“Amen, I say to you, all sins and blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them.  But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” [Mark 3:28-29]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church [1864] explains it this way:  “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit.  Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.”

So what the Church is saying is that this attitude of blasphemy against God has nurtured itself over time.  These people knowingly reject everything that the Holy Spirit stands for: mercy, forgiveness and salvation.

The Holy Spirit gives us promptings during our life to turn to God.  But we have been given free will by God to make that decision.  For so many of us, we turn away from His promptings whenever He knocks at our door.  Why?  Because the world, the flesh and the Devil have gotten a firm grip on our soul, and they refuse to let go.   It’s a comfortable lifestyle that becomes habitually right for us, so we totally reject the promptings. 

Hell contains the people who had bondage to sin, refused to love God, and didn’t want a relationship with Him. It has been revealed to some Saint that nobody goes to Hell without knowing.  They get their wish.

Annette, a young German woman in 1937 ended up in Hell.  Here’s her story: 

Her family attended church twice a year, and didn’t teach her to pray as a child.  She did receive the Sacraments of Confession and Communion early in her life, but they didn’t mean much to her.  She briefly worked with Claire, a devout Catholic, who constantly encouraged her to go to Mass, Confession, and receive Communion, with limited success.  Soon she left the company, but Claire continued to pray for her.

A short time later her mother informed her that Annette had died in a car accident.  The next morning Claire attended Mass, offered it for her friend and prayed fervently for her soul.  That night a vision of Annette came to her, who said, “don’t pray for me, I am damned,” and related this story to Annette.

She lived a life in the world, and turned her back on God.  The Holy Spirit prompted her from time to time to go to Mass, but she refused.  On the Sunday that she was to die in the car accident, the Holy Spirit’s voice kept saying, “You could go to Mass once more.”  But she stifled the notion with a decisive “No.”  She said to herself, “You have got to have done with that nonsense once and for all.”  Now she is suffering the consequences of her resolution.  The invisible judge pronounced to her, “Depart from Me!!!”

‍