgatory is the state of final purification from sin after death. God loves us so much that He won’t let us settle for mediocrity: He wants us to be as loving as He is, even if that causes us to change. Sometimes change is difficult. When it comes to sin, every sin has with it guilt and effects. Let’s look at this example: If I am throwing a baseball to a friend, and I break his window (even accidentally), then I must ask for his forgiveness. I take responsibility for my mistake. When I confess this to my friend, and he forgives me, I am washed away from my guilt. There is still one problem: The window is broken. I am obligated to make up for the bad I did and help repair it. Sin works the exact same way. When I sin, I have both guilt and bad effects. God wants to have a total victory over sin in our lives, and He will help cleanse us of not only the guilt but the effects of sin. In reality, our sole reason for existing on earth is so we can be made pure, purified from the effects of sin and made holy in order to get to heaven. Earth is our first chance at being purged of sin. If we have the desire to be holy, but have not succeeded in becoming pure, then God allows us to continue that process after we die. This process of overcoming the effects of our sin after we die is called purgatory. Everyone who goes to purgatory will eventually make it to heaven: They will not go to hell. They are purified in purgatory from the effects of all their sins they committed on earth. God does not want us to have any sin, or any effects of sin, on us as we enter heaven. Purgatory is much more difficult to go through than purifying ourselves here on earth: In purgatory, we can actually have a glimpse of heaven yet we are not able to go to heaven immediately. Those in purgatory rely on the prayers of the living to help get them to heaven.


4. Hell is the place where those who die in mortal sin are separated from God for all eternity. Hell is often difficult for us to accept because we have a hard time believing that a good God would allow anyone to suffer for an eternity. This is the case with hell: It exists, and anyone in hell would be there for an eternity, forever separated from God. The Church has never formally said anyone is in Hell. That kind of judgment alone will be done by God. But God doesn’t send people to hell unless they really want to go there. By people’s own actions and choices, they send themselves to hell. It is important to remember that God will never reward anyone’s evil actions with good: God doesn’t want anyone to suffer for eternity, buy will allow them to make their own decisions with lasting and eternal consequences. No one ever goes to hell by accident. If someone is in hell, it was because they did not want to be with God.

F. Testimony: Given by ______________________ (5 minutes)

Have an adult team member give a sharing about coming to grips with the reality of heaven, hell and purgatory.

G. Small Groups (15 minutes)

1. (If applicable, per the ‘Creative Theme’ above) Describe your experience in each room (the heaven, hell and purgatory rooms).

2. What questions do you have about what heaven, hell and purgatory are like?

Describe.

3. If you were to die right now, where do you think you would go: Heaven, hell or purgatory? Why? Where would you want to go? Why?

4. Why does it often seem that doing good and getting to heaven is difficult, but that

doing evil and going to hell is easy?

5. Given your answers on ‘Your Plan for Heaven’, select one-two areas you want to grow in that will help you better focus on heaven.

H. Large Group Discussion: Led by _________________ (10 minutes) Choose one or two questions from the small groups to use in the large group discussion.

I. Recap: Led by Youth Minister (5 minutes) Always end your meeting by summarizing the key point in a concise manner.


Avoid hell and purgatory at all costs.

Let’s just get to the point: Everything we have ever wanted in life is in heaven. We are tempted to talk ourselves into spiritual mediocrity. By ‘mediocrity’, we mean settling. We often want to settle when it comes to our faith in Jesus. We do not want to be holy, or go to Mass, or pray, or hang out with Christians, or etc. We become really good at coming up with excuses as to why we do not have to practice the faith. We must strive for spiritual perfection, in which we want heaven and nothing else. Having this focus can happen when we put hell and purgatory in their proper perspective. Hell is just terrible: Imagine how trapped we would feel knowing that we will never see God and never have any joy or happiness…for all eternity. (That’s a place we don’t want to be.) Purgatory is not that bad, but it is not the place for where we want to strive. Getting to purgatory would be a temporary stay, but still one that has a certain amount of suffering and sadness at knowing we still cannot see God. If you and I commit to spiritual perfection, it will be a difficult road, but one that God will help us with at all times. We will never walk that road without Jesus. Let us have the grace to stay focused at all times on heaven, and to avoid becoming spiritually lazy.

J. Closing Prayer: Led by ________________ (10 minutes)

Commitment to Spiritual Excellence.

Invite the teens to enter into a prayerful and quiet attitude. Set the environment in your meeting space by dimming the lights, creating a prayer area with a Bible and Icon/Sacred Image, and either playing a prayerful song or some instrumental prayerful music in the background.

