“I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment” (Lk 16:27-28). What a strange request! A call to evangelize—from hell!
I’m reminded of the small community of Delburne, Alberta. There’s a fire burning deep in the ground there that won’t go out. It might have been a lightning strike or forest fire that ignited this seam of coal deep underground. It’s been burning ever since. An expedition 140 years ago mentioned the fire; natives say it has been burning for as long as they can remember. The fire had been almost forgotten until it flared up to the surface in 1998. The Delburne fire department can only soak the ground and try to stop its spread. Experts say it could easily burn for another century.
But there is a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mk 9:44, 46, 48—3x so we don’t miss it!). Is someone in hell praying that you would warn their relatives today?