2020

The line is worth repeating: “This he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive.” Jesus issues his invitation to “anyone” who thirsts for salvation. To those who believe he promises salvation through the gift of the Spirit.  

Most people are familiar with Pope Saint John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, two of the most important Catholic theologians and leaders of the twentieth century. But less well-known is the nineteenth-century theologian who had a profound impact on the work of both these great thinkers: Fr. Matthias Joseph Scheeben.  

The Church encourages us to hope and pray for all those we’ve lost. She asks us not to presume that anyone has gone straight to heaven or hell, but rather to petition God with loving confidence on their behalf.  

In death, the divide between hope and fear is unbridgeable. Each of the waiting dead knows what will happen to them at the time of the Final Judgment. They know if their body will be resurrected to death or to life. Those who hope, hope with certainty.