hell

"The pope continued, according to Scalfari, saying (emphasis ours), 'The disappearance of sinful souls exists.'

The statements spurred Catholics and other believers to grab their virtual pitchforks to express their fury, which the Vatican has since tried to cool." 
Pope To World: Hell Does Exist : The Two-Way : NPR 

not this Catholic.

I have often wondered how a loving Creator could allow His (since God is Spirit, and spirit has no gender, you may substitute "Her" for "His", if you wish) creature to be tortured for all eternity for his, or her, sins. 

I am a sinner. I deserve hell for the sins that I have committed. 

who is the last person to condemn another person for their sins? their mother. even though as an adult their child may commit horrible crime(s), their mother still loves them. a mother may hate the horrible crime(s) that her child committed, but a mother still loves her child. is a mother's love a reflection of God's love for His children?

to me "disappearance" seems to make some sense. we are all sinners. we all deserve hell. it is only through the love and mercy of God that any person will enjoy eternal happiness. those who God deems unworthy of eternal happiness because of their sins, their lack of contrition for their sins or their failure to acknowledge God as God, would cease to exist. they would justly be denied eternal happiness with God in heaven (just punishment for their sins and lack of contrition). but, Creator God, because of His great love for His creatures, would not allow them to be tortured for all eternity in hell.

Jesus

He is God.

He is the beginning.

He has no end.

He loves.

He became man.

He taught.

He redeemed us from our sins.

He rose from the dead.

He ascended into heaven.

Jesus, God, Savior,

we love You.

File:El Greco - Christ as Saviour - WGA10550.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

the Perfect solution

God is eternal.
God is infinite.
with God there is no beginning or end.
God is almighty.
God is all powerful.
God is all knowing.
God is love.
there is nothing greater, nothing better, than God.

God always knew that His creation, man, would betray him.
God knew that man would sin and sin again and again.
God knew the Perfect solution to mankind's sinfulness from the beginning: Father God, Son Jesus God, the Redeemer, and Holy Spirit God, the Advocate.
God knew the Perfect solution to His Creation mankind's sinfulness from the beginning.

image by AnonMoos (earlier version of SVG file Sumudu Fernando)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svg

I confess to almighty God

I confess to almighty God

and to you, my brothers and sisters,

that I have greatly sinned,

in my thoughts and in my words,

in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,

through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault;

therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,

all the Angels and Saints,

and you, my brothers and sisters,

to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Amen

image by Gallen35

File:Christianity-Jesus Christ Died for your Sin.jpg - Wikimedia Commons 

faith, hope & love

faith is believing that there is nothing greater, nothing better, than God.

hope is believing that no matter what happens that everything will be alright.

love is helping others on their journey.

facing death with faith

Soldier of Christ - Army Major Jeff Struecker Tells His Inspiring Story of Survival - YouTube 

File:Jeff Struecker.jpg - Wikimedia Commons 

         faith 

                      hope 

                                    love 

matthew 5: beatitudes: poor in spirit

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

Matthew 5: 3-12

Luke 6:20 simply has "blessed are the poor"; that Matthew adds (*) "in spirit" is seen to be of great import. The phrase does not appear in the Old Testament, but Psalm 34:18 comes close. ("The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed.") The phrase "poor in spirit" occurs in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and seems to have been an important notion to the Qumran community.
Matthew 5:3 - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_5:3
(*) or was Matthew's gospel first? Did Luke drop "in spirit" from Matthew's gospel in his (Luke's) gospel? or, perhaps, Matthew and Luke wrote their gospels independent, and different, from each other? The Dating of the Gospels

needless to say, there is a great difference between "blessed are the poor" and "blessed be the poor in spirit".

what does "blessed be the poor in spirit" mean to you?

Here's what Billy Graham had to say: 

We must be humble in our spirits. If you put the word “humble” in place of the word “poor,” you will understand what Jesus meant. In other words, when we come to God, we must realize our own sin and our spiritual emptiness and poverty. We must not be self-satisfied or proud in our hearts, thinking we don’t really need God. If we are, God cannot bless us. The Bible says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

What does it mean to be poor in spirit, as Jesus said we ought to be? 

the person in this video makes a connection between poor in spirit and The Virtue of Fortitude: A Gift of the Holy Spirit

"poor in spirit" could also mean a broken spirit--broken by guilt, fear, anxiety and depression. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Does this mean that God forgives those whose spirit is broken by their own sins, and by their guilt, fear, anxiety and depression? I like to think so.

We Are the Light of the World -Jean A. Greif lyrics - YouTube

image by Scripture As Art

Matthew 5:3 | public domain World English Bible® Dahlia phot… | Flickr

Jesus' mercy

Jesus' mercy: 2018 03 13 Reflection 245 - YouTube 

Jesus' mercy in action: Waffle House waitress gets $16K scholarship after act of kindness goes viral - CBS News 

only God is God

only God is God.

"can a blind person lead a blind person? will not both fall into a pit? no disciple is superior to the teacher."  
Luke 6 39 

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. 
God knows his sheep and his sheep know him. 
(John 10 1-21)

we are God's sheep. 
Jesus speaks to us through his word, and our hearts. 
we have only one shepherd, Jesus, God.

File:The Lord is my Good Shepherd.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Commons:Licensing - Wikimedia Commons 

only God is truth

truth = honesty = transparency
there is no deceit in truth.

every human being is deceitful.
groups of humans are deceitful--governments, churches, experts, men, women, young, old, etc.
ALL humans are deceitful.

Only God is truth.
image by Billy Hathorn
File:Religious sign in Shamrock, TX IMG 6137.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

what does God/truth look like?

when God talked to Moses on the mountain His voice came from a burning bush. when Moses gave the people the ten commandments, the people built the ark of the covenant from specific instructions to place the tablets in. when Solomon was king, the people built the temple from specific instructions as a permanent place for the ark of the covenant. They believed that God resided in the holy of holies in the temple. Only the high priest could enter the holy of holies, only once a year.

Those who saw Jesus when he lived saw God. Needless to say, there are no photographs or portraits of Jesus. Artists have portrayed Jesus after he lived using their imaginations, mostly contrary to Isiah 53 2 which says "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.”  

Where did Jesus say that we should look if we want to see God? 

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nation will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 

Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 25 31-46

guilt

Who is a God like you, who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but instead delights in mercy,

And will again have compassion on us,
treading underfoot our iniquities?
You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins;

You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
and loyalty to Abraham,
As you have sworn to our ancestors
from days of old.

Micah 7 18:20

File:Return of the Prodigal Son 1667-1670 Murillo.jpg - Wikimedia Commons 

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Divine Mercy

The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion | The Divine Mercy Message from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception

image by http://www.divina-misericordia.org/ 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jes%C3%BAs_en_Vos_conf%C3%ADo.jpg