Catholic Parish of Lindfield-Killara Diocese of Broken Bay Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Church, Killara Holy Family Parish Church, Lindfield LINDFIELD: KILLARA: MASS TIMES: Saturday 6:00pm Saturday Vigil: 5:30pm Sunday: 8:15am Sunday: 9:15am 10:15am 12:00 (Chinese Community Mass) 6:00pm (for both our communities) Monday 9:15am 7:30am Tuesday 9:15am 7:30am Wednesday ~ ~ Please note changes for Thursday 12:15pm ~ August Friday ~ 9:15am Saturday 9:15am ~ SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: Saturdays 5:00 5:30pm (Lindfield) For 15 minutes after the 5:30pm Mass (Killara) *** Healing Mass for whole parish at 10am each 2nd Friday of each month TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 21 8-16 This week: Is. 66:18-21; Heb 2:5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:22-30 Next week: Sirach 3:17-20, 28-29; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24; Lk 14:1,7-14 Christians have always had a flare for telling people that they are outside God s love, outside of the Kingdom. And yet in today s Gospel, as in so many other passages, Jesus reminds his disciples that in fact it may be they who find themselves on the outer: that it may be we who are out of touch with who God is, and what the Kingdom is like: And those from east and west, from north and south, will take their places Jesus challenge is that we do not know the mysterious workings of God s love, and that therefore pointing the finger should be the last thing that disciples of the Kingdom are tempted to do. Fr Colin
2 Parish Staff and Contact Information We are the one parish of Lindfield-Killara containing our two distinct but collaborating and cooperating communities centred on our two churches at Killara and Lindfield. Holy Family Church: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church: Parish Priest: Fr Colin Blayney Cnr Pacific Hwy and Highfield Rd, Lindfield Cnr Fiddens Wharf Rd and Charles St, Killara colin@lindfieldkillara.org.au 9416 7195 Assistant Priest: Fr Thomas Alackakunnel thomas@lindfieldkillara.org.au 0421 406 162 Apart from the case of emergency please restrict the use of the above numbers to between 9:30am and 5:00pm. For office or routine enquiries please contact the Parish Office during office hours. PARISH OFFICE: Parish Secretary: Philita Marundan: philita@lindfieldkillara.org.au Address: Level 1, 2 Highfield Road (cnr Pacific Hwy) Lindfield NSW 2070 (Postal: PO Box 22, Lindfield NSW 2070) Ph: 9416 3702 Fax: 9416 3913 Email: parish@lindfieldkillara.org.au Parish Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9:30am-1:00pm and 1:30pm-4:00pm Catechist Coordinator (Primary Schools): Sue-Anne Sherwood Sacramental Programme Coordinator: Sue-Anne Sherwood Assistant Sacramental Programme Coordinator: Trish Rodgers Parish Bookkeeper: Alison Williams Parish Facilities Coordinator (voluntary): Anthony Cassidy sue-anne@lindfieldkillara.org.au 0416 141 508 sue-anne@lindfieldkillara.org.au 0416 141 508 trish@lindfieldkillara.org.au Parish Primary School: Holy Family School 2-4 Highfield Rd, Lindfield 2070 Ph: 9416 7200 Fax: 9416 9342 Principal: Mr Lou Dogao Email: info@holyfamily.nsw.edu.au School Website: www.hfldbb.catholic.edu.au/ Parish Website: www.lindfieldkillara.org.au Saturday 20 Aug 27 Aug Lindfield 6:00pm Fr Thomas Alackakunnel Fr Claude Mostowik msc Killara 5:30pm Fr Claude Mostowik msc Fr Thomas Alackakunnel Sunday 21 Aug 28 Aug Lindfield 8:15am Fr Thomas Alackakunnel Fr Claude Mostowik msc Killara 9:15am Fr Claude Mostowik msc Fr Colin Blayney Lindfield 10:15am Fr Thomas Alackakunnel Fr Claude Mostowik msc Lindfield 12:00noon Fr Thomas Alackakunnel Fr Nestor Lindfield 6:00pm Fr Michael Smith Fr Thomas Alackakunnel
