RANDOM THOUGHTS Tuesday, September 01, 2020

Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,

I was going to write this RT last night but I went into the church basement to get some cat food, I love cats, and I missed the last step. Not a petty sight, but I didn’t break anything and this morning I feel AOK. I guess St. Francis was watching out for me.

I have been very busy, espeically with funerals. None of them have been from C 19. Just the regular stuff.

I got tested the other day before I can go into a nursing home and do mass and singalong. Came out NEGATIVE. Good news.

My diet is going very well. Down 8 pounds. Long way to go. Keep the prayers coming.

We moved the Spanish mass back into the church. As you know the Spanish have more kids than the English community. So the numbers are up. I would like to move the English mass back there also and think we can do so when the weather is cooler, like yesterday. We are getting a booster or something so the Wi-Fi will work from the church.

More stuff keeps coming in for the tag sale. Raffle tickets keep coming back. All good news.

The other day I was talking with a woman about my age and she told me when the church changed from Latin to our present church, a priest came into her class to answer some quesitons, I assume about the changes. She asked him what happened to the people who ate meat on Friday and went to hell. Where they still there? He told her, “Sit down. Shut up. Don’t be a troublemaker.” or words to that effect.

What a stupid answer! How about somehting like, “That’s a really good question. I don’t know the answer. What do you think?”

First of all, we don’t know what happens to anyone after they die. But we do know that the “good thief”on the cross with Jesus, who deserved to die because of his crimes/sins, got forgiven and made it into heaven.

No one, including the Pope, can say who is in heaven or hell. Thre is no secret list in the Vatican that has that info. God decides who gets in and who doesn’t.

All sins are not the same. Eating meat on Friday is not the same as killing someone for no good reason. If you have some secret divine info on who gets into heaven and who doesn’t, please let me know. We will write a book and makes all sort of money.

Let’s see what the Catechsim teaches.

“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire.’ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs” (CCC 1035).

In his 1994 book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Pope John Paul II wrote that too often “preachers, catechists, teachers . . . no longer have the courage to preach the threat of hell” (p. 183).

Concerning the reality of hell, the pope says, “In point of fact, the ancient councils rejected the theory . . . according to which the world would be regenerated after destruction, and every creature would be saved; a theory which abolished hell. . . . [T]he words of Christ are unequivocal. In Matthew’s Gospel he speaks clearly of those who will go to eternal punishment (cf. Matt. 25:46). [But] who will these be? The Church has never made any pronouncement in this regard” (pp. 185–6).

Thus, the issue that some will go to hell is decided, but the issue of who in particular will go to hell is undecided.

Below is a picture of my brother’s new cat. Luckily he/she stays outside all the time and is self sufficient. Ironically, this creature is call a Bob Cat.

My brother’s first name is Bob. .. Here kitti kitti.