R
Righteousone
Guest
Well, assuming they “make the cut”…
In a nutshell, we Catholics believe that immediately upon death, a person stands before God in what we call “particular judgement”. At that point, his or her soul will go to purgatory, heaven or hell, while the natural processes begin to occur in the body. Then when Jesus returns, there will be another judgement and wherever we are, our bodies will join our souls there, though in a different form than they are now.
Where do we get all this? From our two best sources: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
In Hebrews 9:27, it says “And it is appointed that each man die once, but after this comes the judgement”. At the moment of death, each of us will look at God face to face and we will be judged.
To often we pretend that if we are good or nice, then we will be instantly saved. That’s not at all how Jesus presents it. Jesus never used the word “nice”. Instead, each of us needs to commit to following Jesus daily and allowing him to guide us.
There are a lot of bad ideas out there about purgatory. Don’t think of purgatory as a seperate place from heaven, but as a part of heaven. (People who go to purgatory are definitely going to heaven).
Those who are in heaven or hell stay there at the Second Coming of Christ. Those in purgatory enter heaven. At this point, all those who are alive during this time experience their particular judgement, as well as general or final judgement. At this point we will see our lives and the lives of every person in the light of God’s mercy, love and justice; in other words, it will all make sense at this moment.
In a nutshell, we Catholics believe that immediately upon death, a person stands before God in what we call “particular judgement”. At that point, his or her soul will go to purgatory, heaven or hell, while the natural processes begin to occur in the body. Then when Jesus returns, there will be another judgement and wherever we are, our bodies will join our souls there, though in a different form than they are now.
Where do we get all this? From our two best sources: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
In Hebrews 9:27, it says “And it is appointed that each man die once, but after this comes the judgement”. At the moment of death, each of us will look at God face to face and we will be judged.
To often we pretend that if we are good or nice, then we will be instantly saved. That’s not at all how Jesus presents it. Jesus never used the word “nice”. Instead, each of us needs to commit to following Jesus daily and allowing him to guide us.
There are a lot of bad ideas out there about purgatory. Don’t think of purgatory as a seperate place from heaven, but as a part of heaven. (People who go to purgatory are definitely going to heaven).
Those who are in heaven or hell stay there at the Second Coming of Christ. Those in purgatory enter heaven. At this point, all those who are alive during this time experience their particular judgement, as well as general or final judgement. At this point we will see our lives and the lives of every person in the light of God’s mercy, love and justice; in other words, it will all make sense at this moment.