3 RICHARD ROHR S MEDITATION: DYING INTO LIFE Most of us probably grew up thinking that the Resurrection was a one-time miracle about Jesus, an anomaly that proved he was God. I believe that Jesus is actually naming and revealing what is happening everywhere and all the time in God. Jesus' resurrection is a statement about how reality works: always moving toward resurrection. As the Catholic funeral preface says, "Life is not ended but merely changed." This is the divine mystery of transformation, which is entirely evident in the physical universe. This is why I believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus, even if it is a new kind of physicality, which Paul struggles to describe (1 Corinthians 15:35ff). The best way to speak about the Resurrection is not to say, "Jesus rose from the dead"-- as if it was a self-generated miracle--but to say, "Jesus was raised from the dead" (as many early texts state). The Eternal Christ is thus revealed as the map, the blueprint, the promise, the pledge, the guarantee of what is happening everywhere, all summed up in one person so we can see it in personified form. If you can understand Jesus as the human archetype, a stand-in for everybody and everything, you will get much closer to the Gospel message. I think this is exactly why Jesus usually called himself "The Son of Man." His resurrection is not so much a miracle that we can argue about, believe, or disbelieve, but an invitation to look deeper at what is always happening in the life process itself.. Death is not just physical dying, but going to the full depth of things, hitting the bottom, beyond where you are in control. And in that sense, we all probably go through many deaths in our lifetime. These deaths to the small self are tipping points, opportunities to choose transformation. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people turn bitter and look for someone to blame. So their death is indeed death for them, because they close down to growth and new life. But if you do choose to walk through the depths--even the depths of your own sin and mistakes--you will come out the other side, knowing you've been taken there by a Source larger than yourself. Surely this is what it means to be saved. Being saved doesn't mean that you are any better than anyone else. It means you've allowed and accepted the mystery of transformation, which is always pure gift. If we are to speak of miracles, the most miraculous thing of all is that God uses the very thing that would normally destroy you--the tragic, the sorrowful, the painful, the unjust--to transform and enlighten you. Now you are indestructible and there are no absolute dead ends. This is what we mean when we say we are "saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus." This is not a cosmic transaction, but a human transformation to a much higher level of love and consciousness. You have been plucked from the flames of any would-be death to the soul, and you have become a very different kind of human being in this world. Jesus is indeed saving the world. Fr Richard Rohr ofm
SOCIAL JUSTICE- Next week is Migrant & Refugee Week (22 nd 28 th August). The theme this year is Migrants and Refugees Challenge Us. The Response of the Gospel of Mercy. Pope Francis reminds us that God s love is meant to each out to each and every person (his) fatherly care extends to everyone but is particularly concerned for the needs of his flock who are wounded, weary or ill. 4 Please pray for mercy for all those migrants, refugees and detainees that come to Australia looking for a better life. HELPING THE HOMELESS - Have your belts shrunk? We re looking for men s quality belts and gloves in good condition for the homeless. Please leave in the box at the church foyer. BLAST Join us for BLAST next Sunday, 28 August at 4 5.45 pm. All kids in years 4-6 are invited. We ll play games, have some pizza and talk a bit about what it s like to be a refugee/migrant to another country. PARISH YOUNG ADULTS GROUP The next gathering will be today Sunday 21st August immediately following the 6pm Mass and will be held in the lounge in the Shirley Wallace Parish Centre on the first floor of Lindfield church. All young adults welcome a relaxed and informal time (with food).
