Enriching. Informative.
Explore the depth and breadth
of the Catholic faith at
St. Mary's One Topic One Night evenings.
What is One Topic One Night?
The One Topic One Night speaker series aims to provide our parish with a platform to foster dialogue, cultivate enriching ideas, and continue an appreciation of learning as an active and lifelong process.
The name says it all: in one night, usually in under an hour, we dig deep into one specific topic. Previous topics included subjects such as,
- Celibacy and the Priesthood
- Relativism
- Forming a Catholic Conscience
- What the Church Teaches: End of Life Issues
These evenings explore issues and topics of our faith in a more in-depth manner than can be covered in a homily, and provides time for follow-up questions and answers.
one holy catholic apostolic church
Recent One Topic One Night
The most recent ONE topic ONE night discussion centered on eschatological topics, including purgatory, limbo, hell and heaven, and our Catholic understanding of each. This topic was of interest to many, and Father Shaun covered each point with support from Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He shared insights from his ministry, and then fielded questions from the large audience. Here are some highlights.
Christ, though his death and resurrection, unlocked the gates of heaven. At our death, we will stand before God at a particular judgement.
“Nothing unclean will enter it...Only those will enter
whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21:27
Therefore, a soul must be sanctified, purified of any trace or attachment to sin.
The Doctrine of the Church teaches that this purification happens in Purgatory.
All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect. (CCC 1030-1031)
Limbo, the idea of a place for unbaptized babies, is merely theological speculation, and has never been official Church teaching.
The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell “eternal fire”. (CCC 1035)
We, of course, aim for heaven; purgatory is a blessing, a gift of mercy to enter heaven. Heaven is for those who die in God’s grace, the ultimate end for which we all long and strive for, to see God face to face. In the final days, the second coming of Christ, there will be a Last Judgement and all souls will be reunited with their body, and the Kingdom of God will come into fullness.