2/12/2023

The children in school have been asking me questions. One is the following: What happens after we die?
Here is the Catholic answer to what happens. When you die the soul separates from the body, and it stays separated until the Last Judgment at the end of the old, fallen creation. At death we meet Christ at the Particular Judgment, and the soul is sent to Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell. At the Last Judgment our bodies will be resurrected and re-joined to our souls as part of the new creation, but until then we will exist as disembodied souls. Before the Last Judgment there is another one, called the Particular Judgment, which happens at death.
One difference between the two judgments is that Purgatory is an option in the Particular Judgment, while it is not in the Last Judgment. Purgatory is like an antechamber to Heaven, a vestibule. It’s a place where we are purified. Purgatory will pass away as people are purged of the punishment due to sin and enter fully into Heaven - technically it is part of Heaven. If you’re in serious sin, it means you’re separated from God and you’re going to Hell. But what if you tell a white lie once in a while and you like nice things in life and you’re kind of attached to that? Or you’re a big sports fan and you want to watch the Chiefs or the Dallas Cowboys and so you skip family time once in a while if they’re playing, but otherwise you’re a moral person, loving spouse and attentive parent? Well, are you really going to Hell for that? Probably not. You have a relationship with God that’s ongoing. It just has some bumps in it, needs to be improved. If you go to Heaven like that, you will be with people who are totally in, totally following God’s will and prefer nothing else, interiorly as well as exteriorly in how they behave. So, you’ll be a little uncomfortable among those people. If you’ve ever been in a room where everybody is of one mind about something and you kind of have a couple of doubts, you’re hesitant to express those doubts. You’re not comfortable. In this case we are not talking about personal opinions, but God’s will. You can’t get into Heaven until you’re one in mind and heart with God.
The Church consists of the people in Purgatory, the people in Heaven, and the people on Earth. The people on Earth are called the Pilgrim Church. We are on our way, walking together towards our heavenly home. The people in Purgatory are being purified while the people in Heaven are beatified, seeing God face to face. They’re not joined to their bodies until after the old creation is destroyed and the new creation takes over. Part of that new creation is the transformation of our bodies into resurrected bodies which are rejoined to our souls. So, they get a resurrected body just like Jesus got. But that doesn’t happen until the Last Judgement which is when Jesus in Matthew 25 talks about the goats and the sheep.
On the left are the goats, and the right are the sheep. The sheep will go to Heaven, and the goats will go to Hell. Those people are separated and judged, but their bodies will be joined to their souls, and then for all of eternity we’ll have resurrected bodies. That’s what we believe. How all that happens, I’m not sure.
We don’t believe in the Rapture. The Bible says that one is taken and one is left, (not left behind). In that context, it’s just like when Noah built the Ark. There were a few who went on the ark, and the others were left. You can say “left behind,” but they were destroyed. That’s essentially what Jesus is talking about. He’s comparing what’s going to happen at the end of time with what happened at the time of Noah.
All of that gives a purpose to history. History isn’t just a random thing of whatever happens, happens. It’s got a purpose, an end, a destination. In today’s world, purpose is not something that people talk about much.
For a Christian, humans are created for union with God. That’s the overarching goal, the ultimate reason for our existence. Ironically, that union with God involves emptying yourself. Ultimately, it’s about loving others, finding yourself by giving yourself away. You don’t go to Heaven alone - you can’t love people if your life is all about you. It is my joy to be walking on this pilgrimage to God together with you.

Father Albert, O.S.B.