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Religion
2010-10-01 11:45:00
The particular and final judgments
Answer: The Catholic Catechism says (paragraph 1021): “Death puts an
end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the
divine grace manifested in Christ.
The New Testament speaks of judgment
primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each person will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus, and words of Jesus on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the
soul -- a destiny which can be different for some and for others. Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven -- through a purification or immediately -- OR immediate and everlasting damnation.” So, to answer your first question:
Yes, judgment is passed upon a person immediately when that person dies.
And that judgment is final, not subject to change!
So why will there be any Last Judgment, as the place in eternity of each
person is already determined immediately after death? The Catholic
Catechism continues (paragraph 1038): “The resurrection of all the dead, ‘of both the just and the unjust’ (Acts 24:15) will precede the Last
Judgment. This will be ‘the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear
the Son of man’s voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of
judgment’ (John 5:28-29).
Then Christ will come ‘in his glory, and all
the angels with him. . . . Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. . . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life’ (Matthew 25:31, 32, 46).”
The Catechism continues: “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 understand the marvellous 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.
The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still
giving them “the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). It proclaims the blessed
hope of the Lord’s return, when he will come “to be glorified in his saints,
and to be marvelled at in all who have believed” (2 Thess 1:10). At the
end of time, the Kingdom of God will come into its fullness. After the
universal judgment, the righteous will reign forever with Christ, glorified
in body and soul. The universe will be renewed. And the sufferings of
those damned in hell will give glory to God’s Justice forever.
--Fr. Richard James Cleary
