What is Hell and What is Heaven?

31st July, 2020

This is a sermon given by His Grace Bishop Emilianos of Meloa on the Feast Day of Saint Elessa, where he explores the question: "What is Hell and What is Heaven?". There was someone who for 70 whole years was trying to find out the answer to one question: What is Hell and What is Heaven? He read all the Fathers and he couldn’t find the answer until he read (the writings of) Saint John of Damascus, and God enlightened him and he got his answer. When the human person is conceived, the soul becomes one with the body at the very instant of conception. After that and for the rest of our lives the soul and the body are one. When we have anxiety, the body suffers; anxiety is psychological and the body suffers. When we cut our hands we get scared and we might faint; with the cuttings something happens to the body, but the fainting is something which happens because our soul is afraid. So, when death comes, the body separates from the soul for the first time ever, and it's very scary for the soul. So, the soul tries to find ways, to find what the soul loved while it was on earth. And if our body was related to sins, if we loved sin, then our soul will be looking for the body in order to be able to sin - and this is Hell. The soul will never find a body to sin, and the soul will ignore God who would be next door, who would be there, because the soul will be looking for something different. But, if we loved Christ, if we loved our fellow man, the soul will realise that God is love and will be united with Him - and this is Heaven. Listen to the rest of the talk where His Grace continues with some examples.

Greek