Begin by proclaiming Romans 8:18:

Romans 8:18. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Invite the teens to make a commitment to follow Jesus at all times and to make heaven their number one goal in life. For many this will be a first-time commitment; for others this will be a reminder of a previous commitment. If they are willing to commit to Jesus over any people or things in their lives, invite them to stand where they are sitting. Have the adult team members spread out throughout the room. Then invite the teens to come forward to the team members to get blessed by the core team members with holy water. Have the team member make the sign of the Cross on the teen’s forehead with the holy water. When they are done, ask them to sit back down.

End with time for intentions and the Hail Mary.


K. Announcements and Snacks

Take this time with your teens to inform them of any upcoming events and to 'hang out' with them. Don't forget to have food and drinks available! Be sure to make an open invitation to all teens to come to this unit’s following ‘Going Deeper’ meeting.

Running Time: 60 minutes


II. ‘Going Deeper’ Meeting Outline

A. Meeting Goal

Always begin by clearly defining what you want to accomplish.

Using the Scriptures, we will examine the Church’s beliefs on heaven, purgatory and hell. We will use these verses to look at the anti-Catholic objections to each of them. God wants no one to go to hell, but allows us the free decision to reject Him. We have nothing to fear with our eternal destiny. If we stay close to Jesus, He will help us get to heaven and spend our eternity with Him.

B. Scriptural References In addition to the references listed in the ‘Youth Group’ session above, refer also to the following Scripture verses.

Scripture Passages on Heaven.

Matthew 13:44. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Matthew 16:27. For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.

Matthew 25:46. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.


1 Corinthians 13:13.


For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.

1 John 3:2. Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Revelation 22:3-4. 3 There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; 4 they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.

Scripture Passages on Purgation and Purgatory

2 Maccabees 12:45 (RSV). But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.

Matthew 5:21-26. 21 "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, `You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; 26 truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

Matthew 12:32. And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.


1 Corinthians 3:15. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Peter 1:7. …so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:16-17. 16 If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal.

Revelation 21:27. But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Scripture Passages on Hell.

Matthew 7:13-14. 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 13:41-42. 41 The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

Matthew 16:26. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?


Mark 9:43-48. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10. 6 since indeed God deems it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

Revelation 20:10. …and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

C. Gathering/Welcome and Warm-up: (20 minutes)

Take the time to help the teens make a mental ‘shift’ from their daily activities to receiving the Word of God. Using a prayerful setting in your room, use the following sample activities to help them transition to prayerful attentiveness: • Sing three-four upbeat praise and worship songs (done live, if possible); • Sing two-three prayerful songs;


• Proclaim the Scripture passage for the evening, Revelation 22:3-4;

Revelation 22:3-4 3 There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; 4 they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.

• Allow for some time for open intentions, ending with an ‘Our Father’, ‘Hail Mary’ and

a ‘Glory Be’; • Introduce any first-time people at your meeting; • In groups of three, share one way you experienced Christ this week; if time permits,

have the teens then share their experiences in the large group.

D. For Starters: (10 minutes)

Clearly articulate the purpose of the meeting, then examine the common questions surrounding these passages. • Tonight’s Main Point: Begin by briefly stating the main point of your entire

session. Go back to this point time and time again throughout the night: John Paul II said it best: Do not fear. When we are close to Jesus, we have no reason to be afraid of death or our eternity. Heaven is possible, not by our own power, but through Jesus’ help.

• The Anti-Catholic Position: Next, begin by briefly describing the anti-Catholic position: What anti-Catholic attacks do people make against the existence of either heaven, purgatory, or hell? Some of the arguments against them include: o Heaven: It does not exist because nothing exists after we die. o Purgatory: Purgatory is just a Catholic invention and is not in the Bible. o Hell: A good God would not send someone to eternal damnation. We will put together response to these issues later in this session.

E. From the Scriptures: (35 minutes)


Spending time soaking in the Scriptures.

• Now that you have looked at the common questions, break open for the teens the

Scriptural story: Background: Heaven, purgatory and hell are all very real places. They represent the real destiny that each one of us will have at the moment of our death. Jesus will do everything He can to help us get to heaven, except to force it on us. God allows sin and death to exist now, but it is all temporary. God is working to defeat sin and death totally. (Have the teens open their Bibles and read the passage with you.) Read Revelation 22:3-4.


Ask the group of teens the following questions: o What strikes you about this passage?

o Why do you think God is still allowing us to experience sin and death? Why has

He not ended this age and gotten us to this point described in Revelation 22:3-4?

• Quiet Time: Divide your group up into three. Each group has to make a presentation, based on the Scriptures passages, on either heaven, purgatory or hell. In addition to answering the issues listed above in the ‘Anti-Catholic Position’, have the teens note as many characteristics as possible about their topic (heaven, purgatory, or hell). Note with the passages on purgatory, that we do not find the word ‘purgatory’ in the Bible. Take solace, for we do not find the word ‘Trinity’ in the Bible, and yet it is the central belief in all our teachings. The roots of the teaching will be in the bible; the word ‘purgatory’ describes a reality that is in the Bible, even though the word itself is not found there. Scripture Passages on Heaven.

