Episode Transcript  

One

Two Judgments

At the end of the time, Christ will come to judge the living and the dead. This will be the Last Judgement. There are two judgments: the Particular Judgment at the end of our life, and the Last Judgment at the end of the world. They are connected, but they are not the same.

The Particular Judgment happens immediately after death. At that moment, each person stands before Christ, and the truth of his or her life is revealed. This judgment is about the story of my life: what I chose, what I loved, what I became. Did I choose the love of God and neighbor over the love of self? Then I receive heaven, either immediately or after purification in purgatory. Or did I choose the love of self over the love of God and neighbor? Then I receive the separation from God I chose, which is hell.

So the Particular Judgment reveals the truth of my story. The Last Judgment, or General Judgment, happens at the end of the world, when Christ returns in glory. Then all the dead will rise. The living and the resurrected will stand before Christ, and the whole truth of history will be revealed. This judgment is about the story of all human history: how every person’s life affected every other person, how every good action bore fruit, how every evil action caused harm, and how God’s Providence guided all things toward His final victory.

At the Last Judgment, God will show how every story fits into the whole story. Nothing will remain hidden. Every act of love, every sacrifice, every prayer, every sin, every failure to love, and every consequence flowing from them will be brought into the light. The Catechism says the Last Judgment, “will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life.” CCC 1039

That means you and I will be there. And our lives will not be seen only in isolation. We will see how our choices affected our family, our friends, the Church, the world, and the plan of God. The Particular Judgment asks: What did you become? The Last Judgment asks: What did your life set in motion? So the question is not only: Where will I go when I die? The question is also: How do I want my story to be told when all things are revealed?

Two

Only At the End

God’s Providence guides all things. Nothing escapes Him. Even sin and evil cannot defeat His plan. God can bring good even out of the evil we do. But we usually cannot see how He is doing this now. We cannot see how He is working everything for good. Only at the end, at the Last Judgment, will we fully see how God guided everything to the best for those who love him. CCC 314

The Catechism, CCC 1040, says at the Last Judgment, “Jesus Christ will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and…the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its ultimate perfection. 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.”

There are many things you have gone through, many things you are going through right now that we cannot understand. But God saw them from all eternity, he understands them right now and he is guiding them to our greatest good right now. Even though we can’t see it now, we will then.

So right now, when we can’ see we can make a choice to trust God. We can say to Jesus, “I don’t understand this…and I don’t like this…but you understand it, so I place my trust in You. With you I am safe.”

What would happen to your fear if you knew with certainty God is guiding everything for the best and there was no ultimate danger? There is a good chance your fear will leave and your anxiety and pain would fade and you would be at peace.

Three

The Stumbling Block of Suffering

Suffering can lead us to God. But it can also become a stumbling block to faith. Often, when someone says they are an atheist, it is not because of an abstract argument. It is because they have suffered deeply, or seen terrible injustice, and they cannot reconcile that with a God who is all-powerful and all-good. They ask: If God exists and He is good, why does He allow so much suffering? Why does He let evil people harm the innocent?

That is a serious question. But we must also ask: If there is no God, then what? Suffering still exists. Injustice still exists. Death still comes. The wrongs of history remain. Without God, who will set everything right?

We should fight injustice and defend the innocent. But we cannot create perfect justice. We cannot undo every evil, restore every victim, or raise the dead. Only God can create the justice we long for. And He will. Pope Benedict wrote, “The innocent sufferer has attained the certitude of hope: there is a God, and God can create justice in a way that we cannot conceive, yet we can begin to grasp it through faith. Yes, there is a resurrection of the flesh. There is justice. There is an “undoing” of past suffering, a reparation that sets things aright.” Spe Salvi 43

That is what we place our hope in! That God is working all things for good for those who love Him.

Four

Undoing Past Suffering

Pope Benedict said that at the Last Judgment we will see how God can “undo” past suffering and set all things right. That does not mean God changes the past. He does not make what happened not to have happened. That would erase human freedom and the real weight of our choices. Rather, God redeems the past. He repairs what was broken. He restores what was wounded. He brings justice where there was injustice. And He fulfills the soul so completely that, in heaven, we will see that nothing suffered in union with Him was wasted.

Right now, we cannot see how God is doing this. We cannot see how He is guiding all things. But for those who love Him, God is always at work, leading everything toward their ultimate fulfillment and happiness. Some people can ruin this in themselves by sin and impenitence. But those who love God will one day see that even the injustices they suffered were not outside His Providence. God was guiding all things toward their supreme good. He was winning in them and for them all along.

That is hope. Despair says: Christ will not come through for me. Hope says: God is winning in my life right now. So, I’ll place my bet on Him.

Five

Hope

Hope is the confidence in God that says, “Everything will turn out well for me, for my family, for mankind.” Fear comes when we think we are in danger. The Last Judgment will reveal that we had nothing to fear.

During this life we are like the Apostles when they were in the boat when the storm struck and they thought they were in danger and they panicked. They didn’t need to panic. Jesus was in the boat with them the whole time. He had everything under control. Then Jesus arose, calmed the storm and brought them safely to shore.

That is what it will be like at the Last Judgement, then we will realize Who was in the boat with us the whole time and we will wonder why were so panicked our whole life. Jesus is in your boat. You are safe...relax…let go…surrender to Jesus, let Him will carry you. For in His will is your peace.

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