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Zion: The Four Last Things [Z1]

Updated: 1 day ago


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Once we begin a trip, most of us know where we are going and what we are going to do. Most Singaporeans plan their holidays out properly or join a tour group which has their itinerary known from beginning to end.


But when it comes to our spiritual lives and our ultimate destination, we leave it to chance or have no plan on getting there. Very few Catholics I know have planned out a path for their spiritual growth or what they are going to do to get to heaven.


This topic tries to encourage thoughts on Eschatology which is the theological study on the Four Last Things and to give hope as well as some impetus.


Opening Prayer


O God, who have set a limit to this present life,

so as to open up an entry into eternity,

we humbly beseech you,

that by the grace of your mercy

you may command our namesto be inscribed in the book of life.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever [1].


Amen.


Recommended Opening Songs





Part 1: Finishing the Race


Congratulations for reaching the letter Z! If you have joined us since the beginning or even if you are starting with Z as the first article and intend to go back and read the others, I will use the words of St. Paul - that you have fought the good fight and you have finished the race.


These words allude to what we are going to talk about in this article, which is to focus on the end times, the last things, what is it all for and what does it all mean. These are big issues and this couple of thousand words is not going to cover everything but to draw our attention to all that has gone in from A-Y and how it impacts us.


When I think about this topic, two fun things come to my mind. One is a phrase by a previous Catholic Answers Radio host, he used to end the show by saying “Be a Saint! What else is there?” (For more about saints, I recommend going to our episode on Imitating the Saints) and the other is the episode of the Simpsons where Marge dreams that she goes to heaven and there is a Protestant Heaven and a Catholic Heaven which is portrayed as a lively and rambunctious place.


Just like how we are ending this first series with this letter, there is an end to our lives. In our world today, people live as though they will live forever. When YOLO (you only live once) was the fad phrase, I spoke to too many youths who took it to mean do dangerous and risky things now because there is no other chance.


But in my mind, it meant quite the opposite, you only live once, death is permanent, be informed about the actions you take because some might be permanent in a way you do not want or intend. 


Unfortunately, some of these risky things were not only risky to health but also risky to their souls like one-night stands or excessive alcohol consumption till they lose rationality and, sometimes, consciousness. The fact that our lifespans have increased (almost doubled in the past 100 years) has seem to dull the sense of our mortality and that we will meet God one day.


Ah but you, my patient young grasshopper, you have taken the time to keep God in the forefront and to prepare yourself to face him one day.


Part 2: Begin with the End in Mind


Why “Be a Saint! What else is there?” hits me because it asks the right question.


Other than being a Saint, what else is there in life? When we think about all that we can achieve and acquire, all pale in comparison to being with God. God who is the creator of all things, offers us to be with him for all eternity. Rather than focusing on created things, we must focus on the creator and being a saint means we are with the creator of all.


This brings us to the topic of Z which is to help us put into focus what has been traditionally called the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. These four realities started appearing together in the 12th and 13th centuries being written about by the likes of Peter Abelard and St. Thomas Aquinas [2].


These are the only things left after everything has been said and done, when we die and leave this earth. However, these are not just things that are “Churchy”. Everyone knows about it, including those outside the Church like atheists and peoples of other religions.


For everyone, life’s one certainty is death and other religions have different expressions of judgement, heaven and hell. For example, the ancient Egyptian religion believed that after death, the person underwent judgement known as the “Weighing of the Heart” where their actions in life (represented by their heart) were weighed to the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of order. If they balanced, then you will go into heaven and if their heart was heavier, they would cease to exist [3].


So what does the Church teach?


Part 2A: Death is the Entrance to Eternal Life


Death is the end of human life, and it ends the time where we can respond to God’s graces. Even though we are mortal, it was not our destiny to die. Death was not part of God’s original divine plan but entered the world because of the consequence of sin [4].


However, Jesus has transformed death, it is no longer an end but a beginning.


As St. Paul puts it, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).


Jesus died for us, making death a door to eternal life with God.


