Fr. Ripperger: Is Hell Forever? How can a Reasonable Person Ever Choose Hell?

Some people believe that no one will end up in Hell. They think that God is so merciful that He would not let a person who dies in a state of mortal sin suffer forever. Fr. Ripperger, an exorcist, explains why that is not true.

(View segment from 51:47 to 52:47)
Does God allow people to go to Hell and suffer forever?

  • Yes.
  • “To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from Him forever by our own free choice.” CCC 1033.
  • A heresy is a false or wrong teaching. The Catholic Church condemns the heresy of Universalism which states that all people will be saved.

When do you choose Hell or Heaven - before or after you die?

  • Before you die. After death, it’s too late.
  • “Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell.” -CCC 1035

How can a reasonable person ever choose Hell?

  • When presented with the choices of loving God for all eternity or of ‘Not God’, a reasonable person can choose ‘Not God’ (which is hell), because he has no desire for or attraction to God.
  • Fr. Ripperger mentioned the ‘grace to change,’ which means that it is a grace, a gift from God, that He attracts us and draws us to Himself.
  • It is God who alone gives you the grace to change, which is the strength and desire to turn to Him. If He stops attracting you, you will no longer even desire to be with Him, and so you will freely choose to reject Him.
  • Jesus said: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him.” -John 6:44
  • The sad reality is that when people reject God’s graces over and over, the ‘day and the hour’ comes when He ‘shuts the door'(Mt 25:13) and no longer offers them those graces. And so, we must turn to God and accept His graces and His love now, while they are still available, while we still have even the slightest desire to act on them, and before we lose them forever.
  • God explained this reality to St Faustina in paragraph 1728 of her diary:

“When a soul repents, there is no limit to My generosity toward it. My mercy embraces and justifies it. With My mercy, I pursue sinners along all their paths, and My Heart rejoices when they return to Me.

Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart… when will it beat for Me? I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and suffering, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all My graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want.”