OPENING PRAYER (WELCOME GOD INTO OUR STUDY)
Heavenly Father, Eyes have not seen, Ears have not heard what you have prepared for those who love you. We pray Father, that our bodies will rise in glory on the last day through the merits of your only begotten Son, Jesus, who goes before us to prepare for us a place in His Heavenly Mansion and who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
CATECHESIS (STUDY THE FAITH)
REFERENCES FROM CATECHISM OF CATHOLIC CHURCH 2ND EDITION
CCC 992 -1001 Christ’s Resurrection and Ours;
CCC 1002 -1004 What does it mean to rise and die in Christ
CCC 1006 -1014 The meaning of Christian Death;
CCC 1021 -1022 Particular Judgement;
CCC 1023 -1029 Heaven;
CCC 1030 -1032 Purgatory;
CCC 1033 -1037 Hell;
CCC 1038 – 1041 Last Judgement
CCC 1020 I believe in Life Everlasting
CCC 1042 – 1050 New Heavenly Jerusalem.
HE IS RISEN!
St. Paul preaches in his first letter to the Corinthians, “How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ has not been raised and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” Corinthians 15:12-14
Death is a consequence of Original Sin. After death, each person faces a particular judgment before God. After the particular judgment, the person will either immediately enter into the blessedness of heaven, purification in purgatory, or eternal damnation in hell.
To die in grave sin, without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love, means remaining separate from God for all eternity. The state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and his blessed is called hell. . Only a free will choice on our part and a persistent state of unrepentance leads one to hell. Hell is the bitter fruit of a final no to God.
Those who die in the grace and friendship with God and perfectly purified from sinfulness will see God face to face as He really is and live with Christ forever. This perfect life with the Blessed Trinity, Mary, and all the saints is called heaven, a state of supreme and definitive happiness forever.
The resurrection of all the dead, the just and unjust, will occur just before the Last Judgment when all who died hear the Son of Man’s command to come forth. Then the bodies will reunite with their souls.
LAST JUDGMENT
In the resurrection we will have spiritual bodies. Our natural bodies came from Adam, our spiritual bodies come from Christ. St. Paul says: “as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man [Adam], so we shall bear the likeness of the heavenly one [Christ]” 1 Corinthians 15:49
St. Paul says: “What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body” 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
Everlasting Life refers to the perpetuity of happiness, blessedness, wholeness, and union with the Most Blessed Trinity in heaven.
“They shall no more hunger and thirst. Neither shall the sun fall on them nor any heat. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and death shall be no more. Nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Our essential happiness in heaven will be the Beatific Vision, to see God as He is, God who is the source of all goodness and perfection.
“Dearly beloved we are now the sons and daughters of God and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know when He shall appear we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is.” I John 3:2
When the Church is present to a dying person, they absolve them from their sins, anoint their bodies, sealing them in holy oil for Christ, and give them Jesus in the Eucharist (Viaticum) for their journey home. The Church sends them home with sweet assurance in the following prayer:
“Go forth Christian soul from this world in the name of God, the Almighty Father who created you. In the name of Jesus, the Son of the Living God who suffered for you. In the name of the Holy Spirit who was poured out upon you.
Go forth faithful Christian. May you live in peace this day. May your home be with God, with Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, with Joseph and all the angels and saints. May you return to your Creator who formed you from the dust of the earth. May Holy Mary, the angels and all the saints come to meet you as you go forth from this life. May you see your Redeemer face to face.” (CCC #1020)
CLOSING PRAYER (PRAY THE FAITH)
Heavenly Father, You sent your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, not to condemn us but to save us. Do not look upon our sinfulness and what we truly deserve, but in your mercy, forgive us. In Jesus’ name, we pray.
LIFE APPLICATION (LIVE THE FAITH)
- What experiences have I had that have strengthened my belief in the immortality of the soul and life after death?
- Am I frightened of death? Why? If I knew I was going to die soon, would I make changes in my behavior? If so, what?
- Since the body will rise on the last day, why do you think God would have such a plan that body and soul would live for all eternity together.