Tough teachings: Judgment

In life, we like drama.  The drama of Game 7 of the recent World Series and the drama of the recent Presidential election are evidence of this.  Both got great TV ratings.  Drama is” an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances”.    As human beings, we are attracted to drama in any sphere, both in entertainment and in real-life.  I believe this is true whether we believe our own lives have too much drama, or, perhaps more often the case these days, our lives are boring because it seemingly lacks it.

In reality, however, our lives are always dramatic.  We are always making a move towards something or another.   In that sense, it is always exciting and emotional, never static.   In the Catholic worldview, we are always moving towards heaven or hell.  It is not so much, as some make it out to be, that we move forwards or backwards, or towards, or away from something.   We are always moving toward something.   Life is always a progression; one can never “stop the clock”.  The clock is always ticking, the game is always on.   The drama is always there.  The game is never over, and no matter what, we are always “in” the game; it is never won or lost until the final act.

We can say our lives are always dramatic, not just because it is always in motion, but even more some because the outcome is never certain.  When the outcome of something is never certain, it makes it more interesting and exciting, but it can also produce some nerve-wracking, scary moments.  We can never be sure if we will wind up in heaven or hell.  The ending is something we cannot know.   We can indeed have a sure and certain hope that we will be saved, but never a certainty.  (Back in June I discussed the virtue of hope.)  It is this, not being sure of our final outcome, which makes life ultimately, indeed, dramatic.   

So when do we find out the final outcome of our life?  When do we know for sure?  The Church teaches that it is not until the particular judgment that our fate is revealed.  Paragraph 1021 and 1022 of the Catechism say the following:   “Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ…Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification or immediately -- or immediate and everlasting damnation.”   So immediately upon death, we are judged and our souls enter purgatory, heaven, or hell.  (I did a post recently on each of them, click on the orange banner above to access them.)

As we know from experience though, those who have departed from this world still have their bodies buried in the Earth.  At the particular judgment, the body is not there.   However, the human person is indeed both body and soul.   If we lived this life with a body and a soul, and our eternal destiny was decided based on the actions, or inactions, of our body, animated by the soul, then it deems to reason that the bodies, far from being just rotted corpses for all eternity, would be glorified, or damned, like our souls.  So when we do the bodies get reunited with the souls?   The Church teaches there is a second judgment, the last judgment.   This will occur when Our Lord returns, as He promised (see Matthew 24 and 25).    The reunification of body and soul will occur just before that in what is called the resurrection of the dead when the following happens which Our Lord speaks of in John 5:28-29, “for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ^and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”   No one stays in the grave forever!  That sounds like good news on the surface, and indeed it can be very good news for some, but not for others.  As I said before, everyone lives forever, it is just a question of where.

So now our bodies and souls are reunited. Then what exactly happens at the last judgment which proceeds immediately after that reunification?  The Church teaches some amazing things in Paragraphs 1039 and 1040.  In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life…The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God's love is stronger than death.    So no one knows when it will occur (adding to the aforementioned drama).  When it does, our lives will be laid out bare for all to see.   All that stuff we thought was hidden will not be so anymore!  Everything we thought we did alone or hidden, both the good and the bad stuff, will be laid out for all to see.   Finally, we will understand all things we could not before.  The mysterious ways of God, not just in our own lives, but in the whole cosmos, will be laid out for all to see and comprehend.    When all is indeed laid out, those who are in, or bound, for heaven, will rejoice in the goodness, justice, love and mercy of God.  Those who are in, or bound, for hell, will experience pain and regret that goes beyond words as they experience the same attributes of God, but it is a different experience entirely.

So, there are two judgments, the particular, and the last or universal.  Every man and every woman who has lived, are living, or will live, will experience both.   The first is between the individual and God.  The second will be a public judgment for the entire world to see.  This should give us impetus to live always for God’s glory as everything we think is secret now will be revealed to all someday.  Let’s realize that our lives are not decided until judgment.  We can never rest, thinking we have it won.  We can never despair, thinking we have it lost.  We can live good lives, and at the last minute turn from God, and be damned.  Likewise, like the good thief on the Cross (Luke 23:39-43), we can live miserable sinful lives, and at the last minute, turn to God, and be saved.  Our lives are indeed a drama and like all good dramas, it leaves us unsure until the final act.   Like we do with any good drama, let’s be active participants in it, not fall asleep, and stay with it until the end, lest we get careless, lazy, and slide into habits that will take us places we do not want to go.

We indeed never know when our death (and therefore when our particular judgment) will be, and of course, we do not know when the final judgment will be.  However, we do know we will die, even if we do not know when.  Saint Joseph is the patron of the dying.   We will close with a prayer to him for a happy death:

O Glorious St. Joseph, behold I choose thee today for my special
patron in life and at the hour of my death. Preserve and increase
in me the spirit of prayer and fervor in the service of God.
Remove far from me every kind of sin; obtain for me that my
death may not come upon me unawares, but that I may have
time to confess my sins sacramentally and to bewail them
with a most perfect understanding and a most sincere and
perfect contrition, in order that I may breathe forth my soul
into the hands of Jesus and Mary. Amen
perfect contrition, in order that I may breathe forth my soul
into the hands of Jesus and Mary. Amen