The contemplation of the imposing drama of the Last Judgment has always been of immense benefit to the faithful; and even in our days, it’s an efficacious element for awakening consciences and calling to conversion. A topic that appears with clarity and frequency in the Sacred Scriptures, the Last Judgment holds great pastoral value and is easily understandable by all. The Church condenses this truth of the faith in the definitive and simple words that Catholics pray daily in the Creed: Christ will come ‘to judge the living and the dead.’ But… will Christ really come as just judge? Or as something else?
Francis
Quote AQuote BQuote CQuote DQuote F
Whenever we think of Christ’s return and of his final judgment, which will manifest to its ultimate consequences the good that each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life, we seem to find ourselves before a mystery which towers above us, which we fail even to imagine. A mystery which almost instinctively arouses a sense of fear in us, and perhaps even one of trepidation. If, however, we reflect well on this reality, it cannot but expand the heart of a Christian and come to constitute a cause of consolation and of trust. […] In that case, it is the Church as bride who, on behalf of all humanity and as its first fruits, addresses herself to Christ her Bridegroom, looking forward to be enfolded in his embrace: Jesus’ embrace, which is the fullness of life and the fullness of love. This is how Jesus embraces us. If we think of judgement in this perspective, all fear and hesitation fade and make room for expectation and deep joy: it will be the very moment when we will be judged finally ready to be clothed in Christ’s glory, as with a nuptial garment, to be led into the banquet, the image of full and definitive communion with God. A second reason for confidence is offered to us by the observation that, at the moment of judgement, we will not be left alone. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus himself foretells how, at the end of time, those who have followed him will take their place in glory, and judge with him (cf. Mt 19:28). The Apostle Paul then, writing to the community of Corinth, states: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?… How much more, matters pertaining to this life!” (1 Cor 6:2-3). How beautiful it is to know thatat that juncture, in addition to Christ, our Paraclete, our Advocate with the Father (cf. 1Jn 2:1), we will be able to count on the intercession and goodness of so many of our elder brothers and sisters who have gone before us on the journey of faith, who have offered their lives for us and who continue to love us ineffably! The saints already live in the sight of God, in the splendour of his glory praying for us who still live on earth. […] This means, then, that this final judgement is already in progress, it begins now over the course of our lives. Thus judgement is pronounced at every moment of life, as it sums up our faith in the salvation which is present and active in Christ, or of our unbelief, whereby we close in upon ourselves. But if we close ourselves to the love of Jesus, we condemn ourselves.
What consolation this certainty arouses in our hearts! The Church is truly a mother and, as a mother, she seeks her children’s good, especially of those who are furthest away and are afflicted, until she finds its fullness in the glorious body of Christ with all its members.
A further suggestion is offered to us by the Gospel of John, where it explicitly states that “God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (Jn 3:17-18). This means, then, that this final judgement is already in progress, it begins now over the course of our lives. Thus judgement is pronounced at every moment of life, as it sums up our faith in the salvation which is present and active in Christ, or of our unbelief, whereby we close in upon ourselves. But if we close ourselves to the love of Jesus, we condemn ourselves. Salvation is to open oneself to Jesus, it is he who saves us. If we are sinners — and we all are — we ask him for forgiveness and if we go to him with the desire to be good, the Lord forgives us. But for this we must open ourselves to Jesus’ love, which is stronger than all else. Jesus’ love is great, Jesus’ love is merciful, Jesus’ love forgives. (General audience, December 11, 2013)
What consolation this certainty arouses in our hearts! The Church is truly a mother and, as a mother, she seeks her children’s good, especially of those who are furthest away and are afflicted, until she finds its fullness in the glorious body of Christ with all its members.