"Anastasis" or "Harrowing of Hell" fresco at the Church of Chora (14th cent.). It depicts Christ physically pulling Adam and Eve from their tombs, with a bound Satan and shattered gates of Hades under His feet. Although popular imagination often treats it as a literal event, its truth is primarily spiritual: Christ freeing us from death. Photo of “Anastasis” by Keith Hamilton Putnam, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
"Anastasis" or "Harrowing of Hell" fresco at the Church of Chora (14th cent.). It depicts Christ physically pulling Adam and Eve from their tombs, with a bound Satan and shattered gates of Hades under His feet. Although popular imagination often treats it as a literal event, its truth is primarily spiritual: Christ freeing us from death. Photo of “Anastasis” by Keith Hamilton Putnam, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Going on a short apologetic detour, death is the separation of body and soul and not ceasing to exist. Sometimes we use death in a way to mean stop existing because our human experience of death without spiritual eyes sees death only as an end to our life on earth.


So when we get questions about how God can die since God is the eternal being, you might get stumped if we do not understand the proper definition of death. Because Jesus, the second person of Trinity who is God, took on a human nature, when his body and soul separated on the cross, he died but he did continue to exist as God.


Part 2B: Judgement: Being Accountable


The Church teaches that there are two judgements, the Particular Judgement and the Last Judgement.


The Particular Judgement comes at death. Based on how we lived our lives open or closed to the graces of God, we will choose to accept or reject God and we will receive our reward, heaven (immediately or through purification) or hell.


As Catholics, it is important not to equate how we live our lives as being the number of “good works” that we do. The Catechism includes an instructive quote from St. John of the Cross, “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love [5].” This quote puts into context the rest of the section on the Particular Judgement.


Our “good works” are meant to be a sign or an indication of our openness to God’s graces in our lives. They are not a checklist of things to do to get to heaven or weights on the scale of judgement to tip it to our favour because there are no such things in relation to God. However, getting into heaven requires a lifelong faithfulness of loving God and that means receiving his graces and love by doing his will in our lives. Done in communion with God, our good works are meritorious and further deepen us in holiness and salvation


What does this look like?


Our past three popes have spoken out against the Italian mafia with Pope Benedict XVI calling the mafia as a “road of death”.


Pope Francis even set up a working group to investigate the situation and possibly come up with guidelines for the excommunication of mafiosi. In 2014, he went so far as to say that the mafiosi “are not in communion with God: they are excommunicated [6].” Without actual experience of the mafia, I can only picture what I see in the movie “The Godfather.” Here the Corleone family run by Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), on one side, is going to church for mass and getting children baptized in a way that would make you think they are outstanding Catholics but on the side that is unseen, they are murdering and doing crime.


That would be our example of “good works” not being something that flows from the love of God, it flows from behavior, culture or even expectations. These motivations do not open us to God and so might make us in the end reject God.


Picture someone who has been living a sinful life might meet God and God would welcome them in but inform them that they have to let go of that life and recognize that it is sinful, they might end up rejecting God because their own beliefs and inability to call what they did in their lives sinful. This might happen to any of us because we all have sins that we hold on to or that we have come to excuse in ourselves.


Part 2C: Heaven is not a place on Earth


The header is a play on a song that I enjoy, the Belinda Carlisle hit “Heaven is a Place on Earth”. 


Heaven is for those who die in God’s grace and friendship and to live perfectly purified with Christ for ever and where we see God face-to-face. We have the perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity. There is no way to humanly conceive what heaven is going to be like because no one has seen God face-to-face. 


In Exodus 33:17-23, we are given context on why in this life we will not see God face-to-face. There, Moses asks to see God’s glory, but God shares that man cannot see his face and live - so in the passage, God shows Moses his back instead.


Of course, this is anthropomorphic language to describe how God is so overwhelming and awesome that our human natures without their perfection given by God will not be able to handle it. This is the joy that waits for us in Heaven, for “Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness [7].”


