Reddit reviews The Faith Explained

Of course anything we try to say must be a itsy-bit-tiny fraction of the real deal...however...the comparison that better resonated to me was something like that.

Imagine a soldier that was promised in matrimony, but gets drafted to war! He then endure war with loyalty to his fiancee! He writes her letters, he thinks about her, he refuses to be a dishonorable man and go with part of his troops have some fun with the girls from the city they just liberated. Finally, when the war is over...he gets sent back home. Waiting in the platform, his fiancee (who also showed similar virtues during his absence) awaits. They search for each other faces in the crowd, and when they lock eyes with each other...BLAM!!! That moment! That moment of joy locked forever is somewhat like Heaven! It's the satisfaction of the soul with finding his ultimate Love!

Notice that if the soldier hadn't developed the relationship this moment would not have happened! They would be like strangers to one another. Similarly, if he acted in a dishonorable way...he wouldn't feel the joy of that encounter! And that is Hell... it's... not standing or not being able to see God when the encounter was supposed to happen in its fullest form!

All this explanation/metaphor can be found in this book. None of this is from my head.

https://www.amazon.com/Faith-Explained-Leo-J-Trese/dp/1889334294

Fr. Trese's The Faith Explained is a great book! It gives a great overview and is relatively small considering the rich tradition of the Catholic Church.

The Faith Explained

The Catechism is reference work #1 for questions like these. But it is dense. An awesome supplement that explains the basics in a more concise way is The Faith Explained.