Corcovado Jesus (Photo credit: @Doug88888)
The subject of the Four Last Things was taken up by Pope John Paul II in the Wednesday Audiences in July and August of 1999. Look them up, they are worth a good review. By way of summary, let me draw attention to a few things the Pontiff said:
- heaven "is not an abstraction nor a physical place amid the clouds, but a living and personal relationship with the Holy Trinity;
- When this world has passed away, those who accepted God in their lives and were sincerely open to his love, at least at the moment of death, will enjoy that fullness of communion with God, which is the goal of human existence";
- the hell some will enjoy is not the result of God willing the death of the person but the result of the person not desiring the love and mercy God has offered, that he has freely given;
- the Pope spoke of the danger of rigidly holding a literal interpretation of the Scriptural images of hell: for John Paul, and therefore us, "the inextinguishable fire" and "burning oven" in the biblical narrative points the hearer to "indicate the complete frustration and vacuity of a life without God";
- we know that hell exists; we don't know the population of hell; Cf. Cardinal Avery Dulles' famous First Things article, "The Population of Hell"; John Paul says that hell is not something that we can know but that real damnation "remains a possibility";
- On purgatory the Pope said, is the state of being "before we enter into God's kingdom, every trace of sin within us must be eliminated, every imperfection in our soul must be corrected. This is exactly what takes place in purgatory";
- Purgatory is "the process of purification for those who die in the love of God but are not completely imbued with that love";
- even though Christ holds His hand in friendship, that is, in love, the extension of our hand "does not exclude they duty to present ourselves pure and whole before God."
- Read the Catechism at paragraph 1861.
Perhaps tying all this together can be seen in Paul's Letter to the Colossians where he says, "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you will appear with him in glory" (3:2-4) And in the collect for this week's Mass: "Stir up the will of your faithful, we pray, O Lord, that, striving more eagerly to bring your divine work to fruitful completion, they may receive in greater measure the healing remedies your kindness bestows."
What ought be my approach to the four last things today, and in the years to come? Well, if I truly believe that Jesus is real, then the nihilistic approach is not a winning one. If I believe what Jesus exhorted us to consider as genuine, "Do not be afraid" then fear (sinful activity) can't rule my life. If I believe that God is always present, then I ought to receive the sacraments of Confession and frequently receive the medicine of Immortality --the Holy Eucharist-- reminding myself that Jesus told us that he'd be with us to the end of the world. His presence is neither magic nor fiction, but a real presence that no other warm body can ever give. These are the things that our spiritual life needs to be fed with, these are the treasures given by the all-loving, all-powerful God.
One of the monks at New Skete Monastery (in New York) said the following at the Divine Liturgy:
In these days in the post Christ the King observance and before Advent, let's pray for the grace to know ourselves more deeply so as to accept more fully "divine work" in our lives with the gift of discernment showing us the way to the Father.So how can we honestly and proactively approach today's feast, and this holiday season in a way that will get us past the public façade of wise-guy banter and beyond the disconnect between hard realities and sincere beliefs and honest ideals? How might we bravely allow our deeper humanity to shine forth in the midst of some extreme assaults on such things as tenderness, hope, and compassion?
Today's readings, along with monastic wisdom and psychological insight suggest the following: Daily if not hourly slow down the frantic pace of our media interaction, verbosity, and endless tasks: daily if not hourly return to the temple of our own person and the holy and fertile ground of our interior life. Daily if not continually express appreciation for whatever someone does that makes my life richer today: Daily or at least once in a while do something simple but concrete and different, for the express purpose of nurturing the human spirit, within yourself, for someone else, and for the future.
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