A further suggestion is offered to us by the Gospel of John, where it explicitly states that “God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (Jn 3:17-18). This means, then, that this final judgement is already in progress, it begins now over the course of our lives. Thus judgement is pronounced at every moment of life, as it sums up our faith in the salvation which is present and active in Christ, or of our unbelief, whereby we close in upon ourselves. But if we close ourselves to the love of Jesus, we condemn ourselves. Salvation is to open oneself to Jesus, it is he who saves us. If we are sinners — and we all are — we ask him for forgiveness and if we go to him with the desire to be good, the Lord forgives us. But for this we must open ourselves to Jesus’ love, which is stronger than all else. Jesus’ love is great, Jesus’ love is merciful, Jesus’ love forgives. (General audience, December 11, 2013)
To the other group, to those who are closed within the rigidity of the law, who do not want to hear, Jesus said a lot; even uglier things than Stephen said. The same thing happened with the adulterous woman, who was a sinner. Each one of us enters into dialogue with Jesus and the victim of the hearts of stone: the adulterous. To those who wanted to stone her, Jesus only responds: “Look within yourselves.” And, today, we see this tenderness of Jesus: the testimony of obedience, the Great Witness, Jesus, who gave his life, he makes us see the tenderness of God in relation to us, toward our sins, and our weaknesses. We enter into this dialogue and ask for the grace that the Lord soften the rigid hearts of these people, those who are always closed within the Law and condemn everything that is outside of this Law. (Homily, Santa Marta, May 2, 2017 – English summary)
The figure that helps me understand the attitude of the Lord with the lost sheep is the comportment of the Lord with Judas. The most perfect lost sheep of the Gospel is Judas: a man who always, always had something bitter in his heart, something to criticize the others about, he was always distant. He did not know the sweetness of gratitude in living with all of the others. And, always, this sheep was not satisfied – Judas was not a satisfied man! – , he fled. He fled because he was a thief, and went out, alone. Others are impure, others… But they always escape because they have this darkness in their heart that separates them from the flock. And this double life, this double life that so many Christians, even – and I say this with sorrow, curates, bishops…And Judas was a bishop, one of the first bishops. The lost sheep. Poor him! Poor brother Judas, as Father Mazzolari called him in that beautiful sermon: Brother Judas, what happened to your heart? We should understand the lost sheep. We also always have some little thing, little or not so little, of the lost sheep. That which the lost sheep does is not so much an error, but a sickness that he has in his heart that the devil takes advantage of. In this way, Judas, with his divided heart and unsocial attitude, is the icon of the lost sheep that the shepherd seeks. But Judas did not understand, and in the end, when he sees what his double life provokes within the community, the evil that he sowed with his interior darkness, which made him always flee, searching for lights that were not the light of the Lord but lights like Christmas decorations, artificial lights – he despaired. There is a word in the Bible – the Lord is good, even with these sheep, he never fails to seek them – there is a word that says that Judas hanged himself, he repented and hanged himself. (Mt 27, 3) I believe that the Lord took this word and brought it with him, I don´t know, perhaps, but this word makes us doubt. What does this word mean? That until the end the love of God worked in that soul, until the moment of despair. And this is the attitude of the Good Shepherd with the strayed sheep. This is the proclamation, the good news that brings us Christmas and asks of us this sincere happiness that changes the heart, that brings us to allow ourselves to be consoled by the Lord, and not with the fleeting consolations that we seek, to flee from reality, from interior torture, interior division. When he found the lost sheep, Jesus did not insult it, even though it had done so much wrong. In the Garden of Olives he calls Judas “friend”. These are the caresses of God. Who doesn´t know about the caresses of the Lord doesn´t know about Christian doctrine! He who doesn´t allow himself to be caressed by the Lord is lost! And this is the good news, this is the sincere happiness that we wish for today. This is the happiness, this is the consolation that we seek: that the Lord come with his power, that are the caresses, his meeting up with us, to save us, as the lost sheep, and bring us to the flock of his Church. May the Lord grant us this grace to await Christmas with our wounds, with our sins, sincerely thankful, to await the power of this God that comes to console us, and comes with power, but his power is tenderness, the caresses that are born from his heart, this heart that is so good that he gave his life for us. (Homily, Santa Marta, December 6, 2016)
The Holy Father also described how today’s reading shows how the Lord will judge the great and the lowly “according to their deeds,” with the damned being thrown into the pool of fire. […] “Eternal damnation is not a torture chamber,” he said. “That’s a description of this second death: it is a death. And those who will not be received in the Kingdom of God, it’s because they have not drawn close to the Lord. These are the people who journeyed along their own path, distancing themselves from the Lord and passing in front of the Lord but then choosing to walk away from Him.” What eternal damnation is, he explained, is “continually distancing oneself from God.” “It is the worst pain, an unsatisfied heart, a heart that was created to find God but which, out of arrogance and self-confidence, distances itself from God.” Distancing oneself from God Who gives happiness and Who loves us so much, the Pontiff admonished, is the “fire,” and the road to eternal damnation.(Homily, Santa Marta, November 25, 2016)
God’s justice is his mercy given to everyone as a grace that flows from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus the Cross of Christ is God’s judgement on all of us and on the whole world, because through it he offers us the certitude of love and new life. (Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee of Mercy, April 11, 2015)
Teachings of the Magisterium
Enter the various parts of our study
Authors