What Belinda Carlisle and the Simpsons are trying to capture for us is this tremendous joy that we will have.


For Belinda, her piece of Heaven on Earth is being swept up in love by her beloved whereas for Marge, she saw Catholic Heaven being so full of passion, energy and dynamism expressed through the dancing and merry-making. 


A reason for this passion in Heaven is because a symbol that the Church uses for Heaven is marriage between God and man, Christ and his Church - and nothing gets more passionate than marriage. 


Many theologians including Pope St. John Paul II have reflected on this symbol for Heaven and have seen that human sexuality mirrors this passion in heaven. The love between husband and wife, the self-giving and ever-growing love and family, all reflect God and who he is [8].


Jesus gives us himself bodily at each mass we celebrate. The priest makes him present in the Eucharist. This is a foretaste of Heaven and another sign of the passion God has for us. Our heavenly spouse giving himself to us, the Church, in an act of total self-giving just like how spouses should give themselves to each other in marriage.


St. John, through the Book of Revelations, gives us a vision of what is going to be happening in Heaven and that we will be caught up in worship, participating in the eternal divine liturgy that never ceases.


So if we want to say, Heaven is a place on Earth, the Mass comes closest.


"Apotheiosis of St Ignatius [of Loyola]" (by Andrea Pozzo, drawn over a flat ceiling of the nave of the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome. "Apotheiosis" is a genre of paintings that depicts the glorification / deification of man, usually upon death. This genre of art draws us towards the reality of the communion of saints, here depicted as celebrating St. Ignatius' entry into heaven. It makes us look forward to the warmth, glory, and indescribable joy of the beatific vision of God in heaven.
"Apotheiosis of St Ignatius [of Loyola]" (by Andrea Pozzo, drawn over a flat ceiling of the nave of the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome. "Apotheiosis" is a genre of paintings that depicts the glorification / deification of man, usually upon death. This genre of art draws us towards the reality of the communion of saints, here depicted as celebrating St. Ignatius' entry into heaven. It makes us look forward to the warmth, glory, and indescribable joy of the beatific vision of God in heaven.

Part 2C1: Purging Our Imperfections


We take a short detour from the Four Last Things to discuss a doctrine which is very closely related and also hotly debated which is Purgatory.


I heard someone said before that this should not be so disputed as it is because if we think about it, many Christians believe in a purification that happens before we die.


The question is when.


For Catholics, Purgatory is a very loving doctrine. We believe as Revelations 21:27 put it, “…nothing unclean shall enter [Heaven].”


If we truly look into our souls, we will be able to see that despite all the intentions and works that we do, we are never full clean as on the day of our baptism. There will always be lingering attachments to sin like bad habits that we constantly fight.


They do not need to be grave, and they can be things like eating more than we should or not loving others more than we should. 


If we take the Bible seriously, then these imperfections will stop us from entering Heaven and not because God does not want it but because we will recognize the shame of these imperfections before God and exclude ourselves (Because as we shall see, Hell is the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God).


But the all-powerful loving God has set up a way for us to be purified from these imperfections, a period of purging before entering Heaven, and we call this Purgatory.


As the Catechism puts it, “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven [9].”


"Saint Teresa of Ávila Interceding for Souls in Purgatory" by Peter Paul Rubens (17 cent.). Both glorified saints and the Church on earth pray for the souls in purgatory. This highlights the bond of love between the Church Militant (on earth), the Church Suffering (in purgatory), and the Church Triumphant (in heaven).
"Saint Teresa of Ávila Interceding for Souls in Purgatory" by Peter Paul Rubens (17 cent.). Both glorified saints and the Church on earth pray for the souls in purgatory. This highlights the bond of love between the Church Militant (on earth), the Church Suffering (in purgatory), and the Church Triumphant (in heaven).

God knows that we love him and want to be with him, and he knows that we will be ashamed of our imperfections or cannot let go of them. He sets up a way for us to be free of these things where he helps us.


