Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Advent Thoughts on Death Part Seven
In this mini-series, I have moved from thoughts of suffering and death, to the process of dying and now, to the particular judgment.
Many people have no just fear of God. They look on Jesus only as a friend and not as a judge. They do not understand the Scriptures that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity will come gain to judge the living and the dead.
We will be in one or the other category.
But, before that General Judgment is our Particular Judgment, a long-standing teaching of the Catholic Church. As I have noted, some people I have talked with in Europe have told me they have already experienced their particular judgment. One person I know in America has told me she has as well.
In their experience of this particular judgment, they have seen all the sins of their past life and all the people they have hurt though sin. One may told me he sobbed for three days and repented, asking God for purification.
Ask for this grace now, rather than later, in order to be made into a saint, now.
Here is St. Alphonsus on the particular judgment.
1. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this
the judgment.1 It is of faith, that immediately after death
we shall be judged according to our works in this life.
And it is also of faith, that upon this judgment will de-
pend our eternal salvation or perdition. Imagine your-
self to be in your agony, and to have only a short time
to live. Think that in a short time you would then have
to appear before Jesus Christ to give an account of your
whole life. Alas! how alarming would the sight of your
sins then be to you!
Jesus, my Redeemer! pardon me, I beseech You, be-
fore You judge me. I know that I have many times
1 "Statutum est hominibus semel mori; post hoc autem, judicium."
Heb. 9. 27.
[34] already deserved to be sentenced to eternal death.
No, I desire not to present myself guilty before You, but
penitent and pardoned. O my sovereign good! I am
grievously sorry for having offended You,
2. O God! what will be the anguish of the soul when
it shall first behold Jesus Christ as its judge, and behold
him terrible in his wrath? It will then see how much
he has suffered for its sake; it will see what great
mercies he has exercised towards it, and what powerful
means he has bestowed upon it for the attainment of
salvation; then will it also see the greatness of eternal
goods, and the vileness of earthly pleasures, which have
wrought its ruin; it will then see all these things, but to
no purpose, because then there will be no more time to
correct its past errors; what shall have then been done
will be irrevocable. Before the judgment seat of God,
no nobility, nor dignity, nor riches will be considered;
our works alone will be weighed there.
Grant, O Jesus! that when I first behold You I may
see You appeased; and, for this end, grant me the grace
to weep, during the remainder of my life, over the evil
which I have done in turning my back upon You, to
follow my own sinful caprices. No, I desire never more
to offend You. I love You and desire to love You
forever.
3. What contentment will that Christian enjoy at the
hour of death who has left the world to give himself to
God; who has denied his senses all unlawful gratifica-
tions: and who, if he has on some occasions been negligent,
has at last been wise enough afterwards to do worthy
penance for it! On the other hand, what anguish will
that Christian experience who has continually relapsed
into the same vices, and at last finds himself at the point
of death! Then will he exclaim: "Alas! in a few moments
I must appear before Jesus as my judge, and I have not
as yet even begun to change my life! I have many times
[35] promised to do so, but I have not done it; and now, in
a short time, what will become of me?"
Ah, my Jesus and my judge! I give You thanks for
the patience with which You have until now waited for
me. How many times have I myself written my own
eternal condemnation . Since You have thus waited to
pardon me, reject me not, now prostrate at Your feet.
Receive me into Your favor through the merits of Your
bitter Passion. I am sorry, my sovereign good! for hav-
ing despised You. I love You above all things. I de-
sire never more to forsake You. O Mary! recommend
me to Your Son Jesus, and do not abandon me.
To be continued....
