Traditional Catholic Teaching - LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. St. Matthew 24: 30.

The Church's year ends with the gospel containing an account of the Last Judgment, and reminds us of our end, which must be either happy or miserable. Nothing is better calculated to make us lead good and God-fearing lives than the thought of the judgment that awaits us. This thought has caused multitudes to refrain from evil and has encouraged them to do good, and has made a great impression, not only upon individuals, but upon whole nations.

At the command of Bogoris, a Bulgarian prince, St. Methodius painted a picture representing the Last Judgment, in which our Lord was depicted, appearing in infinite majesty and justice, and all mankind gathered around Him, the righteous at His right hand, and the wicked at His left. Horror and fear were displayed by the expression of the latter, whereas the faces of the former were radiant with joy and glory. This painting produced an indescribable effect. Bogoris asked for baptism, and many others followed his example. If the thought of judgment made such a deep impression upon this ignorant man, how much deeper should be its effect upon us, who know what our Lord taught, and therefore have far greater reason to fear the punishment that we shall deserve, if by our sins we reject Jesus Christ!

We ought to make it our practice to meditate upon the last judgment, and to renew and adhere to the resolutions that we make when we thus meditate.

On that day everyone will stand revealed to himself and to the whole world, and will see himself in all his sinfulness and abomination. Now many deceive themselves, find nothing bad in their characters, and even imagine that they possess certain virtues. Now many live carelessly and flatter themselves that they are quite good enough; but the less we know our own hearts, and the more careless we are in doing our duty and in examining our conscience now, the more painful will be the revelation of ourselves that we shall receive on the last day. But, on the other hand, the more zealous we are now in finding out the truth about ourselves, and the more sinful we appear in our own eyes, the easier will be the task of amendment, and we shall have less reason to, dread this terrible revelation. On the last day every sin will be laid bare before the whole world; and this thought should spur us on to do good in secret now, that we may not then be put to shame. We are much afraid of being humiliated before one human being, but on that day we shall stand defenceless and naked, not before one or two people, but before all who have ever lived. We shall stand ashamed before all who have loved and counselled us in this life, who have always thought well of us, and will then perceive how greatly they have been mistaken in their opinion. We shall stand ashamed before those who have admonished and instructed us, whose admonitions and teaching we have disregarded, giving them only disobedience and indifference in return. Unhappy, indeed, will he be who by his sins has set a bad example to others, leading them astray; he will stand there accused by those to whom he has been a stumbling-block, and cursed by those, who, with him, are condemned to everlasting punishment.

How will a sinner dare to raise his eyes, when he sees on our Lord's right hand the multitude of those who have led a good life on earth? He has often deceived himself with the thought that it is impossible to be good — he may even have gone so far as to call the good hypocritical. Now lie sees many who have served the Lord with heroic courage, that is in itself a condemnation of his own pride; he sees many who have lived in willing obedience, and their example rebukes his disobedience; he sees many who have kept their hearts pure and undefiled in God's sight, and they force him to recognize his own foulness and sin; he sees many who have done true penance and who, steadfastly purposing amendment, have risen from a life of sin to a high degree of perfection, and thus condemn him for his unwillingness to repent. The sinner may well be overwhelmed with fear and confusion on beholding all these witnesses of his trial. He will exclaim: "Would that I had been wiser and had led a better life!"

If you keep that moment vividly in remembrance, you may be sure of finding courage to overcome self and to strive after what is good, so that Jesus may not have to give sentence against you on the last day, but may be able to reward you.

We shall be judged before all mankind by a Judge who knows all things, and from whom the inmost secrets of our hearts are not concealed. Watch, therefore, over yourselves, that Jesus may find in you nothing to incur His wrath for ever; for He will examine us strictly. He will survey all our voluntary thoughts and desires, all our voluntary wishes and fancies. Therefore never imagine that a mere thought is a matter of no consequence, for a thought, as far as it is voluntary, can offend God, who sees it as plainly as men can see our actions.

Suppress at once all evil thoughts, reject all bad desires, and let good thoughts and wishes drive out and take the place of those that are offensive to God. Call to mind often the fact that God is present, and knows all things, and make your hearts His temples by frequently renewing your good intention of thinking and wishing only what God desires and because He desires it. If you have strayed from Him by sins of thought, purify your minds by an act of contrition, and resolve to make atonement and keep your hearts pure and pleasing to Him.

Beware of yielding to bad thoughts and desires; the more careful you are to keep your hearts pure, the more certain will you be to make progress in virtue, and with the greater confidence will you appear at last before the judgment-seat of Christ.

Jesus, who knows all things, will judge us strictly with reference to all our sins of omission, all that we had it in our power to do, and did not. Our shame and punishment will be proportionate to the opportunities we have had, and to the training that we received in childhood. The time of youth should be utilized in training the mind and heart. As God gave you opportunities in youth of learning to know His Holy Will, He will demand more of you than of others.

By means of prayer and a virtuous life strive to grow in true piety, for if you acquire strength of character when you are young, you will be able later on to stand firm in the faith and to live righteously. If, however, you allow yourselves to be misled by the world and its false principles, if you are not true to the teaching that you received in your early years, you will deserve a far harsher sentence on the day of judgment than many others, who now live recklessly and thoughtlessly, caring nothing for God or for virtue, simply because they have never been taught any better, and because, when they were young, they were led astray and followed a path that turned away from God.

We shall one day be called upon to give an account of every grace received from God. How often has He spoken to our hearts and shed His light within them! We feel impelled by grace to do this or that good action, but concupiscence is not dead in us, and our indifference stands in the way of God's grace; but whenever you are conscious of the struggle between them, think of the day when our Lord will ask what use has been made of that grace, and of that inward prompting which you perhaps neglected or even despised.

God speaks to us also outwardly in Holy Scripture, which is made known to us at school, at church and in the confessional, through the instructions of those appointed to teach us. If we refuse to hear His word, we incur the greater guilt, the more often and the more lovingly He speaks. When He asks: "Why did you do this or that?" we shall find no excuse to make, but shall have to confess: "Lord, we knew Thy Commandments and understood them, but we did not obey them. Although we did not deserve it, Thou hast often warned us, but we disregarded Thy warnings."

Remember that one day our Lord will call us to give a strict account of every admonition that we have ever received, and renew your resolution to open your hearts to God's Holy Word and to all pious instruction, gladly and willingly to do as you are taught, not trusting to your own self-will which is apt to rebel against all exhortations to do what is right, but submitting to God's holy will. Resolve, too, not to be carried away by any fancy that may occur to you, since such things lead only to destruction, though they may seem most attractive.

Let us now, at the end of the ecclesiastical year, beg God to be our aid as long as life lasts; let us be unwearied in trying to advance on the way of perfection, in purifying our hearts from evil and in keeping Jesus and His Holy Commandments before our eyes. Let us look up to Him always with clean hearts, and then we need not dread His coming at the last day. Amen.

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