Our Lady of the Holy Rosary — St. Richard Catholic Church

Is 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps 85:9-14; 2 Pt 3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8

[The Lord] is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Pt 3:9)

Our Eternal Destiny*

What do you believe happens to you when you die?

Some people may believe that our life on earth is all that there is and that when we die, we cease to exist. Other people may choose to ignore reflecting on this question, trying to hold onto this lifetime as long as they can. Still others search for an answer to this question.  In the end, everyone will experience the answer when their life on earth ends.

At Mass we profess by the Nicene Creed, “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”  What does this mean?

The Church teaches that at the very moment of death, our soul is separated from our body. At that moment, we each receive a “particular” judgment from God based on the degree to which we have perfected holiness and our love of God and one another during our lifetime. Those who die in a state of grace, friendship, and communion with God are assured of their eternal salvation when they will come to experience God “face to face,” called the “beatific vision.” However, those who are not fully purified and perfected in holiness and love must first undergo a purification to obtain the perfection of holiness and love needed to enter heaven. The Church calls this purification process “Purgatory.”  The Church assists those in Purgatory through prayer.

When we seriously sin against God, our neighbor, or our self, we have failed to love God. Our persistence in this state of sin, and our failure to repent and seek reconciliation through divine grace, reflects our free and willful choice to reject God, and to separate ourselves from God. This freely chosen state of eternal separation from communion with God is called “hell.” “God predestines no one to go to hell” (CCC, no. 1037). Instead, God “wills everyone to be saved” (1 Tm 2:4); “not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9).

Faith in the resurrection of our bodies is based on our faith in the Resurrection of Christ's body from the dead. At the end of time, when Christ returns in glory, a final judgment will occur when all are raised from the dead, assembled before God, and their relationship with God is made public. This is called the “general judgment.” At that time there will be a renewal of the universe in Christ—“the new heaven and the new earth” (see Rev 21:1). All souls will be united with their body. We do not know when or how this will happen.

U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults*, Ch. 13.

 Reflect on Your Experience

What experiences cause you to think about death?