Matthew 13:44. Matthew 16:27. Matthew 25:46. Romans 18:8. 1 Corinthians 13:13.


1 John 3:2. Revelation 22:3-4.

Scripture Passages on Purgation and Purgatory

2 Maccabees 12:45 (RSV). Matthew 5:21-26. Matthew 12:32. 1 Corinthians 3:15. 1 Peter 1:7. 1 John 5:16-17. Revelation 21:27.

Scripture Passages on Hell.

Matthew 7:13-14. Matthew 13:41-42. Matthew 16:26. Mark 9:43-48. John 3:16. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10. Revelation 20:10.

• Small Groups: In groups of four to five, have the teens discuss what they got from

the above Scriptures verses, sharing with their small group. • Connecting the Dots: Have each small group make their presentation. Add the

following points as needed to their presentations: Scripture Passages on Heaven. 1. Heaven is reserved for all those who die in Christ. It is the place

where we are with Him forever. It is a very important task in life for us to know our purpose. As followers of Jesus, our purpose is to live totally for Him. Everything we do is about Jesus because He is God and wants the best for us. In particular, the ‘best’ for us is heaven. Nothing in this world compares to heaven. We need to make Jesus, and being with Him in heaven, our priority in life.

Matthew 13:44. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.



2. In heaven, our deepest longings will be fulfilled. Many times people

ask if they will be bored in heaven. It seems like an awful long time to be in one place. Because God is infinitely good, we will never get tired on being in heaven. If we could live forever on earth, we would eventually get tired of it. No sporting events, bands, movies, or anything else is so worth it that we would want to do it for ever. When we are in heaven, we will see God clearly, our intellects will be clear and we will see God face to face. There will be no restrictions on our relationship with God. In a real way, we are created for heaven.

1 Corinthians 13:13. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.


3. We will get to heaven based on what we do, our actions. We are

judged by the way we responded to the truth. We are judged by whether we responded to Christ or not. We are judged by whether we did good or evil. Our actions are not meaningless. Jesus wants us to transform everything we do based on His love for us. He wants us to put our faith in Him into action because actions speak louder than words.

Matthew 16:27. For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.

4. Once we are in heaven, we are there forever. (Once we are in hell, we

are there forever.)

Matthew 25:46. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.


5. Nothing sinful will enter heaven. No effects of sin will be in heaven. God wants to totally cleanse us of our sin, not wanting sin to have any presence in us.


Cleansing people totally from sin is a very important concept to understand, for it sets the stage for the need for and existence of purgatory.

Scripture Passages on Purgation and Purgatory 1. Purgatory is the name the Church gives to our state of final

purification from sin after we die. The Church has taught, since the time of the Apostles, that we can still work out our salvation after we die. Let us remind ourselves of the reason for purgatory. When each of us sins, there are two results, our guilt and the effects of the sin. By our guilt, we mean our responsibility for the sin; by effects, we refer to the damage we cause ourselves and others. These effects are known as the ‘temporal punishment due to sin’. These are not eternal punishments, but temporary ones. They are real punishments, that is, bad consequences of the evil we do. The Bible does not use the word purgatory, and we should not be alarmed by this. The Bible also does not use the word ‘Trinity’, but the Church names God ‘Trinity’ to express a truth in the Scriptures. So too, the Church uses the world ‘purgatory’ to express a truth that exists in seed form in the Scriptures. Neither a person in a state of mortal sin, nor any of us who suffer from the effects of previously forgiven sins, will be allowed to enter heaven. If we die in a state of mortal sin, we go to hell. If we die have not having done our penance for our temporal punishment of venial sins, we have an opportunity do our penance, working through the effects and attachments we still have to sin, in purgatory. Think of it this way. God does not want any sin to remain in us. He hates sin. He is not going to allow us to have any of its effects in us because He loves us to much. When we go to purgatory, it is really a special mercy from God. He loves us so much that He will do anything to help us overcome sin and its effects – even by helping us after we die. We see in this passage from Revelation that nothing unclean will enter heaven.

Revelation 21:27. But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.


Our stay in purgatory is not forever, only temporary. If we go to purgatory, we cannot go backwards into hell, but only forwards into heaven. If we get to heaven, we cannot go backwards to purgatory or hell.

2. Scripture clearly supports our need to be purged of sin. This passage in Matthew tells us of paying for our sins…and then getting out of jail. It tells us of a temporary stay, as opposed to hell which is permanent.