5 OUR MEMORIAL WALLS As you know we now have a Memorial Wall in each of our two churches. As promised that there will be Mass each year in November for those whose names are recorded on the Memorial Walls. The dates for this year are: * at Lindfield - at the 9:15am Mass on Saturday 5th November * at Killara - 7:00pm Mass on Wednesday 16th November CHARITABLE WORKS FUND APPEAL If you would like to order one or more Memorial Plaques for either church please contact Philita in the Parish Office. You can also find out more about the plaques and donate the forms required for ordering the plaques by visiting our parish website and going to Our Parish Memorial Walls. For the plaques to be in place for this November you would need to have your order in to Philita by 1st September. The first of the three CWF appeals for this Financial Year concludes THIS weekend. Donations to CWF are 100% tax-deductible. As you know this appeal supports a number of important pastoral and charitable initiatives of the Church. We are also obliged to meet the quota set for us and any shortfall needs to be made up from parish funds. Please support the appeal generously. Our quota to be achieved for this first appeal is $15000 ($45000 for the whole Financial Year). CWF Progress Report: Target this Appeal: $ 15000.00 Amount collected last weekend: $ 3566.30 Shortfall so far: $ 11433.70 WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR HELP AS A CATECHIST FOR OUR STATE SCHOOLS: We are 4 Catechists short for term 3 and we are training now for next year: Term 4 is not a teaching term as we are doing special things for Christmas therefore we invite you to sit in on classes now in term 3 to become familiar and comfortable with the teaching environment for next year. If you've ever thought about being a Catechist, please contact us now as we need the following teachers (see p.2 for Sue-Anne s details: - Lindfield East - Yr 3 - Tuesdays 9:15am-10am - Lindfield - Yr 1 - Tuesdays 10:30am-11am - Beaumont Rd - Yr 3 - Tuesdays 11:30am-12pm - Beaumont Rd - Yr 1 - Tuesdays 12pm-12:30pm (Sept)
6 THE PRAYERS AND RESPONSES OF MASS GLORIA: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father. Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. INVITATION TO PRAYER LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST: Celebrant: Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours.. May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise & glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church. SANCTUS: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. INVITATION TO HOLY COMMUNION: Celebrant: Behold the Lamb of God All: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION:
PSALM PS 116. O praise the Lord, all you nations, acclaim him all you peoples Strong is his love for us; he is faithful for ever. At Masses at which the Psalm is sung the response is: Go out to all the world and tell the Good News. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Alleluia, alleluia! I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father, except through me. Alleluia! RESPONSES TO THE PSALM FOR WEEKDAY MASS THIS WEEK: Mon: Proclaim his marvellous deeds to all the nations. Tues: The Lord comes to judge the earth. Wed: Your friends tell the glory of your kingship, Lord. Thurs: I will praise your name for ever, Lord. Fri: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Sat: Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own. 7 THE APOSTLES CREED I believe in one God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, (all bow at the following words in bold): who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen HELPERS FOR SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME FIRST HOLY COMMUNION - We are also looking for someone to manage the set up of the First Holy Communion morning teas after the 3 Sunday morning celebrations, please. Please help the Sacramental Team is busy inside the church with the celebration and we cannot be co-ordinating the helpers etc at the same time. Contact Sue-Anne at sue-anne@lindfieldkillara.org.au.
