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It’s Day 141!!
THE LAST JUDGMENT
There is the RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
And it happens AT THE END OF ALL TIME
Do you remember the PARTICULAR JUDGMENT that we experience at the moment of our death?
THE LAST JUDGMENT is when Christ comes AT THE END OF TIME
EVERYTHING is done
The whole story of Creation has been written
All there is now is ETERNITY
It’s a COSMIC event that is going to happen
It’s not as if we get another shot at it
If you chose Hell the first time at your particular judgment, then in the LAST JUDGMENT you could choose Heaven
NOT AT ALL!!
This is the FINALIZATION of the whole story to its furthest extent
It is Christ’s triumph over history where He brings everything right
All of the sorrows we experienced
All the evil that He tolerated on this Earth
All of that is brought to RIGHT
It is a great message of HOPE
It also reminds us to use this time to prepare ourselves for that moment of judgment
So let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise. We thank you for this day. We thank you for giving us time. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day of repentance. Now is the time for us to come back to you and give you our hearts. We ask you to please meet us in the midst of our brokenness. Meet us in the midst of our hesitancy. Meet us in our lives. And we ask you to please give us your Grace. Help us to choose you. Help us to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel. Help us to remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Help us to realize and remember that you have made us for Eternity. You have made us for yourself. Help us to choose you in such a way that we can spend Eternity with you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”
So there it is!!
THE LAST JUDGMENT
The ULTIMATE DESTINY for all of humanity
IT IS INCREDIBLE!!
Paragraph 1039 says, “In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare.”
That TRUTH is so important
Why?
Because sometimes we deceive ourselves
We can deceive ourselves into thinking that we are BETTER than we are
We can deceive ourselves into thinking that we are WORSE than we are
This is the big temptation we have
This is the reason we ALL need HUMILITY
How many times do we think that the good things we do are because we are good, generous, and patient?
Well the reason we do good is because we were well fed and had enough sleep the night before and were in a good mood
OR…
BECAUSE GOD’S GRACE WAS MOVING IN ME
God made up for my lack of graciousness
Sometimes we can CONDEMN ourselves
I can’t believe I’m so broken and weak
I can’t believe I’m doing the same sin over and over again
Maybe the TRUTH of this is there are some wounds in our past
There are wounds we carry every day
We are battling in the middle of a struggle that we may not be aware of
That is not an EXCUSE
God knows our hearts SO FULLY
God knows us better than we know ourselves
The truth ultimately will be laid bare in the presence of Jesus
Paragraph 1039 continues, “The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life…”
The story is WRITTEN
Think about how complex this story is
There are billions and billions of people on this planet
Over the course of human history think of all the people who have lived and will live after us
It is a complex web how we impact each other and belong to each other
The decisions we make now will impact people for generations
THIS IS SO POWERFUL!!
The good you do today has consequences FAR BEYOND TODAY
The sin that we choose today has consequences FAR BEYOND TODAY
Even your private act of virtue…
(SQUIRREL!! 😉)
We talked about this before we are the Body of Christ and when one member is strengthened then the whole body is strengthened etc.
When we commit a “private” sin that no one knows about, there are still CONSEQUENCES
Those consequences to its FURTHEST END will be known
And the private good that we have done those consequences will be known
What good is it that we fast on Good Friday?
What good are these things?
At the end of time, that good WILL BE KNOWN
IT IS REMARKABLE!!
In Heaven, EVERYONE will know the full good and the full sin that they have committed
It’s hard to remember our whole lives
It’s hard to remember yesterday
At the end of the story, in Heaven, we will KNOW
When you meet someone you will know THEIR ENTIRE STORY
You will know EVERYTHING THEY HAVE DONE
They will know EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE
That’s why in Heaven there is no room for PRIDE
People wouldn’t boast because they know the truth
They are only in Heaven because of God’s Grace
There is also no room for SHAME
Everyone in Heaven knows the WHOLE STORY
Think about the two things that get in the way of love
PRIDE AND SHAME
There will be no pride in Heaven
There will be no shame in Heaven
THIS IS REMARKABLE!!
St. Augustine tells us to do our best to take care of those people who are on earth and those who are poor among us
St. Augustine says in Paragraph 1039, “Would that you had known that my little ones were in need when I place them on earth for you and appointed them your stewards to bring your good works into my treasury.”
Every person that you and I serve, if they can’t do anything for us it doesn’t matter
They bring your good works before the Lord
Paragraph 1040 says, “We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of salvation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end.”
Why does God let bad things happen?
We shall know the ULTIMATE MEANING…
We walk through this world and we don’t know how God is working
We experience loss, suffering, and grief and it leaves us CONFUSED
There will come a day when we will know the answers to ALL OF OUR QUESTIONS
Paragraph 1040 continues, “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.”
Let this be a word of CONSOLATION for all of us
God’s justice will triumph over ALL the injustices committed by us and against us
GOD’S JUSTICE WILL TRIUMPH IN THE END!!
ALL WILL COME TO RIGHTS!!
Paragraph 1041 says, “The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them ‘the acceptable time,...the day of salvation.’ It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to the justice of the Kingdom of God.”
A lot of us may steer away from the FEAR OF GOD
The fear of God is SO IMPORTANT
Fr. Mike is telling a story now….
About Jim Baker
He lost his FEAR OF THE LORD
He didn’t lose his LOVE for the Lord
Jesus Christ has come close to us
He comes close to us in the Sacraments
He comes to us in His Grace and Mercy
He wants us to be with Him forever
He wants us to CHOOSE it
At the same time we can NOT choose God
We can go our own way
While we love God we have to cultivate a healthy fear of the Lord
This is not a game
The stakes are ETERNITY
Sin is no joke
Some of us have to lean more into LOVE of the Lord than FEAR of the Lord
BUT…
Maybe a lot of us need to be reminded that God who is our friend and the Father who has made us His beloved sons and daughters is also STILL GOD
He is also STILL the Master and Lord of the Universe
He is also the one who holds life and death in His hands
God is good but He is not tame just like Aslan the Lion according to C.S. Lewis
We can count on Him
We don’t need to be afraid of Him
BUT…
There is a gift called FEAR OF THE LORD
Fr. Mike is praying we have both LOVE of the Lord and b of the Lord
That we hold onto BOTH
Cultivate BOTH
Grow in BOTH
So that we can belong to GOD FOREVER
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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