Dear Ann,

Thanks for your latest post (on hell).

A similar thought recently occurred to me.  Not long ago I found myself in need of some extra courage to tell a parishioner of mine that she had to stop receiving Holy Communion due to her adulterous second-marriage.  I know something like this should be a no-brainer.  But the temptation to cowardice this time was particularly strong.  Then I saw it.  I saw what you described in your post.  I saw her damned face.  By the grace of God there was imprinted deeply onto my imagination her damned face staring back at me.  With all her sorrow.  With all her contempt for my cowardice.  With her regret for her adultery.  With her disgust for the bad advice she received from previous priests.  I saw her damned sad face.  I imagined the hell of staring at her face for all eternity.  And I said, ‘hell no.’  Hell if I’m going to stare at her like that for all eternity with her in hell.  It was a grace that pushed me over the top to tell her what she needed to hear, and what I needed to say.  Thanks be to God she’s since been docile and has shown healthy signs of moving in the right direction.

Keep on posting.

Yours,

Fr. D