As we approach the end of the liturgical year and prepare for entering into the Advent season, our readings take on a more somber note. We begin to look at death, the afterlife and the end of time when Our Lord comes again. They should remind us of the importance our daily decisions can have on our lives throughout eternity.
With the first reading and the Gospel focusing on death and the afterlife, it’s good to remind ourselves what the Scriptures mean by the resurrection of the dead. All of us are aware that our lives on Earth will end some day, whether we want to face it or not. The uncertainty of death comes not in its inevitability, but in what happens after we die. As Christians, we believe in Jesus’ promise that death is not the end of our lives, but only the end of the beginning. Our Lord revealed to humanity that we have immortal souls, souls that will never die, that are joined to our earthly bodies throughout our lives. They will become separated from our bodies by death temporarily, but body and soul will be reunited one day at the resurrection of the dead. This resurrection of the dead will occur when Our Lord returns to “judge the living and the dead”, as we say in the Nicene Creed every week. With this resurrection of the dead, we need to remind ourselves that there will be a judgment by Our Lord as to how we will spend that eternity. This judgment is not about God condemning us for not doing enough good things or rewarding us for avoiding enough bad things, but rather is a judgment of our own decisions to follow God or turn away from Him. Where we end up for eternity is a direct result of how important we make God in our lives. If we’re not willing to give God and His commands any priority in our lives now, how can we think that we’ll be willing to do so in eternal life? That is the question that the Final Judgment will answer. It will not be like a criminal trial, but rather a revealing of our souls. Did we dedicate our lives to serving God and others, as Christ commanded, or did we spend our lives serving ourselves and using others? Did we submit our pride and humbly obey God and His Church, established by Christ, or did we place our opinions and what we want over His will? How we answer these questions will determine whether or not we will spend eternity in God’s presence in Heaven. God does not condemn us, but rather allows us to decide whether or not to be with Him forever. If we are open to the grace God gives all of us to follow Him and remain in His friendship, we freely choose to enter into the perfect life in Heaven promised by Our Lord and opened to us through His death and resurrection. Of course, if we close ourselves off to God’s grace, seeking our own desires and will over His will and refusing to follow Him, we freely choose to shun that Heavenly life for an eternity without God. Those who enter Heaven have chosen God over themselves, but those who are condemned to eternal damnation in Hell have chosen themselves over God. The Final Judgment is a confirmation of that choice. I think it goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyways: we need to choose God over ourselves, Heaven over Hell. This means we need to commit ourselves every day to following Jesus and His teachings given us through His Church in every aspect of our lives. Living as a Christian means constantly seeking God’s face, wanting to live in His love for us and expressing our love for Him. We need to be steeping ourselves in the Scriptures, daily reflecting on the Word of God. We also need to be learning the teachings and Traditions of the Church, and humbly living them out despite our disagreements or lack of understanding. We need to allow Our Lord, speaking to us in the Scriptures and Traditions of the Church, to root out of us our pride and self-centeredness that keep us from Him. In short, we need to choose daily to enter into Heaven when our time on Earth is finished. May we allow God’s grace to live in us so that we might live in Him and one day enter into that perfect life in Heaven promised us by Christ.
With the first reading and the Gospel focusing on death and the afterlife, it’s good to remind ourselves what the Scriptures mean by the resurrection of the dead. All of us are aware that our lives on Earth will end some day, whether we want to face it or not. The uncertainty of death comes not in its inevitability, but in what happens after we die. As Christians, we believe in Jesus’ promise that death is not the end of our lives, but only the end of the beginning. Our Lord revealed to humanity that we have immortal souls, souls that will never die, that are joined to our earthly bodies throughout our lives. They will become separated from our bodies by death temporarily, but body and soul will be reunited one day at the resurrection of the dead. This resurrection of the dead will occur when Our Lord returns to “judge the living and the dead”, as we say in the Nicene Creed every week. With this resurrection of the dead, we need to remind ourselves that there will be a judgment by Our Lord as to how we will spend that eternity. This judgment is not about God condemning us for not doing enough good things or rewarding us for avoiding enough bad things, but rather is a judgment of our own decisions to follow God or turn away from Him. Where we end up for eternity is a direct result of how important we make God in our lives. If we’re not willing to give God and His commands any priority in our lives now, how can we think that we’ll be willing to do so in eternal life? That is the question that the Final Judgment will answer. It will not be like a criminal trial, but rather a revealing of our souls. Did we dedicate our lives to serving God and others, as Christ commanded, or did we spend our lives serving ourselves and using others? Did we submit our pride and humbly obey God and His Church, established by Christ, or did we place our opinions and what we want over His will? How we answer these questions will determine whether or not we will spend eternity in God’s presence in Heaven. God does not condemn us, but rather allows us to decide whether or not to be with Him forever. If we are open to the grace God gives all of us to follow Him and remain in His friendship, we freely choose to enter into the perfect life in Heaven promised by Our Lord and opened to us through His death and resurrection. Of course, if we close ourselves off to God’s grace, seeking our own desires and will over His will and refusing to follow Him, we freely choose to shun that Heavenly life for an eternity without God. Those who enter Heaven have chosen God over themselves, but those who are condemned to eternal damnation in Hell have chosen themselves over God. The Final Judgment is a confirmation of that choice. I think it goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyways: we need to choose God over ourselves, Heaven over Hell. This means we need to commit ourselves every day to following Jesus and His teachings given us through His Church in every aspect of our lives. Living as a Christian means constantly seeking God’s face, wanting to live in His love for us and expressing our love for Him. We need to be steeping ourselves in the Scriptures, daily reflecting on the Word of God. We also need to be learning the teachings and Traditions of the Church, and humbly living them out despite our disagreements or lack of understanding. We need to allow Our Lord, speaking to us in the Scriptures and Traditions of the Church, to root out of us our pride and self-centeredness that keep us from Him. In short, we need to choose daily to enter into Heaven when our time on Earth is finished. May we allow God’s grace to live in us so that we might live in Him and one day enter into that perfect life in Heaven promised us by Christ.
