Sin’s destructive power to divide, isolate, and alienate us from God, from ourselves, and from one another is vividly illustrated in the rich man who suffers in the flames of the netherworld—utterly alone, with not even a demon to torment him. Strikingly, he does not ask to be freed from the flames or to be admitted to the company of Abraham and Lazarus. Instead, he begs only for a drop of water to cool his tongue. Still turned inward, he remains imprisoned in the self‑absorption that has become his self‑created misery.
His concern for his brothers may suggest a slight movement beyond this radical self‑centeredness, though one commentator notes that even this may be little more than pride—a desire to not have them see his humiliation and degradation.
Transformation—which I believe is a central theme of this Junior Seminar—cannot be separated from ongoing conversion: a resolute turning away from sin and from its inevitably divisive, isolating, and alienating effects. Only by persevering along this hard, narrow, and lengthy path of conversion will our hearts be slowly transformed. And as our hearts are transformed, so too will our communities be renewed, revitalized, and even flourish.
This is surely reason enough to persevere on the narrow way that leads to life—and, if we have strayed from it, to return again to that road which leads to the kingdom.