Word of the Week

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Hell: Geenna (GK.): meaning “Gehenna”, the valley directly southwest of Jerusalem, or “the unquenchable fire”

“Hellis the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed, reserved for those who refuse by their own free choice to believe and be converted from sin, even to the end of their lives” (CCC glossary, 881). Although God predestines no one for hell, such a refusal determines the eternal loss of both body and soul (CCC 1034, 1037). Thus, it is imperative to live a life of freedom in scope of our eternal destiny (CCC 1036).

The term Gehenna, or hell, is referred to 13 times in the New Testament, along with several other associations to hell that speak of “outside darkness” (Mt.8:12) and “furnace of fire” (Mt.13:42). Gehenna, in particular, is used as the diabolical symbol of Hell. In principle, there are two historical connections made with Gehenna, one in the Old Testament and one in NT. In OT antiquity, “Gehenna was the Greek rendering of the place where the Canaanite cult worshipped the idols of Molech and Baal by burning children in sacrifice (Jer.7:30-32, 19:1-6, 32-35)” (Hahn and Minch, 35). In the contemporary setting of Jesus, Gehenna was a geographic place that served as a garbage dump where fire was perpetually burning waste products and rubbish. “Jesus evokes this site so that we might see that hell is more than a place of purgation but one of fiery punishment (Mt.5:22, 18:9, 23:33) (Hahn and Minch, 35). Ultimately, the message is that the bodies and souls of the wicked will suffer a heightened sense of pain in hell for all eternity (Is.33:14, 66:24, Rev.20) (Hahn and Minch, 35).

There are two very important experiential realities to the teachings of the Church on Hell. First, the pain of loss: the pain of complete separation from God, and second, the pain of sense: the material pain of fire. The pain of loss is more than the absence of bliss, but the total void of the soul that was made enjoyable for infinitive truth. The pain of sense is the tangible contact that we will have with eternal fire (Hontheim, Hell). In our temporal reality, we suffer from two great pains: the pain of loneliness and the pain of the flesh. These material pains are made exponentially more acute in the immaterial world—the afterlife. We must reflect, generalize and discern the inner meaning of these great truths of our faith, as they ought to redirect our lives towards God in all things.

“If we always think of hell, we shall not soon fall into it. For this reason, God has threatened punishment; if it was not attended with great advantage to think of it, God would not have threatened it. But because the remembrance of it is able to work great good, for this reason He has put into our souls the terror of it, as a wholesome medicine.”

- St. John Chrysostom

Primary Texts Consulted

•  Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
•  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
• Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark, RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2001.
Hontheim, Joseph. "Hell." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 18 Jul. 2008 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm

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