CatholicTheology.info

Choose a topic from Part 3 Suppl:

• Penance (Continued)
• Extreme Unction
• Order (Holy Orders)
• Matrimony
• The General Resurrection
• The Last Things
  • 87. Knowledge in Risen Man
  • 88. Time and Place of the General Judgment
  • 89. Persons to be Present at the Last Judgment
  • 90. Christ, the Judge
  • 92. Heaven: The Beatific Vision
  • 93. The Happiness of Heaven: Mansions
  • 94. The Saved and the Damned
  • 95. The Endowments of the Blessed
  • 96. Special Heavenly Rewards
  • 97. The Punishment of the Damned
  • 98. The Will and the Intellect of the Damned
  • 99. God's Mercy and Justice Towards the Damned
• Appendix I (The Innocents in Limbo)
• Appendix II (Two Notes on Purgatory)

88. Time and Place of the General Judgment

1. Each soul is judged, in what is called the particularjudgment, the instant it leaves its body; that is, each man isjudged immediately after death. The general judgment of the lastday will not reverse or change any sentence passed in theparticular judgment; the purpose of the general judgment is tomanifest to all rational creatures the justice of God, as well ashis goodness and mercy.

2. It seems likely that the general judgment will takeplace without words. For all will be judged at once; each will knowhis own sins and the sins of all others; each, then, will know atonce the justice of the judgment in each case. Hence, it seems thatthe general judgment will be conducted without word-of-mouthdiscussions. Indeed, it is most probable that the whole judgmentwill be enacted and received mentally, not audibly.

3. God alone knows the day and the hour of the end of theworld and the last judgment. Scripture says (Mark 13:32): "Ofthat day or hour, no man knoweth"; and (I Thess. 5:2),"The day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in thenight."

4. The prophet Joel says (3:2): "I will gathertogether all nations . . . into the valley of Josephat, and I willplead with them there." This prophecy is usually taken toindicate the place in which the last or general judgment will beheld. The valley of Josephat is near Jerusalem, and is overlookedby Mount Olivet from which our Lord ascended into heaven.

"Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise. "
Thomas á Kempis

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"The greatest glory we can give to God is to do his will in everything."
St Alphonsus de Liguori

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"It is better to be burdened and in company with the strong than to be unburdened and with the weak. When you are burdened you are close to God, your strength, who abides with the afflicted. When you are relieved of the burden you are close to yourself, your own weakness; for virtue and strength of soul grow and are confirmed in the trials of patience."
St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church

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