Homily 516 | 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time | Year B
In today’s homily, I talk about the “Four Last Things,” death, judgment, heaven, and hell. When we die, we will immediately stand before God to receive our “particular judgment.” Will we go to heaven or hell? The thought of that moment should create a healthy fear in us. All our deeds will be laid bare with no excuses to fool the all-seeing judge. The Church for centuries included a famous chant in the funeral liturgy to remind us of this. It goes by the Latin title “Dies Irae,” literally, “Day of wrath.”
That day of wrath, that dreadful day,
shall heaven and earth in ashes lay,
as David and the Sybil say.What horror must invade the mind
when the approaching Judge shall find
and sift the deeds of all mankind!For now before the Judge severe
all hidden things must plain appear;
no crime can pass unpunished here.
That’s just a taste. Check out the whole thing here: Dies Irae
Also, check out this video on the music of the chant used in movies: Why is this creepy melody in so many movies?
I’m guessing that the above chant was not sung at the last funeral you attended. It’s much more popular today to hear people say that the dead have “gone to a better place,” or the “heaven has gained another angel.” Popular Christian culture has so distorted the truth regarding death, judgment, heaven, and hell that one would think that everyone goes to heaven and death is just a simple transition. Not understanding the truth of the four last things leads to two very important negative consequences.
First, if we pretend that everyone who dies goes straight to heaven, we will fail to pray for the souls in purgatory who can really be assisted by our prayers. Only perfect people enter heaven. Even if we die in friendship with God and are judged worthy of heaven, most of us will need a little cleaning up first. This process/place we call Purgatory. The souls there cannot assist themselves anymore, but our prayers can. I’m still worried that when I die people on earth will want to engage in some “celebration of life,” having a big party talking about me in heaven, while I’m suffering away in purgatory and no one is praying for me. Until someone is canonized, don’t assume they’re in heaven. Keep praying!
Secondly, and perhaps more dangerously, our modern ignorance of the truth about death and judgment convinces many that probably everyone goes to heaven. It therefore seems to make little difference how one lives and robs us of the motivation to strive for holiness. Hell is very real. People go there. Ignoring the serious words of Jesus about hell is a sure fire way to end up there.
When we really understand the bad news and don’t minimize it, then the good news is really good. If we had to stand before God on our own merits and try to show why we’re worthy of heaven, we would all end up in hell. No matter how good we might be, no one is perfect enough to merit heaven. But praised be Jesus that the just judge is also the merciful savior who died for us. Precisely because we could never merit heaven on our own, Jesus came to save us. But this good news is only good if we understand how bad the bad news is.
So stop minimizing death and judgement. We need not despair since Jesus has won the victory. But we should also not be presumptuous. Our lives and our eternal destiny still depend on the choices we make. Will we choose God or not? In the end, we will get what we want and we’ll get it forever. Choose wisely.