If we did not have Purgatory, we would have to purify ourselves here on Earth and we know that is not easy. It is already not easy to live a life without sin but if we have sinned, to make full satisfaction for the temporal punishments due to sin, it is another level.


For those who do not believe in Purgatory, they either must take that stand or believe that God does it in a time after death which is back to being a kind of Purgatory.


Purgatory, rather than being a second chance or a work that we must do, is a work that God does for us so that we can be with him.


Part 2D: Hell


We reject God and fail to choose him if we gravely sin against him, our neighbours or ourselves. Jesus speaks of the “the unquenchable fire” destined for those who refuse to believe and be converted. When we choose not to be with God, we go to Hell [10].


The punishment of Hell is separation from God for all eternity.


If God is the sources of all goodness, separation from him means losing out on the life and happiness for which we long. It will be the pain of always wanting something but never getting it.


Some theologians have said that because of the separation, Hell will lack anything good but this is not true because the damned will still have the good of “existing”, they are not annihilated.


"The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch (late 15th–early 16th century), the "Hell" panel. There is much that can be said about each element of the image (the desolate background, the tree-trunk man, the musical instrument, the bizzare creatures, etc.), but it is clear that disordered desires become their own punishments, and grotesque figures and monstrosity dominate the scene. It illustrates a spiritual truth: that sin deforms what it touches.
"The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch (late 15th–early 16th century), the "Hell" panel. There is much that can be said about each element of the image (the desolate background, the tree-trunk man, the musical instrument, the bizzare creatures, etc.), but it is clear that disordered desires become their own punishments, and grotesque figures and monstrosity dominate the scene. It illustrates a spiritual truth: that sin deforms what it touches.

Part 2E: Last Judgement


We end Part 2 by talking about the Last Judgement.


This happens at the end of time when Christ comes again and at that time “the Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life [11].”


In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus paints us the picture of what is to come. He will gather everyone, all the nations (those who are alive that that point and those who have died), and he will separate the righteous who are his sheep from the unrighteous who are the disobedient goats. God will tell us why the sheep and goats are separated that way. He tells us that the sheep did the works of mercy, where we cared for our brothers and sisters who needed it, but the goats did not. Each group will all go to the place of their rewards. The Catechism in paragraph 1039 quotes St. Augustine’s sermons to emphasize this point:


All that the wicked do is recorded, and they do not know. When “our God comes, he does not keep silence.” … he will turn towards those at his left hand: … “I placed my poor little ones on earth for you. I as their head was seated in heaven at the right hand of my Father—but on earth my members were suffering, my members on earth were in need. If you gave anything to my members, what you gave would reach their Head [12].


The Last Judgement does not change the fate of those who have already died so we must live well now. Because the Last Judgement will make known to all the deeds of everyone. We will come to know why each person has been given Heaven or Hell and we will rejoice in the goodness and justice of God.


Part 3: SMART Goals


The discipleship journey that the A-Z of DiscipleSHIP program has been bringing you along is leading to this.


We want to see you and ourselves in Heaven. We want all God’s children to be with him, and we want to help by sharing helping information from the Church and the saints.


Something I teach my youth to help them to succeed in life is to have SMART goals [13].


So if I want to lose weight, I do not leave it as an amorphous target but make it concrete like “I want to lose 8 kilograms in 2 weeks’ time.” This helps us to know if we are getting closer to our goals and it is encouraging to see yourself growing closer each day or week, and it helps to keep the motivation going and to overcome momentary setbacks.


If this can be done for secular goals like losing weight, it can definitely be used for spiritual goals and to train ourselves in the spiritual life.


Through this journey of discipleship with A-Z, I am sure you did not find it easy to stay focused on Christ. The initial conversion, our Awakening, is not a once-off event but a daily choice to do God’s will and to accept all that he has revealed.


  1. Set up for yourself a daily Bible reading or go through the Bible once each, learn more about Salvation history. Do not put off reading, studying and praying on the Bible.


