Many of us, whether from personal experience or from watching depictions in television shows and movies, can remember scolding sermons of the “fire and brimstone” variety. These homilies focused on the horrors of hell with the hope that through passionate, fear-inducing messages, Christians might amend their sinful ways and move forward on the path of conversion toward a deeper love of Christ.
Today, many 21st century Americans find these types of sermons off-putting. We have become comfortable with our therapeutic culture that is attuned to people’s sensitivities. In a “Who am I to judge?” culture, few hear from the pulpit about the harsh reality of hell. As a result, many people have been lulled into what Ralph Martin calls “the fog of universalism.”
In his book Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward, Martin suggests that many Catholics wrongly believe in universalism, the idea that “broad and wide is the way that leads to heaven, and almost everybody is going that way; narrow is the door that leads to hell . . . and few there are who travel that way.” In fact, it is common today to hear people discuss those who have died with a confidence of the departed one being in heaven. “After all,” they assuredly state, “he was a good person. I mean, sure he had his faults, but it’s not like he was Hitler or anything.”
Of course, this understanding of heaven and hell is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. Jesus is clear that it is the narrow gate that leads to eternal paradise (Mt. 7:13), and not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 7:21). Similarly, in his book Seeking the Heart of Christ: Christian Reflections on the Interior Life, St. Claude La Colombière (1641-1682) leaves no doubt about the narrowness of the gate that leads to divine beatitude.
Readers will find Seeking the Heart of Christ to be brief yet challenging in its call to virtue, striking in its honesty, and cause for both prayer and reflection. Additionally, readers will take delight in the descriptive words he uses to portray the true stench of sin.
Admittedly, upon completing the book, I was left with a horror of the everlasting pains of hell. Yet, I also gained an increased desire to persevere in faith, to maintain a regular practice of confession, and to keep daily prayer and weekly (or more) Mass attendance a habit.
Today, the message of Divine Mercy is an important one. As Aquinas observes in the Summa Theologiae, “So in every work of God, viewed at its primary source, there appears mercy. In all that follows, the power of mercy remains, and works indeed with even greater force.”
Yet, with the valuable and growing popularity of the message of Divine Mercy, some Catholics have forgotten the reality of God’s justice, growing lax in their practice of confession, penance, and virtue. Likewise, many pastors have become hesitant to portray sin and God’s justice in terms that might offend the sensitivities of their parishioners.
Beginning with the opening chapters of Seeking the Heart of Christ, it becomes evident that this 17th century saint was not concerned with offending the sensitive ears of those who heard his sermons. Rather, he was concerned with saving souls by leading his fellow Christians out of sin and onto the path that leads to Christ.
In each of the brief chapters, St. Claude implores Christians to begin the practice of penance, virtue, prayer, regular Communion, and Confession without delay. He exhorts, “It is extravagance to defer repentance, since it is uncertain that one will have the leisure to do it.” In fact, so abhorrent is sin that he questions not only why people delay confession and penance, but also why “of all the resolutions that men form, there is none that one fails to keep more than that of offending God.”
For St. Claude, this offensive sin comes with a stench. He dramatically states that many sinners try to distract their pained conscience with ongoing pleasures—temporary carnal pleasures that serve as perfumes “in order to stop them from being suffocated by the reeking vapors which the dung of their conscience exhales.”
Additionally, with great insight, St. Claude acknowledges that “conscience is a judge; some refuse to obey this judge; others corrupt this judge; others make it die.”
The remedy? According to St. Claude, the remedy to sin is frequent Communion, humility, gratitude, and as St. Benedict teaches in his Rule, keeping death before our eyes daily.
Upon first reading of the book, some might suggest that it lacks teaching on mercy. However, with a closer reading, one discovers that mercy is not omitted. Rather, St. Claude clarifies a common misconception related to mercy. St. Claude states, “the Incarnation, which is the chief work of mercy, the excess—if one must speak so—of clemency, has lost many who have badly understood the grace which God has granted men in dying for them; they have [wrongly] believed that they could sin without punishment.” St. Claude does not deny God’s mercy, but he recognizes that many fall into a presumption of mercy, thereby hazarding their eternal salvation.
Although the overly scrupulous might be cautioned against reading this text, it is one that many pastors, deacons, religious, and lay persons will find to be of value. In today’s “I’m okay, you’re okay” culture, Ralph Martin suggests that the presumption of universal salvation takes the urgency out of evangelization. St. Claude’s reflections offer clarity to the confusion of universal salvation. He speaks clearly of Jesus’ teaching on the narrow gate (Mt. 7:13) while imploring readers to repent and move toward conversion without delay.
For anyone seeking a push to persevere in faith, a reminder of the horror of sin and hell, and some practical suggestions for developing the habits of virtue, this is a short yet powerful read—and a valuable tool for one’s spiritual journey.
Editor’s Note: The book discussed in this article, Seeking the Heart of Christ: Christian Reflections on the Interior Life, is available from TAN Books.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
