Youth Catechism- Big Questions Flashcards
(2 cards)
What happens to us when we die?
In death, body and soul are separated. The body decays, while the soul goes to meet God and waits to be reunited with its risen body on the Last Day. [992-1004, 1016-1018] How the resurrection will take place is a mystery. An image can help us to accept it: When we look at a tulip bulb we cannot tell into what a marvelously beautiful flower it will develop in the dark earth. Similarly, we know nothing about the future appearance of our new body. Paul is nevertheless certain: “It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory” (1 Cor 15:43a).
But if God is love, how can there be a hell?
God does not damn men. Man himself is the one who refuses God’s merciful love and voluntarily deprives himself of (eternal) life by excluding himself from communion with God. [1036-1037] God yearns for communion even with the worst sinner; he wants everyone to convert and be saved. Yet God created man to be free and respects his decisions. Even God cannot compel love. As a lover he is “powerless” when someone chooses hell instead of heaven.
