By DON FIER
Of all the doctrines of Christianity that the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches and defends, one of the least attractive and perhaps the first to be abandoned by many is that of Hell, especially in the age of moral relativism and materialism in which we live. No one likes to think of being condemned to an eternity of unrelenting torment.
And even if the reality of Hell is admitted, many hold that except for the fallen angels, it is empty, or at most sparsely populated. How easy it is to get caught up in the false rhetoric of those who claim that it is inconceivable that an all-merciful, all-loving God could condemn one to “the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43).
Yet as we saw last week, the doctrine of eternal damnation is a persistent theme in the New Testament, spoken of often by the good and gentle Jesus Himself. For one to reject Hell, then, is to reject not only one of the clearest doctrines of Sacred Scripture and Tradition, but an infallible teaching of the Church that has been constantly and consistently pronounced.
As expressed in the General Catechetical Directory, “Catechesis cannot pass over in silence the judgment after death of each man . . . or the sad and lamentable reality of eternal death” (n. 69). It is a reality which Christ proclaimed unmistakably in the parable on His Second Coming: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
But important to remember is that “God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end” (CCC, n. 1037).
The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church concisely summarizes what is meant by this teaching: “God, while desiring ‘all to come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9), nevertheless has created the human person to be free and responsible, and he respects our decisions. Therefore, it is the human person who freely excludes himself from communion with God if at the moment of death he persists in mortal sin and refuses the merciful love of God” (n. 213).
This brings us to the Catechism’s teaching on the Final Judgment, that judgment to which all mankind will be communally subjected at the end of time following the resurrection of the dead, “a resurrection of both the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15).
As we discussed earlier in this series (see volume 148, n. 16; April 30, 2015), it is at the instant when each person’s soul is separated from his body in death — at the Particular Judgment — when it is judged by Almighty God and learns its fate, a fate that is sealed for eternity. Thus, there will be no surprises regarding one’s final destiny; however, the General Judgment will also have a social dimension.
At the Final Judgment, we will “be judged not only as individuals but as members of society,” explains Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, “to reveal to the world God’s justice in those he condemns and his mercy in those who are saved” (The Catholic Catechism, p. 259).
Why is this important? Simply put, the full import of a person’s actions (and inactions) cannot be assessed at the moment they occur. Strictly speaking, their long-range consequences may not become fully known until many generations after a person has departed from this life.
As Fr. Hardon goes on to explain, even though a person’s career ends with death, his or her life, in a sense, goes on. Words and actions, both good and wicked, have consequences with ripple effects that continue through time.
Consider, for example, the significance of the words and deeds of parents. Their children, in a manner of speaking, are an extension of themselves and will be immeasurably influenced by how they were raised. The same can be said of pastors of parishes, teachers who form students of all ages, government officials who establish laws and policies, those in consecrated religious life — indeed, for people in any and all walks of life.
“Unkindness does not stop with an act of impatience or spite,” says Fr. Hardon. “Its effects continue in a never-ending spiral long after the sin was committed. Charity does not cease with the love-inspired word of encouragement or the selfless sharing of pain; it starts a chain reaction of generosity that goes on for centuries after the one who began the reaction has died. . . .
“Only on the last day, when everything we have done will have reached its end result, can a truly final judgment be made. The manifestation would not be complete otherwise” (ibid., p. 260).
At the same time, nothing will remain hidden. Shameful deeds done under the cover of darkness will be revealed and the fruit of sacrifices done in secret will become known.
The reasons for many things that do not make sense to us now will become manifestly clear at the Last Judgment — at last, we will know all the answers. “The whole of life, which so often has seemed to us like a tangled skein of unrelated events, sometimes harsh and cruel, and even unjust and stupid,” adroitly explains Leo J. Trese, “will now be unfolded before us. We shall see how the jigsaw piece of life that we have known fits into the great magnificent whole of God’s plan for man. We shall see how God’s wisdom and power, his love and mercy have been at work through it all” (The Faith Explained [TFE], p. 190).
What a momentous day, then, will the day of the General Judgment be! “In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare,” says the Catechism. “The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life” (n. 1039). Spiritual writers contend that one of the greatest sufferings of the condemned will be the humiliation of public shame.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in his 2007 encyclical Spe Salvi (“Saved in Hope”), points to the Last Judgment as a key to Christian hope. Usually people think of the Last Judgment and everything associated with it as opposing hope. However, part of the yearning of the human heart is the natural desire to see that justice is done in all of history. A great objection to God’s existence is the presence of injustice and evil: “A world marked by so much injustice, innocent suffering, and cynicism of power cannot be the work of a good God” (n. 42), many say.
If there were no Last Judgment, injustice would seem to have the last word. However, it is precisely at the Last Judgment when mankind’s hope that all innocent suffering will be redeemed and rewarded will be realized, and that all victimizing will be publicly condemned. Our hope that justice will be done, that perfect communion will be achieved, and that evil and injustice will be excluded presupposes justice. The Last Judgment will satisfy that natural aspiration of man.
“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 (cf. Song 8:6)” (CCC, n. 1040).
When will the Last Judgment take place? We know not the time, for as Jesus has revealed, “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matt. 24:36). But that it will come we know with certainty, for “the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done” (Matt. 16:27).
Sacred Scripture does indicate, however, that a severe time of trial, especially for Christians, will precede the Second Coming of Christ.
The twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew indicates that “there will be wars and famine and pestilence; there will be the reign of the Antichrist; the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from the heavens; the cross will appear in the sky” (TFE, p. 187).
It is only after all this takes place that mankind “will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30).
The Throne Of Divine Justice
In closing this section, the Catechism is attentive in reminding the faithful that “the message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them ‘the acceptable time,…the day of salvation’ (2 Cor. 6:2)” (CCC, n. 1041).
This should inspire us with a holy fear of God and encourage us to be prepared always because we “know neither the day nor the hour” (Matt. 25:13) when Christ will return “with great power and glory” (Luke 21:27).
Let us take to heart the explicit instructions of our Lord in Matthew’s Gospel (see Matt. 25:34-46), for when the General Judgment takes place, “it will find Jesus Christ occupying the throne of divine justice which has replaced his throne of infinite mercy — the cross” (TFE, p. 188).
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(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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