The Four Last Things

How many of us know what the four last things are? Perhaps, dinner, watch tv, brush our teeth, and going to bed? Or maybe, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s celebrations? If you thought of one of these things, I am sorry. This is not what I am talking about. When the Roman Catholic Church talks about the four last things, she is talking about Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

Death: We are mortal beings. That means we will die. We have a day of birth, and we will have a date for death; however, we do not know this date. Only God knows when the time for us to depart from this world to His Heavenly Kingdom is. Our Lord Jesus

Christ taught us that although our physical bodies die, our soul is eternal. We need to remember that the death is not the end of our existence, but just the beginning of something beautiful.

Judgment: Jesus teaches us in the Gospel that we will be judged at the end of our lives (cf. Mt. 25:31-46). St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) says, “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.” Our Lord will judge us according to our actions and will decide where we are going: Heaven or Hell. However, before going to Heaven, we need to pass through purgatory, which is a state of the soul where we will be purified from our sins. We need to be pure before seeing God face to face. The Church teaches that Purgatory “is a temporary state of existence in which the soul is purified and brought to Christian Perfection” (taken from the association of Catechumenal Ministry [ACM]). Purgatory is a wonderful sign of God’s mercy.

Heaven: This is the Kingdom of God. Jesus came to teach us what the Kingdom of God is and how we can reach this Kingdom. In terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, Heaven is our supernatural destination: we came from God, and we are going back to God. Heaven is not a gift, but our choice. We choose in life if we want to go to Heaven or not. I am very sure that all of us want to go to Heaven; therefore, we should always listen to Jesus and obey Him. Our Lord says, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn. 11:25-26). If we want to live, that means, to go to Heaven, what we need to do is to believe in Jesus and receive His Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

Hell: This is the eternal separation from the Most Holy Trinity. Like I choose if I want to go to Heaven through my actions, I choose if I want to go to Hell. If someone does not want to listen to Jesus, not doing good things for others, not practicing the sacraments, and so on, that person is choosing to go to Hell. God will say, if you did not want to be with me when you were alive, I will not obligate you to be with me in the eternity. Go to the place that you chose. I will not be there. That place is called Hell. In other words, Hell is being without the presence of God in our lives.

Do not forget: November is the month that the Church chose to pray for all souls in purgatory. Once souls are in purgatory, they cannot do anything else for themselves. They need our prayers, so God helps them to leave purgatory soon and rejoice in Heaven. Let us remember, one day, you and I will be in purgatory, and we will also need prayers.

Remember, The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build.

God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramirez