Dear Parishioners and Friends, 

As we near the end of the Church year the Sacred Scriptures selected for Mass turn our hearts and minds to the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell.  This is done so that we can focus on what matters most in living out our lives. At the end of the world, no one knows exactly when, the Lord will return in all His glory and pass judgement on every person who has ever lived on this earth.   Our souls will be reunited with a form of our bodies for what waits in eternity. Purgatory will no longer be necessary.  At the Final Judgement God will bring into heaven those who have died in sanctifying grace; and He will condemn to hell all those who have died in unrepentant mortal sin.  The just will know heaven body and soul, whereas those in hell will suffer in body and soul.  This is what St. John teaches us.   The Sacred Scriptures reveal this reality in many ways in the solemn doctrine of our Divine Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This is called the General Judgement.

There is also a Particular Judgement as we leave this world one by one before its destruction.  At the Particular Judgement each souls finds itself in heaven or hell, or if necessary, purgatory.  Our souls, separated from our bodies, await the Lord’s return at the end of the world, when our souls and bodies will be reunited unto life eternal or eternal damnation.  

These are sobering thoughts even for the most pious.  That is why this scenario only makes sense if we consider the mercy and love of God.  “God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son.”  Jesus died on the Cross to make possible our liberation from sin and He rose again the third day to make possible our eternal resurrection in Him.  Jesus loves us as His brothers and sisters.  We are indeed adopted children of a loving Father.  His love and His grace will always be enough for us.  This gives us hope.