St. Thomas Aquinas addresses this question in his Summa Theologica, and to reduce his nuanced arguments into one word – maybe. Thomas makes clear, in full accord with Scripture and Church teaching, that some souls do go straight to heaven or hell. Souls of those who...
When you rock climb, the routes or ways you get up the wall are called a problem. You spend time trying to solve the problem, figuring out where your hands and feet go to complete the route. When there is a hard problem to solve, I often watch others climb and try to...
St. Peter, in his first encyclical letter, says, “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pt 5:8).” From the beginning, the Apostle knew well that the Enemy was on the prowl and ready to construct...
There are really no words to add to this incredibly moving video of the Holy Father responding to the question of a young boy who wanted to know if his father non-believing father is now in heaven. The beauty, the gentleness, the compassion of Pope Francis should be...
I have some news for you. You’re going to die. We all are--not now, maybe, not in the near future, but one day, all of us will physically cease to be. This isn’t meant to be depressing or frightening; it is a condition of life that it must cease, or otherwise it isn’t...
You probably care a lot about your family and friends. You would most likely open the door for a stranger. Perhaps, you even donate money to help the poor. But, are you a good person? Are these the things that make a person "good"? This thought-provoking video simply...
Purgatory is one doctrine that gets a lot of criticism from non-Catholic Christians, and confuses Catholics too. What's the deal with it?! Why do we need it, and where did it come from? This excellent video from Fr. Mike Schmitz at Ascension Presents cuts through the...
The death of a loved one leaves an indelible mark upon your heart, and forevermore there is something that you carry around with you; it can feel heavy, or dark, and it’s especially around festive periods that the loss can feel most prevalent. As families come...
If you are in need of reclaiming the spirit of joy, we suggest that you spend time in prayer thinking about Heaven. The promise of Heaven allows the power of the Victory of Christ's resurrection to come alive in our hearts. Jesus opened the doors for us to be with...
“Remember then how our fathers worked out their salvation; remember the sufferings through which the Church has grown, and the storms the ship of Peter has weathered because it has Christ on board. Remember how the crown was attained by those whose sufferings gave new...
These four videos could be useful to start a dialogue about the brevity of life and its ultimate meaning. The passage of time, the various stages that we cross, the challenges that we overcome, the plans and projects that we will build, everything that we acquire (all...
Outside da Box releases a video dealing with the afterlife. While it's not a very popular subject– that is when it isn't being ridiculed or reduced to a simply sentimental matter– how we understand the event called death and what follows after it is extremely...