Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: This column marks the 25th anniversary of Catholic Replies in the pages of The Wanderer. That’s 1,300 columns and between 5,000 and 6,000 questions answered. Many thanks to Al Matt, Joe Matt, Peggy Moen, and others at the paper for supporting the column all these years, and special thanks to you readers who have provided a never-ending stream of good questions. For anyone wishing to have one or both compilations of questions and answers (1,600 of them) that have appeared in The Wanderer, please contact us at www.crpublications.com.
Q. When people talk about “Judgment Day,” what do they mean? Will this day come at the end of our life or at the end of the world? — C.F., Massachusetts.
A. It is the teaching of the Church that every person will face two judgments following death. Immediately after we die comes the particular judgment, when Christ will judge each individual on how well that person loved and served God and neighbor while on Earth. “Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment,” says the Letter to the Hebrews, “so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him” (9:27-28). In other words, we only go around once in this life; there is no such thing as reincarnation.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 1022), each one of us will receive “his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven — through a purification or immediately — or immediate and everlasting damnation.”
At the end of the world will come the general or final judgment, when all members of the human race will be judged on the basis of how they responded to those in need — the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the imprisoned, and others. This social judgment will not change the verdict rendered at the particular judgment, but it will reveal to the whole world God’s mercy toward those who are saved and His justice toward those who are condemned. “In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself,” says the Catechism (n. 1039), “the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life.”
When Christ returns in glory at a day and hour known only by the Father, the Catechism continues (n. 1040), “then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. 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.”
Following that final judgment, our Lord will say to the just, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). To the wicked Jesus will say, “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
Q. I have heard conflicting opinions about the identity of the “woman clothed with the sun” in chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation. Some say that it is the Virgin Mary; others that it is the Church. Who is correct? — E.M.D., California.
A. Both interpretations are correct. In his blog, Catholic Answers apologist Jimmy Akin compiled the following explanation from the writings of Pope Benedict XVI:
“Another compelling image is that of the woman in chapter 12, who is clothed with the sun, who stands on the moon, and who has twelve stars as a crown on her head — imagery that is based on Joseph’s dream in the Old Testament (Gen. 37:9-10). Many understand this woman as Mary, but others see her as an image of the Church. What is the truth?
“This woman represents Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer, but at the same time she also represents the whole Church, the People of God of all times, the Church which in all ages, with great suffering, brings forth Christ ever anew. And she is always threatened by the dragon’s power. She appears defenseless and weak. But while she is threatened, persecuted by the dragon, she is always protected by God’s comfort. And in the end this woman wins. The dragon does not win. This is the great prophecy of the Book that inspires confidence in us!
“The woman who suffers in history, the Church which is persecuted, appears in the end as the radiant Bride, the figure of the new Jerusalem where there will be no more mourning or weeping, an image of the world transformed, of the new world whose light is God himself, whose lamp is the Lamb.
“In the vision of the Book of Revelation there is a further detail: Upon the head of the woman clothed with the sun there is ‘a crown of twelve stars.’ This sign symbolizes the twelve tribes of Israel and means that the Virgin Mary is at the center of the People of God, of the entire communion of saints. And thus the image of the crown of twelve stars ushers us into the second great interpretation of the heavenly portent of the ‘woman clothed with the sun’ — as well as representing Our Lady, this sign personifies the Church, the Christian community of all time.
“She is with child, in the sense that she is carrying Christ in her womb and must give birth to him in the world. This is the travail of the pilgrim Church on earth which, amidst the consolations of God and the persecution of the world, must bring Jesus to men and women. After the woman gives birth, she is persecuted by the dragon. What does this mean?
“This dragon sought in vain to devour Jesus — the ‘male child’ destined to rule all nations (12:5) — because Jesus, through his death and resurrection, ascended to God and is seated on his throne. Therefore, the dragon, defeated once and for all in heaven, directly attacks the woman — the Church — in the wilderness of the world. However, in every epoch the Church is sustained by the light and strength of God, who nourishes her in the desert with the bread of his Word and of the Holy Eucharist.
“And so it is that in every tribulation, in all the trials she meets over time and in the different parts of the world, the Church suffers persecution but turns out to be victorious. And in this very way the Christian community is her presence, the guarantee of God’s love against all the ideologies of hatred and selfishness.”
Q. In a recent edition of The Wanderer, a question was posed about whether you thought that abstaining from voting in a general election is a morally defensible option for Catholics.
I was always taught that in a “Tweedledum and Tweedledee” situation, one was to vote for the “lesser of two evils.” My thoughts on this are: I consider the GOP as the only pro-life party and, even if I don’t care for the nominee, I will vote for the party to rid our country of all abortion practices! Mother Teresa said something to the effect that any nation that allows abortion will not flourish. Maybe if we rid our great country of abortion, we will prosper again. — E.C., via e-mail.
A. We sympathize with your dilemma, having faced it ourselves in many past elections when confronted with voting for the “lesser of two evils.” One problem is that the lesser of two evils is still evil, although we grant that the degree of evil between the leading nominees of the two major parties at the present time is huge.
The second problem is that while the GOP has had a strong pro-life platform for a long time, members of that party in Congress don’t always work and vote for pro-life policies. Politicians typically say one thing when running for office and abandon their pro-life supporters when they get in office.
We heard a former presidential candidate say at a dinner we attended recently, that he was told upon entering the U.S. Senate that he could hold the strongest pro-life convictions he wanted, but do not make waves in the Senate. He did make waves, to his credit, but without much backing from those who should have been with him.
And the third problem is that we can’t be sure that the GOP nominee will follow through on his campaign promises. Of the two men leading the race for the GOP nomination as we write, one has no pro-life background at all, while the other has been strongly pro-life. Caveat emptor!
