Editor’s Note: Catholic teaching identifies the Four Last Things as death, judgment, Heaven and Hell. In the first two parts of this series on the Four Last Things, we examined what every Catholic needs to know about death and judgment. In this installment, we will look to where our death and judgment leads… Heaven or Hell.
Heaven and Hell
Popular, secular opinion seems to conclude either: 1) there is no after-life or 2) everyone and their pets go to heaven. There isn’t much talk about Hell, except to dismiss the possibility of anyone going there.But one historical figure spoke very forcefully about the reality of Hell and the very real possibility of human beings spending eternity there. That person is none other than Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity who became man. God did not dismiss Hell as either non-existent or not a threat. We should follow His example and learn what He taught.
“Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 24:42-44).
Jesus exhorted us to be ready for judgment. Why? Why does it matter? If Hell does not exist or if there is no after-life, what possible difference does being ready make? Jesus provides us the answer:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
“And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
“Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
“He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’
“And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46).
If we believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and if we believe the testimony of St. Matthew, we have to take seriously this clear teaching of the reality of the life to come. Heaven exists and so does Hell. And how we live this earthly life by the grace of God will determine whether we will be counted among the sheep or the goats.
“This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be” (John 14:1-3).
Jesus desires for everyone of us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. That is why He became man, suffered, died on the Cross and rose again. He came to redeem us, to untie the knots of sin in which we entangled ourselves, and to lead us home through salvation. He told us, as He prepared for the end of His earthly life, to where He was going and what He would do. He called us to faith, trust and peace. But, He also warned us repeatedly of the consequences of not believing and obeying Him.Cont. Reading
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