I. The Particular Judgment.
1021 Death puts an end to human
life as the time open to either
accepting or rejecting the divine
grace manifested in Christ. (cf. 2 Timothy 1:9-10) 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 will be rewarded
immediately after death in accordance
with his works and faith. The
parable of the poor man Lazarus
and the words of Christ 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. (cf. Luke 16:22; 23:43; Matthew 16:26; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Hebrews 9:27; 12:23)
1022 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. (cf. Council of Lyons II (1274):DS 857-858; Council of Florence (1439):DS 1304- 1306; Council of Trent (1563):DS 1820; Pope Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336):DS 1000-1002; John XXII, Ne super his (1334):DS 990)
At the evening of life, we shall
be judged on our love. (St. John of the Cross, Dichos 64)
II. Heaven
1023 Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they see him as he is, face to face: (1 John 3:2; cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12; Revelation 22:4)
By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints . . . and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when they died, . . . or, if they then did need or will need some purification, when they have been purified after death, . . .) already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgment - and this since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into Heaven - have been, are and will be in Heaven, in the Heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.
(Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336):DS 1000; cf. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 49)
1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called Heaven. Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.
1025 To live in Heaven is to be with Christ. The elect live in Christ, (Philippians 1:23; cf. John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:17) but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name. (cf. Revelation 2:17)
For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.
(St. Ambrose, In Luc.,10,121:PL 15 1834A)
1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has opened Heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his Heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.
1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the Heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)
1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man's immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his Heavenly glory the beatific vision:
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of Heaven with the righteous and God's friends.
(St. Cyprian, Ep. 58,10,1:CSEL 3/2,665)
1029 In the glory of Heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God's will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5; cf. Matthew 25:21, 23)
III. The Final Purification, or Purgatory
1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship,
but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured
of their eternal salvation; but after death they
undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness
necessary to enter the joy of heaven.
1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this
final purification of the elect, which is entirely
different from the punishment of the damned. The
Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory
especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent.
The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain
texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe
that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying
fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned
neither in this age nor in the age to come. From
this sentence we understand that certain offenses
can be forgiven in this age, but certain others
in the age to come.
St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4,39:PL
77,396; cf. Matthew 12:31-32.
1032 This teaching is also based on the practice
of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred
Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made
atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered
from their sin." [2 Maccabees 12:39-46]
From the beginning the Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for
them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that,
thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision
of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences,
and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the
dead:
Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons
were purified by their father's sacrifice, why
would we doubt that our offerings for the dead
bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate
to help those who have died and to offer our
prayers for them.
St. John l, Homily in 1 Corinthians 41, 5: PG 61, 361;
cf. Job 1:5.
IV. Hell
1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him.
But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor
or against ourselves: He who does not love remains in death.
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer
has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:14-15) Our Lord warns us that we shall
be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor
and the little ones who are his brethren. (cf. Matthew 25:31-46) To die in mortal sin without
repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated
from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive
self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called Hell.
1034 Jesus often speaks of Gehenna of the unquenchable
fire reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse
to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.
(cf. Matthew 5:22, 29; 10:28; 13:42, 50; Mark 9:43-48) Jesus solemnly proclaims that he will send his angels, and they
will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of
fire, (Matthew 13:41-42) and that he will pronounce the condemnation: Depart
from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire! (Matthew 25:41)
1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of Hell and its
eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state
of mortal sin descend into Hell, where they suffer the punishments
of Hell, eternal fire. (Paul VI, Solemn Profession of faith: Credo of the People of God § 12; cf. DS 76; 409; 411; 801; 858; 1002; 1351; 1575) The chief punishment of Hell is
eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life
and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.
1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the
Church on the subject of Hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent
upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny.
They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: Enter
by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that
leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate
is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find
it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice
of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of
our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into
the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like
the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal
fire, into the outer darkness where men will weep and gnash their
teeth. (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 48 § 3; Matthew 22:13; cf. Hebrews 9:27; Matthew 25:13, 26, 30, Matthew 25:31-46)
1037 God predestines no one to go to Hell; (cf. Council of Orange II (529): DS 397; Council of Trent (1547):1567) for this, a willful turning
away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until
the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her
faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want any
to perish, but all to come to repentance: (2 Peter 3:9)
Father, accept this offering
from your whole family.
Grant us your peace in this life,
save us from final damnation,
and count us among those you have chosen.
Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer I (Roman Canon)
V. The Last Judgment.
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)
1039 In the presence of Christ,
who is Truth itself, the truth
of each man's relationship with
God will be laid bare. (cf. John 12:49) The Last
Judgment will reveal even to its
furthest consequences the good
each person has done or failed
to do during his earthly life:
All that the wicked do is recorded,
and they do not know. When our
God comes, he does not keep silence .
. . he will turn towards those
at his left hand: . . . "I
placed my poor little ones on
earth for you. I as their head
was seated in Heaven at the right
hand of my Father - but on earth
my members were suffering, my
members on earth were in need.
If you gave anything to my members,
what you gave would reach their
Head. Would that you had known
that my little ones were in need
when I placed them on earth for
you and appointed them your stewards
to bring your good works into
my treasury. But you have placed
nothing in their hands; therefore
you have found nothing in my presence."
(St. Augustine, Sermo 18, 4:PL 38,130-131; cf. Psalms 50:3)
1040 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. (cf. Song of Solomon 8:6)
1041 The message of the Last Judgment
calls men to conversion while
God is still giving them the
acceptable time, . . . the day
of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2) It inspires
a holy fear of God and commits
them to the justice of the Kingdom
of God. It proclaims the blessed
hope of the Lord's return,
when he will come to be
glorified in his saints, and to
be marveled at in all who have
believed. (Titus 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:10) |