Final Judgment

[SouthernSister]

I need help understanding the two Judgments. Immediately upon our death, we are judged and either go to hell or heaven (with a quick stop in purgatory, maybe! ). But then there’s the Final Judgment.

Who is being judged and what for?

I’m just not really clear on this and would appreciate your explanation.

Thanks in advance,

SouthernSister

 

[Veritas41]

I need help understanding the two Judgments. Immediately upon our death, we are judged and either go to hell or heaven (with a quick stop in purgatory, maybe! ). But then there’s the Final Judgment.

Who is being judged and what for?

I’m just not really clear on this and would appreciate your explanation.

Thanks in advance,

SouthernSister

Here’s the Catechism:

**1051 **Every man receives his eternal recompense in his immortal soul from the moment of his death in a particular judgment by Christ, the judge of the living and the dead.
**1021 **Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul – a destiny which can be different for some and for others.
**1040 **The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. 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.
**1038 **The resurrection of all the dead, “of both the just and the unjust,” will precede the Last Judgment. This will be “the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man’s] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.” Then Christ will come “in his glory, and all the angels with him. . . . Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. . . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
**1059 **“The holy Roman Church firmly believes and confesses that on the Day of Judgment all men will appear in their own bodies before Christ’s tribunal to render an account of their own deeds” (Council of Lyons II [1274]: DS 859; cf. DS 1549).

It seems the particular judgment is to determine where we go after death, but at the final judgment *all *will be judged, both those who have died and those who are still alive at Christ’s return. And at that final judgment we will have our bodies back and we will be judged before everyone, not just the Lord. And we will also have complete understanding of the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation through history

 

[Fidelis]

You are speaking of the General Judgment. It can be found in **Matthew 25:31-46 **and Revelation 20:11-15. Read these first.

When each of us dies, our souls are immediately taken to the presence of God and judged (Hebrews 9:27) . This is called the Particular Judgment. At this point we begin our eternal destiny. If we are going to hell, our souls go directly there. If we are deemed worthy of heaven, our souls will go directly to heaven, or if we are going to heaven but are in need of purification, we may go to Purgatory first for a while (everyone in Purgatory will eventually go to heaven). Whatever our fate, our souls will stay there (heaven or hell) until the end of time, at which time the Second Coming will occur.

At the Second Coming at the end of time, those Christians still alive will be taken to heaven (what some Protestants think of as of the rapture). Then will occur the General Judgment. At that time the souls of the living and the dead will be reunited with their bodies and brought together in God’s presence and judged before all. **Those who have already been judged in the Particular Judgment will be brought from wherever their souls were -heaven, hell or Purgatory-- and have their judgment confirmed before all, so that both the justice and mercy of God will be manifest to all.**That way be no question before anyone about the final judgement of anyone else, for all will see that the eternal destiny of each person is just what they merited in this life by their own definitive choices.

After this, time and Purgatory will be no more and all will enter with their souls and bodies into their eternal destiny, either hell or heaven.

This is an extremely bare-bones sketch, so if you want to get the details, see the five articles I linked below:

rosary-center.org/ll57n1.htm
rosary-center.org/ll57n2.htm
rosary-center.org/ll57n3.htm
rosary-center.org/ll57n4.htm
rosary-center.org/ll49n6.htm