Embedded Files
It’s Day 139!!
Today we are talking about what happens AFTER DEATH
ARTICLE 12: I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING
What happens when we die?
One of the first things is the PARTICULAR JUDGMENT
This is different from the LAST JUDGMENT which we will hear about tomorrow
At the moment of our death every one of us stands before the Lord God and WE GET WHAT WE HAVE CHOSEN
If we said YES to God and what He offers to us, WE GET HIM
If we said NO to God and what He offers to us, WE GET WHAT WE HAVE CHOSEN
It is either God or anything other than God
Today we get to hear about HEAVEN
God willing, you and I will spend ETERNITY with God in Heaven
Because of what Jesus has done, we can CHOOSE HEAVEN
If we get to Heaven then we get to see God AS HE IS
Paragraph 1022 says, “Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death…”
WE RECEIVE WHAT WE HAVE CHOSEN!!
Either immediate entrance into Heaven
OR…
Enter into Heaven through PURIFICATION IN PURGATORY
OR…
IMMEDIATE AND EVERLASTING DAMNATION!!
So let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we want to be where you are. We truly want to be where you are. Help us to live in such a way that at the moment of our death, we are able to be where you are. Help us to live in such a way that we say yes to you with everything we are, with everything we have, with our most powerful and free yes. Help us to choose you. Lord God, when we say no to you, help us to turn around. When we say no to you and we choose our own way or we choose the way of the world, we ask you to please pick us up, set us straight, and bring us back to you. Look upon us and we shall be saved, Lord God. Bring us home. Give us the Grace today, that if we need to repent and let you forgive us that we repent and let you forgive us. And if we are saying yes to you, help us to keep saying yes to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”
Ok there it is!!
MAN!! (OH MAN!! 😉)
Paragraph 1020 says, “The Christian who unites his own death to that of Jesus views it as a step towards him and an entrance into everlasting life.”
We want to have that DESIRE for the Lord
Paragraph 1020 continues, “When the Church for the last time speaks Christ’s words of pardon and absolution over the dying Christian, seals him for the last time with a strengthening anointing, and gives him Christ in viaticum as nourishment for the journey, she speaks with gentle assurance: Go forth, Christian soul, from this world in the name of god the almighty Father, who created you, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who suffered for you, in the name of the Holy Spirit, who was poured out upon you. Go forth, faithful Christian!”
LAST RITES include the Sacraments of Confession, Anointing of the Sick, and the final Sacrament of the Eucharist
VIATICUM means FOOD FOR THE JOURNEY
SO AMAZING!!
THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT
Paragraph 1021 says, “Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.”
We talked about the seasons before
We get this life and at some point this life comes to a conclusion
And we get what we have chosen
Paragraph 1021 continues, “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.”
Not just what we BELIEVE
BUT…
ALSO WHAT WE CHOOSE!!
This is the conviction of hopefully all of our hearts
That we can say we love Jesus and want to choose Him
That’s wonderful
That’s great
That’s a good start
BUT…
DO WE CHOOSE HIM?
THAT is the question
This goes the same for anything
I want to read more books!!
Ok do I choose to read more books?
I want to be healthier!!
Ok do I eat healthier and get enough sleep and stop rooting for the Dallas Cowboys? 😉 (I kid because I love hahaha 🤣)
It’s easy to DESIRE the thing
BUT…
The big question is do I CHOOSE the thing
Because we do NOT get what we desire
We get what we have CHOSEN
THIS IS THE CONVICTION OF OUR HEARTS!!
Because of what Jesus has done on the Cross, we have been given access to Heaven
Jesus has opened the Gates of Heaven
He has made it possible for us to live with the Trinity for Eternity
Paragraph 1022 says, “Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immoral soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ…”
Our life gets referred to Christ at the moment of our death
It does not get referred to the person down the block
It does not get referred to Hitler or some serial killer
Our lives are not referred to the goodness or badness of the person down the block
Our lives are referred to Jesus Christ
HAVE WE CHOSEN TO LIVE LIKE JESUS?
St. John of the Cross says in Paragraph 1022, “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.”
OR…
“At the twilight of our lives, we shall be judged on love alone.”
Have I ACTUALLY loved the Lord?
Have I ACTUALLY loved the Lord with my WHOLE HEART, MIND, SOUL, AND STRENGTH?
Have I ACTUALLY loved my neighbor as myself?
Have I ACTUALLY loved like Jesus?
Paragraph 1023 says, “Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live forever with Christ. THey are like God forever, for they ‘see him as he is,’ face to face.”
Pope Benedict XII says in Paragraph 1023, “Since the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.”
In Heaven we get to see God face to face without ANY KIND OF MEDIATION
CAN YOU IMAGINE THIS??
Right now we see as through a glass darkly
We see as dimly in a mirror
Even when we receive the Sacraments we get to see the Lord, Jesus Christ face to face in the Eucharist
It’s obscure
It’s hidden
BUT…
The day is going to come when we see God face to face without the mediation of any creature
Paragraph 1024 says, “This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity-this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed-is called ‘heaven.’ Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.”
MAN!! (OH MAN!! 😉)
IT IS JUST AMAZING!!
Paragraph 1026 says, “By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has ‘opened’ heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will.”
Just as Jesus shares His priesthood, prophet, and kingship with us, He makes us partners in His heavenly glorification
Paragraph 1027 says, “This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: ‘no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.’”
THIS IS REMARKABLE!!
SO GOOD!!
THIS IS YOUR DESTINY!!
THIS IS THE DESTINATION THAT GOD MADE YOU FOR!!
All there is for us is to say YES to this
So let’s pray for that!!
Tomorrow we will talk about THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY
We will also talk about HELL (aka AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tx!! 🤪)
We are not made for Purgatory
It is a gift of God to help us in the last purification to get our hearts big enough and our love pure enough to enter into Heaven with joy
We are not made for Hell
NO ONE HAS BEEN MADE FOR HELL!!
BUT…
We CAN choose it
The good news is that we can choose HEAVEN
LET’S CHOOSE HEAVEN!!
LET’S CHOOSE GOD!!
“God, not just with my desires. I don’t just want to desire you. I want to choose you.”
Fr. Mike is praying for YOU that you CHOOSE Jesus today!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse