Death and Our Particular Judgment
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One
The middle of Lent is a good time to think about the reality of what the Church calls the Last Things: death, our particular judgment, purgatory, hell, the end of the world, the Last Judgement, and the New Heavens and the New Earth.
We begin with our death.
This life is preparation for the next one. And there’s a certain sense in which you can tell how well you’re doing based on your attitude to death. If your hope is set on union with God, well, then death will be the fulfillment of your hopes. But if your hopes are set on things of this world, well, death means the end of those things, in which case death will be the terrible disappointment of all your hopes.
John of the Cross writes, “The soul does not fear death when she loves; rather she desires it. Yet sinners are always fearful of death. They foresee that death will take everything away and bring them all evils… Since sinners love the life of this world intensely and have little love for that of the other, they have an intense fear of death. But the soul that loves God lives more in the next life than in this… and thus takes little account of this temporal life.” Spir. Cant, stanza 11, 0
Death is not a bad thing. In fact, because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning. As St. Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” And Teresa of Avila wrote, “I want to see God and, in order to see him, I must die.” Finally, Therese the Little Flower stated, “I am not dying, I am entering life.”
In the spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ we read, “Every action of yours, every thought, should be those of one who expects to die before the day is out. Death would have no great terrors for you if you had a quiet conscience .... Then why not keep clear of sin instead of running away from death? If you aren't fit to face death today, it's very unlikely you will be tomorrow.”
Two
Our Particular Judgment
The catechism teaches that death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.
The catechism tells us (1022), “Each person receives his eternal reward or punishment in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ.”
This will result in one of three things happening. Either: Entrance into the blessedness of heaven for those who have been transformed by union with Christ, a process of purification in purgatory after which they will experience the joy of heaven, or immediate and everlasting damnation.
By what standard will we be judged?
Scripture and the Catechism tell us immediately after death each person will be rewarded in accordance with his works and faith. CCC 1021. As John of the Cross writes, “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.” Sayings 64
Three
Fulfilling Our Heart’s Desire
We should understand our particular judgment not so much as a courtroom scene with God sitting in Judgment but rather as God giving us what we wanted throughout our lives.
C.S. Lewis, in his book The Last Battle, from the Chronicles of Narnia gives an amazing image of Judgment.
Aslan, the Lion who represents Christ, comes to Judge all the creatures of Narnia. Behind Aslan stood all the stars so that Aslan’s huge black shadow streamed away to his left. As the creatures came rushing on they came right up to Aslan and looked straight into his face. Then one of two things happened: When some looked, the expression of their faces changed terribly…For some…It was fear and hatred. They did not find in Aslan what they wanted. So, they swerved to His left and disappeared into the black shadow of hell. But the others looked in the face of Aslan and loved him. They found in Aslan what they always wanted. All these swerved to His right, into the light of Heaven.
If at death the soul has spent its life seeking and loving God, then it gets what it wanted, union with God in heaven.
On the other hand, if a soul has spent its life in selfishness, choosing itself over and against God and neighbor, then at death it gets what it wanted: itself and nothing more! And that is the definition of Hell. To be alone with yourself forever, because that is what you loved, what you chose.
Four
Okay, the idea of being stuck with myself forever scares the hell out of me.
So here is the infallible means to ensure you will go to God and Heaven. As I’ve said before, as our prayer deepens, we become a better person, and as we become better people, our prayer deepens. Prayer and virtue affect each other creating a virtuous cycle.
Think about it, when we do daily meditation like we are in this Rosary, we read or hear the life and teachings of Jesus. We let it confront us, convict us. Then we make small concrete resolutions to practice each day. Daily mental prayer and a resolution joined to receiving Jesus often in the Eucharist and allowing Him to heal and strengthen us in Confession once a month is the infallible means for continual growth in moral goodness.
If you do these, you will grow in virtue and holiness. If you don’t, you will grow worse, not better, because unchecked vice is guaranteed to make us vicious. It’s that simple.
Five
One of the best ways to prepare for death and our particular judgment is by a daily examination of conscience and regular confession - at least once a month.
At some point every day do a brief Examination of Conscience.
Begin with Gratitude. For what am I grateful? To whom am I grateful? First, I am grateful to God. All these things for which I am grateful are concrete manifestations of his love for me. How have I corresponded to His love?
Then look back over your last 24 hours and acknowledge where you have thought, said, and done things that were wrong or failed to do what was right, the things that left us empty and unhappy. This honest assessment will cause us to grow in our desire and love for God, purifying our disordered desires. Finally, learn from your examination and make a game plan to live better today – this is part of your resolution flowing out of prayer – some simple concrete thing to put into practice today to live better and be happier.
The Catechism (1470) reminds us, “In the sacrament of Reconciliation, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life. For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death, and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom, from which one is excluded by grave sin. In converting to Christ through penance and faith, the sinner passes from death to life and "does not come into judgment."
In the Sacrament of Reconciliation Jesus forgives and heals us of our sins and he floods our soul with Himself to strengthen us to overcome all the things that ruin happiness. The Church encourages frequent reconciliation and in all of her approved apparitions, Our Mother has asked us to go at least once a month. Confession is like a dress rehearsal of Our Particular Judgment.