Matthew 5:21-26. 21 "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, `You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; 26 truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

3. This passage shows us that some sins will be forgiven in the next age,

that is, after our death. Again, this cannot happen in hell, because our punishment there is eternal.

Matthew 12:32. And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

4. While this passage does not refer directly to purgatory, it does remind us of the

process of purgation. Purgation is not a foreign concept to Christianity. Purgation means that we are purged, or cleansed, of our sin.

1 Corinthians 3:15. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Peter 1:7.


…so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

5. This passage from St. John’s first letter does not speak of purgatory, but of the

difference between mortal (deadly) and venial (forgivable, non-deadly) sin. Many non-Catholic Christians do not make this distinction, and as a result they see no need for purgatory. Purgatory exists to cleanse us of any effects left in us from venial sin. Those who die in a state of mortal sin go to hell.

1 John 5:16-17. 16 If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal.

6. The Body of Christ is not separated by death. We can still have

an influence on those in purgatory. We should constantly be praying for those in purgatory. Our prayers help them advance in holiness, just as our prayers help each other on earth. Praying for the dead is not a ‘Catholic invention’. The Jewish people were praying for the dead even before the time of Jesus.

2 Maccabees 12:45 (RSV). But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.

Scripture Passages on Hell. 1. Hell is the place of eternal separation from God after death. It is

real and it exists. Jesus talks about it as a warning to us all. No one should ever want to go there. It is worse than we can ever imagine. God wants no one to go to hell.

John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.


2. Jesus tells us that it is easy to go to hell…at least on the surface. Because of our fallen nature, sin looks appealing. It is easy to sin, and difficult to do good.

Matthew 7:13-14. 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The truth, however, is that once a person is in a state of sin, they become slaves to sin and addiction. It may be easy to get in a condition of sin, but it is very difficult to get out of it. As one falls into temptation, sin has more and more of a bind on the person. They have decided for sin and cannot break it.

3. Those who go to hell do not go there by accident; they go there because they chose to do evil. Our actions are very important here, for by sinning we can lose our soul.

Matthew 13:41-42. 41 The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

God does not reward evil with good. He would not be a good God if He did. He gives people exactly what they deserve, and His judgments are just and perfect. Those in hell are there forever.

4. We should examine all our actions with care, making sure that we stay clear of sin.

Matthew 16:26. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?

5. In this passage, Jesus gives us a very radical passage. God does not want us to

literally dismember ourselves, but He wants us to avoid hell at all costs.

Mark 9:43-48. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if


your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

6. We have no evidence that anyone in particular is in hell. The

Scriptures are clear, however, that the Lord will allow people to go there, if they so chose. Many have asked if, when (hopefully) we get to heaven, if we will be upset that if a loved one goes to hell. The answer is that we will not be upset, because that person would have made his own free decision to reject God. It will be their own fault if they go there.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10. 6 since indeed God deems it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

7. The reign of satan, sin and death is temporary, on the way out. At

the end of this age, the devil will be defeated, never to hurt another of God’s creatures. In the end, God wins, satan looses.

Revelation 20:10. …and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

F. Real-Life Application: (10 minutes)

• Role Play. Have the teens role play responses to the following statements. Have two teens volunteer, one to give the anti-Catholic position, the other to give the Catholic position. Have a different group for each of these statements. Give each group two to three minutes, adding in material after each role play to fill in the gaps.


o Heaven: It does not exist because nothing exists after we die. o Purgatory: Purgatory is just a Catholic invention and is not in the Bible. o Hell: A good God would not send someone to eternal damnation

• Recap, led by Youth Minister The sure way to heaven is Jesus. He will get us there. In Him, we have nothing to worry about. Heaven is what Jesus has in store for each of us. We are called to make Jesus’ will the most important part of our lives. St. Faustina Kowalska

I am nourished by your will, O Mighty One! Your will is the goal of my existence (Catholics Speak Today, April 15).

To do this, we have to be honest about putting things in front of Him. We have to continually die to ourselves and allow Him to bring us to new life.

G. Closing Prayer: (15 minutes)

Invite the teens to enter into a prayerful and quiet attitude. Set the environment in your meeting space by dimming the lights, creating a prayer area with a Bible and Icon/Sacred Image, and either playing a prayerful song or some instrumental prayerful music in the background. If possible, conclude your evening in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Have some time of silent prayer.

Memorize the following Scripture verse:


In a prayerful manner, repeat the verse slowly with your teens a few times. Take a moment of silence when you are done praying with the verse.

End with time for intentions and the Hail Mary.

H. Announcements and Snacks


Take this time with your teens to inform them of any upcoming events and to 'hang out' with them. Don't forget to have food and drinks available!

Running Time: 90 minutes

ym central’s last things semester unit #4: heaven, hell ... 04 - heaven hell a… · we will...

Documents