8 Theology of oil slicks Paul Jarman On a personal level at least, the simple element which promotes a good read into a book I shall always remember is often its pertinence to the circumstances in which one first reads it. Never has this been truer for me than in the case of my readingfor-pleasure book this week. On page 67 of Shirley Toulson s The Celtic Alternative, I came across the following passage:. like the Jews of old who believed that the land would prosper as long as they adhered to the laws of Jehovah, the Celts felt strongly that adherence to the will of God could be equated with obedience to the rhythms and harmonies of the natural environments. If these were carelessly or deliberately flouted, disaster was bound to result. Reading such words in a week which has seen more than 60,000 tons of humangenerated destruction poured into one of Western Europe s most precious wildlife sanctuaries, and all just off the coast of my homeland, I can easily begin to understand just why Shirley Toulson subtitled her book The Christianity We Lost. To me as a practising Christian, the Churches note the plural conspicuous silence in the face of this and other similar environmental holocausts is somewhat bewildering. A press officer for the Dyfed Wildlife Trust commented that, of the thousands of offers of support, both moral and physical, that the trust had received from a wide range of organisations, not one had come from a Christian body. I might add to this that, in four years since I myself became a Catholic, I have attended Mass at a myriad of different locations and have never once heard a bidding prayer either for our non-human compeers in particular, or the environment in general. Why? The reason, it seems to me at least, is that somewhere in what T.S. Eliot once called the old miasmal mist of church history, the biblical notion of man s dominion over other living creatures has been transmogrified into the far more dangerous idea that the whole of the natural world was created for man s illimitable and merciless exploitation. For those of us who live in the British Isles this idea is particularly lamentable, as it contrasts so starkly with the ideals of the autochthonous church which not only survived but flourished for more than four centuries prior to the Norman Conquest. As modern research gradually pours more and more light on those ages which we have always called dark, a large and irrefutable historical and theological corpus of which Toulson s book is a part has developed, showing that both the structure and philosophy of early British Christianity was derived primarily from the Celtic Church. At the very heart of that philosophy lay the precept that it was the clear duty of man to live in as harmonious a relationship as possible with the natural world. It is not mere coincidence that almost all the Celtic saints became associated with miracles pertaining to animals, birds or the forces of nature. To entirely dismiss such findings is, by association, equally to refute a substantial part of the teachings of the Desert Fathers; teachings which, it now appears, were widely disseminated among and by the early British and Irish Christians. (continued on page 9)