  2. Recite the Creed at mass and make a commitment accept what God has revealed through his Church.


  3. Frequent the sacraments often. Pope St. John Paul II went for confession weekly, think about how regularly you can go, whether monthly or quarterly. Go for mass beyond just the Sunday obligation, can you go an additional time weekly or monthly? Do not let this be based on convenience but set aside time.


  4. Contribute financially more to society. Can you increase your giving to the parish or to a good charity? Consider fixing a target amount each month and don’t leave it to what you have in your wallet.


  5. Participate in the parish life. God has given us gifts and talents, let’s use it for his glory. Consider joining a parish community or ministry. If you speak well, how about the Lectors? Or if you enjoy engaging people about faith, why not the Legion of Mary? Let us go beyond using our gifts just for secular gain and to surround ourselves with Catholics who are trying to grow in faith also.


  6. Get to know a saint better this year. Read about good book about your patron saint (like the saint you share your name with) or a saint you are familiar with. Learn from their lives and actions, they are praying for us and cheering us on from Heaven.


  7. Pick one person who you think is closest to being Christian and invite that person to mass one day. Also consider how your work can be a place where you can share the love of God and the light of Christ to those you meet. Start on your journey of evangelising and being a Christian Leader.


  8. Work on that one habitual sin that you struggle with this year. Set steps on how you can overcome it, ask people for help if you need to. Live a more moral and virtuous life.


  9. Develop a strong understanding or theology of the body in today’s age of sexual and gender confusion, and learn how to give a reason for your faith (which are mutually complementary).


  10. Pick a time for your daily prayer, develop a plan of life or norms of piety, and set reminders on your phone and commit to it!


  11. Pick up our crosses daily, grapple with the Lord on the Christian meaning of suffering, and follow him with everything we’ve got.


That is quite a bit and I know it is not easy but we are praying for you.


We will intercede with the Queen of Heaven for you too.


This is just the start of a deeper love for God and your discipleship journey, and it ends the day we all, by the grace of God and hope in his mercy, meet in Heaven.


Closing Prayer


Grant, we pray, almighty God,

that we, your servants,

who today are journeying from this world,

may by your sacrifice be cleansed and freed from sin

and so receive the everlasting joys of the resurrection.

We ask this through Christ our Lord [14].


Amen.


Recommend Closing Songs








Recommended Reading / Resources



Reflection Question


  1. Pick one or two of the Four Last Things discussed above, and spend prayerful time in the adoration room really reflecting and journalling on it. 


  2. Share with your trusted friend or your small group the fruits of your reflection – including any spiritual resolutions which the Lord may lead you to make. 


© Presented by the Catholic Theology Network (writers / contributors / sound): Keenan Tan (M.A., Theology, Augustine Institute), Nick Chui (MTS, JPII Institute for Marriage and Family, AU), Dominic Chan (M.A., Theology, Augustine Institute), Debra Dass (Diploma in Theology, CTIS), Marcia Vanderstraaten (Diploma in Theology, CTIS); publicity & design: Chandra Nugraha (Certificate in Catholic Theology, Augustine Institute), Koh Azariah Augustine. 


Footnotes


1. Adapted from the Collect of the Funeral Mass outside Easter Time from  The Roman Missal: Renewed by Decree of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, Promulgated by Authority of Pope Paul VI and Revised at the Direction of Pope John Paul II, Third Typical Edition (Washington D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), 1373.


2. Joseph T. Kelley, 101 Questions and Answers on the Four Last Things  (New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2006), 7.



4. CCC 1006-1009


5. CCC 1022



7. CCC 1024


8. Kreeft, Peter.  Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven … but Never Dreamed of Asking. First Edition. San Francisco : Ignatius Press, 1990, 132.


9. CCC 1030


10. CCC 1033-1034


11. CCC 1039


12. Ibid



14. Adapted from the Prayer after Communion of the Funeral Mass outside Easter Time from  The Roman Missal: Renewed by Decree of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, Promulgated by Authority of Pope Paul VI and Revised at the Direction of Pope John Paul II, Third Typical Edition (Washington D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), 1374.

 
 
 

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