What happens when we die? It’s an important question—don’t you think? Well, Jesus gave Peter one answer: “you will either be beaten severely or beaten lightly.”
And who are the ones who will receive a severe beating? “Those who should know better.” And that’s us! How’s that for “good news?”
Now, let’s not get too self-righteous about judgement. We love to watch other people being judged. Some of TV’s most popular shows are all about judging: Survivor, American Idol, and Dancing with the Stars.
Judge Judy makes $47 million dollars a year—doing what? Judging! An estimated 100 million people tuned in to the verdict of The O.J. Simpson trial.
And here it’s going to get a little crazy. We also are a culture who uphold the virtue of “non-judgement.” We pride ourselves on being tolerance, understanding, and acceptance.
Isn’t one of the worst things to do is to make someone else “feel bad.” And for the culture, who is considered the biggest and baddest judge of them all? The Catholic Church! Harsh, strict, critical.
Therein lies the paradox: we are both fascinated and uneasy with judgment at the same time. What are we to make of all this? What does this tell us about ourselves?
It should tell us that authentic judgment is a good thing—it is essential to the health & well-being of an individual and to the well-being of society. In other words: a “truth telling that is honest, clear and direct shines light on things as good and evil, so they appear as what they really are.”
As Catholics, we believe that when a person dies, the soul separates from the body. He then stands before God in judgment—THE truth teller who shines the light on things as good and evil, so they appear as they really are.
When we die, our soul stands in judgment immediately. We will have to account for our lives, for the good that we have done and for the sins we have committed. We call this the “particular judgment” because it is
particular to each person.
If we are free of all sin and the hurt caused by sin, we immediately will be welcomed into Heaven, where we will enjoy the beatific vision, seeing God face to face.
If we have died with venial sins or the hurt caused by sin, our Lord in His love and mercy will first purge and heal the soul in the place called Purgatory; after this purgation and healing, our soul will then be welcomed into Heaven.
However, if we have died rejecting God, with mortal sins and with no remorse for those mortal sins, then we will have condemned ourselves to Hell: the firm rejection of God that we made in this life, will continue in the next.
One of the many things that Jesus wants us to know in today’s parable is that God will always tell us the truth about our lives—that’s what judges do.
And here is the hard part: We should not be afraid of judgement. We should allow God’s judging light to let us know the truth about ourselves today—because tomorrow—may be too late.