9 (continued from page 8): If we consider that, on his death bed, St Antony of Egypt s greatest claim to God s mercy was that he had never eaten anything which he had not grown himself, the implications of such teachings are self-explanatory. As a relatively new member of the Church, I have been shocked to find that, in England in particular, to express such ideas is to invite immediate suspicions of being at best a trendy crank, or at worst a pantheist heretic. The saddest consequence of all, however, is that the words ecology and theology remain as far apart in the Catholic Church as they do in the Oxford English Dictionary. For those early British Christians, there could have been no more important message in the Bible that that found in Mark 24:15: Then he said to them: Go to every part of the world, and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation. Has the time not long since arrived when we too should be offering to the whole creation a message of respect and reconciliation, instead of contempt and exploitation? And has not time also arrived when the Church, which has learned over the last decade to be much less timid in its condemnation of acts which run contrary to human rights, should be vociferously heard to condemn acts of atrocity against other, more defenceless elements of Creation? If all this strikes you as over-dramatic, please try and imagine my own feelings this morning on hearing the news that the first dregs of oil had now reached the beautiful monastic Isle of Caldey, where the first Celtic monks set up cells over 14 centuries ago, and where, three Easters ago, I myself was first received into the Catholic Church. The author is a lecturer at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London - reprinted from "The Tablet" of 9th March 1996 FOR INQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT THE PARISH OFFICE 94163702 Address: 319 Pacific Highway, North Sydney, NSW 2060 164 King Street, Newton 6 Pitt Street Parramatta Phone: 9519-5344/99545255 FAX: 95194310 W: www.wnbull.com.au E: wnbull@bigpond.com.au Member of Australian Funeral Directors Association Henry & Gloria Cheung Parishioners Serving the Australian Construction Industry for 30 years UNIVERSAL INSTRUMENTS 326 Pacific Hway, Lindfield NSW 2070 Tel no. 94165335 Fax no. 94161538 E:sales@universalinstruments.com.au Lindfield Dental Practice Dr Peter Chung DDS, MDS, PhD Clinical Assoc Professor Open: Mon-Sat P: 9416 5000 Suite 1, 345 Pacific Highway (Scholastic Bldg) Next to Lindfield Medical Practice
常年期第二十一主日 21-8-2016 讀經一 ( 你們要從各民族中, 把你們的 弟兄, 送到我的聖山 : 耶路撒冷 ) 恭讀依撒意亞先知書 66:18-21 上主這樣說 : 我要來聚集萬 民, 及各種語言的民族 ; 他們都要 前來, 觀看我的榮耀 我要在他們 中, 施行奇事, 並派遣生還的人, 到外邦人那裡, 即往塔爾史士 普 特 路得 默舍客 洛士 突巴 耳 雅汪, 及遼遠的海島上, 即沒 有聽過我的聲譽, 沒有見過我光榮 的地方 他們要從各民族中, 用馬 車 轎 騾 獨峰駝, 把你們的弟 兄, 送到我的聖山 : 耶路撒冷, 當 作獻於天主的獻儀, 好像以色列子 民, 用潔淨的器皿, 將供物獻於上 主的聖殿一樣 : 這是上主說的 我 要從他們中間, 選拔司祭和肋未 人 : 這是上主說的 上主的話 ( 默想片刻 ) 答唱詠詠 117:1, 2 眾 : 列國萬民, 請讚美上主 ; 一切 民族, 請歌頌上主! 眾 : 因為他的仁愛, 厚加於我們 ; 上主的忠誠, 必要永遠常存 讀經二 ( 上主懲戒他所愛的 ) 恭讀致希伯來人書 12:5-7,11-13 弟兄姊妹們 : 你們竟然忘記了天主勸你們, 好像勸子女所說的話 : 我兒, 不 要輕視上主的懲戒, 也不要厭惡他 的譴責, 因為上主懲戒他所愛的, 鞭策他所接納的每個兒子 為接受懲戒, 你們應該堅忍, 因為天主對待你們, 有如對待子 女 那有兒子, 做父親的, 不懲戒 他呢? 10 CHINESE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY 固然各種懲戒, 在當時, 似乎不是樂事, 而是苦事 ; 可 是, 以後, 為那些這樣受過訓 練的人, 就會結出正義與和平 的果實 為此, 你們應該伸直痿弱 的手, 及麻木的膝 ; 你們的 腳, 應履行正直的路, 叫瘸子 不要偏離正道, 反叫他獲得痊 瘉 上主的話 ( 默想片 刻 ) 福音前歡呼 領 : 亞肋路亞 眾 : 亞肋路亞 領 : 主說 : 我是道路 真理 生命, 除非經過我, 誰也 不能到父那裡去 ( 若 14:6) 眾 : 亞肋路亞 福音 ( 將有從東從西而來的人, 參加 天主國裡的筵席 ) 恭讀聖路加福音 13:22-30 那時候, 耶穌經過各城各 鄉, 前往耶路撒冷, 隨處施 教 有一個人對耶穌說 : 主, 得救的人果然不多 嗎? 耶穌對群眾說 : 你們竭 力由窄門進入吧! 我告訴你 們 : 因為將來有許多人, 想要 進去, 卻不能進去 及至家主 起來, 把門關上, 你們在外面 站著, 開始敲門, 說 : 主, 請 給我們開門吧! 他要回答你們 說 : 我不認識你們是那裡的 那時, 你們會說 : 我們曾在你 面前, 吃過喝過 ; 你也曾在我 們的街市, 施教過 他要說 : 我告訴你們 : 我不認識你們是那裡的 ; 你們 這些作惡的人, 都離開我吧! 幾時你們望見亞巴郎 依撒格 雅各伯, 及眾先知, 在天主的國裡, 你們卻被摒棄 在外面, 你們只有哀號和切 齒 將有從東從西, 從北從南 而來的人, 參加天主國裡的筵 席 看! 有最後的, 將成為 最先的, 也有最先的, 將成為 最後的 上主的話 ( 講 道後默想片刻 ) 華人天主教會北區中心 主日彌撒 12 時 彌撒後. 午餐聚會. 餐費 $5.00 歡 迎各教友參加. 牧職修女司徒金美修女 0419-426899 中心聯絡 Gloria Cheung 0416-118089 Sunday School 主日學 12nooon, 歡迎隨時加入, Parish Meeting Room ( 國 / 粵語 ) 慕道班, 11:00am-12noon Parish Meeting Room, 歡迎隨時加入慕道班 聯絡 : Sr. Anne 0412496711 Maria 0430883313 www.ccc-inc.org.au 歡迎澳門教區李斌生主教彌撒 八月二十五日下午六時半在聖瑪 利主教座堂墓穴舉行, 隨後在富麗宫酒樓舉行晚餐每位 五十元, 歡迎各教友參加.
11 (continued from page 12): What is hell? The images the bible chooses for hell are arbitrary and vary greatly. The popular mind tends to picture hell as fire, eternal fire, but that is only one image, and not necessarily the dominant one, in scripture. Among other things, scripture speaks of hell as experiencing God s wrath, as being outside the wedding and the dance, is mourning and weeping and grinding our teeth, as being consigned to the Gehenna (a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem), as being eaten by worms, as fire, as missing out on the banquet, as being outside the kingdom, as living inside a bitter and warped heart, and as missing out on life. In the end, all these images point to the same thing: Hell is the pain and bitterness, the fire, we experience when we culpably put ourselves outside of the community of life. And it is always self-inflicted. It is never imposed by God. God doesn t deal death and God sends nobody to hell. When Jesus speaks of God, he never speaks of God as dealing both life and death, but only as dealing life. Death has its origins elsewhere, as does lying, rationalization, bitterness, hardness of heart, and hell. To say that God does not create hell or send anyone there does not downplay the existence of evil and sin or the danger of eternal punishment, it only pinpoints their origins and makes clear who it is who makes the judgment and who it is who does the sentencing. God does neither; he neither creates hell nor sends anyone to it. We do both. As Jesus tells us in John s Gospel: God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, the light has come into the world, and the people loved darkness rather than light. I judge no one. He doesn t need to. Fr Ron Rolheiser omi, from the Centre for Liturgy PHYSIOFIT Lindfield Parishioner PHYSIOTHERAPISTS: KERRY WESTON (Bogard) THERESA GUDE Hands on treatment Exercise prescription Exercise classes We are located at 7/345 Pacific Highway, Lindfield 2070 (Scholastic Building) Ph: 9416 3155 Mob: 0417 456 294 Email: kerry@physiofitlindfield.com.au Comfort Inn North Shore Family owned and professionally operated motel with on-site restaurant Address: 1 Gatacre Avenue, Lane Cove Phone: 02 9427 0266 Email: res@cins.com.au Website: www.cins.com.au Lord, in Jesus your Son, you restored to us the gift of everlasting life. Grant that life to: Recently deceased: Kevin John Cavanagh, Norah Mary Kelliher, Diome Mary Ockerby. Anniversary: Veronica Buchanan Please pray for those who are sick : Geraldine Haydock, Br. Tony Butler fms, Kieran Norton, Sean Maguire, Pakie Maguire, Naneth Bernado, Peter Norton, Adrian Selwyn, Marjorie Simpkins, Michael & John Swan.
12 REFLECTING ON THIS SUNDAY S SCRIPTURES.. Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. GOD JUDGES NO ONE There s a question about God s goodness as old as religion itself: How can an all-good God send someone to hell for all eternity? How can God be all-merciful and all-loving if there is eternal punishment? It s a false question. God doesn t send anyone to hell and God doesn t deal out eternal punishment. God offers us life and the choice is ours as to whether we accept that or not. God, Jesus tells us, doesn t judge anyone. We judge ourselves. God doesn t create hell and God doesn t send anyone to hell. But that doesn t mean that hell doesn t exist and that it isn t a possibility for us. Here, in essence, is how Jesus explains this: God sends his life into the world and we can choose that life or reject it. We judge ourselves in making that choice. If we choose life, we are ultimately choosing heaven. If we reject life, we end up living outside of life and that ultimately is hell. But we make that choice, God doesn t send us anywhere. Moreover, hell is not a positive punishment created by God to make us suffer. Hell is the absence of something, namely, living inside of the life that s offered to us. To say all of this is not to say that hell isn t real or that it isn t a real possibility for every person. Hell is real, but it isn t a positive punishment created by God to deal out justice or vengeance or to prove to the hard-hearted and unrepentant that they made a mistake. Hell is the absence of life, of love, of forgiveness, of community, and God doesn t send anyone there. We can end up there, outside of love and community, but that s a choice we make if we, culpably, reject these as they are offered to us during our lifetime. Hell, as John Shea once said, is never a surprise waiting for a happy person, it s the full-flowering of a life that rejects love, forgiveness, and community. Sartre once famously stated that hell is the other person. The reverse is true. Hell is what we experience when we choose ourselves over community of life with others. Human life is meant to be shared life, shared existence, participation inside of a community of life that includes the Trinity itself. God is love, scripture tells us, and those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them. In this context, love should not be understood primarily as romantic love. The text doesn t say that those who fall in love abide in God (though that too can be true). In essence, the text might be reworded to say: God is shared existence, and those who share life with others, already live inside of God s life. But the reverse is also true: When we don t share our lives, we end up outside of life. That, in essence, is hell. (continued on page 11 )