CATECHISM – 32nd Sunday of Year A

Catholics have difficulty dealing with Protestant fundamentalists in most areas of discussion. Perhaps one of the most troubling is that of the Second Coming of Christ, the Last Judgment, the Anti-Christ, the so-called Rapture, the Millennium, or 1000 Years at the End. What is the Catholic tradition on these questions?

Paul teaches that when Christ returns to judge the world (an event he believed was going to happen any moment now), those who have been faithful will be taken up into the clouds to meet the Lord. The Church teaches that there is no radical separation between those who have died and those who are still alive. We all share in one communion of saints with Christ who was the first to be raised from death. We will all be raised as he was. There is no need to separate the living from the dead at this moment.

There will be a judgment at the end of time. A day will come when the world as we know it, and the work of evangelization, will be complete. Christ will take all that is his to be presented as a kingdom worthy of his Father in heaven. When we have completed our work on earth, when the whole universe has been transformed by the values of the Gospel and permeated with the holiness of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, then Christ will come again to confirm what has been done by us in his name. That is judgment. That is the final disposition of reality that has now been fully conformed to God’s will.

Judgment belongs to Christ, but it is based on what we have done with the charge that has been given us to bring all things under his rule. The work of evangelizing all peoples, the work of consecrating all of reality, the task of bringing the order of God’s will to all creation, belongs to us in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Catholic tradition is one in which the Church has been commissioned by Christ to carry on his ministry until all is complete. Ministry, sacramental celebrations, preaching and teaching, taking care of the poor, etc., all this is the work of building the reign of God and bringing closer the day of salvation.

Fundamentalists are not convinced when we bring forth our version of all this. (See The Catechism: #671, 673, 677-678, 681-682,830,988,1038-1041,1051-52)

After his resurrection, Jesus rose into heaven. Since then, his followers have been waiting for him to return. When he comes back, he will gather everyone together. Those who have died will be raised up, in a resurrection of the body. God will reunite everyone’s body and soul.

Then Jesus will hold a general judgment. He will ask everyone two questions. Did you trust and love God? Did you treat your neighbor with respect? Those who loved God and others will live in his Kingdom.

What happens if people die before Jesus comes? When they die, God will look at their lives in a particular judgment. He will ask: Are you my friend? Do you have my life within you? People will give one of three answers: “yes,” “no,” or “yes, but…”

If their answer is “yes,” they will live with God and his saints in heaven. They will be perfectly happy because they will see God!

If their answer is “no,” they will live without God in hell. Because they were totally selfish now, they will be unhappy forever.

If their answer is “yes, but…,” they will live for a time without God in purgatory. They may love God and others now, but they still act in very selfish ways. For a time, they will need to be freed (or “purified”) from this selfishness. Then, they will live with God in heaven.

Even now, God asks us the same questions. Are you my friend? Do you have my life within you? He gives us a chance to change. We can be more loving. And we can get ready for God’s Kingdom.

Be prepared! You don’t know when the Kingdom will come.