|
Gospel: Saint Luke 21:
25-33
On the Last
Judgment
1.1
First Point
Speaking of the Last
Judgment in today's Gospel Jesus Christ says that all people shall see
the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great power and majesty.
[i]
The regal aspect in which Jesus Christ will appear, and the great power
which he will display when he comes to judge the world, should make us fear
his coming. This is what Saint Jerome says, commenting on these words of the
Prophet Malachy: Who can think of the day of his coming?[ii]
If no one dares think of the day of the Last Judgment because of the majesty
and power of him who will be the judge, who will be able to endure the
strictness of his judgment? This will be all the more difficult, he adds,
because the One who will act as witness will also be the One who will judge;
this is what should lead us to dread this judgment all the more.
As the same saint
says elsewhere, the very severity of the Judge who will render to all of
us according to our works[iii]
will be such that those present will not dare to look him in the face. Then,
says Saint Ephrem, there will be a minute and terrible scrutiny of our
actions, and even of our thoughts, when each of us appears before this
Judge's tribunal. He will make known to the whole world
all the thoughts of all, their words and their deeds, all of which were
entirely hidden in this life because they were performed in darkness.[iv]
In order,
says Saint Augustine, that we may not endure a terrible and crushing
sentence when we appear before the tribunal of this inexorable Judge who
will judge us for eternity, let us constantly strive to free ourselves of
our defects, for we cannot know either the day or the hour[v]
when we shall die. Those whose lifespan is so uncertain should not delay to
take the steps needed to insure their salvation.
1.2
Second Point
It is not only the
wicked who need to be afraid of the Last Judgment because of the evil lives
they have led. It will be a harrowing experience for the good as well as the
wicked, says Saint Augustine. For, asserts Saint Jerome, there will be few,
in fact there will be none in that general gathering who will not deserve to
be reproved with severity and anger by the Judge. This is why, he adds,
there is no soul that does not fear God's judgment, since the stars
themselves, meaning the saints, will not be pure in his presence.[vi]
It will be very difficult, this holy doctor continues, to find anyone pure
and irreproachable enough to appear before this Judge with assurance, and
dare to say, who will convict me of sin?[vii]
Because of this, says Saint Ephrem, all creatures will be penetrated with
fear and all the legions of holy angels will shudder[viii]
on the great day of the Lord's vengeance.
The main
reason why the just themselves will fear while awaiting the Last Judgment
is that we will have to give an account not only of the idle words we
have spoken,[ix]
as Jesus Christ tells in the Gospel, but even of the good works we have
performed, according to what God declares through the Royal Prophet: I
shall judge justices,[x]
meaning all the good that we have accomplished during our lives. He will
probe it to see if it was truly good, and whether anything defective can be
found in it. Who of us, then, will not fear God's judgment?
1.3 Third Point
How should we not fear
God's judgments, since the greatest saints, despite their eminent holiness,
did not fail to dread them? Job, whom God himself defended against those who
reproached him falsely, says to God: I trembled at every action I
performed, knowing that you do not pardon the one who sins;[xi]
and again, What shall I do when God shall arise to judge me and when he
demands an account of my life, what shall I answer him?[xii]
After relating in considerable detail his manner of living, so upright and
so free from sin, he adds that he always dreaded the judgment of God and
that this fear had always penetrated him like a heavy burden.[xiii]
Saint
Hilarion, bowed down beneath the weight of years and austerities, was seized
with terror at the hour of his death. Saint Jerome, who had grown gray in
solitude and in all sorts of penitential exercises, declares that he had
restricted himself in this way and had condemned himself to a sort of prison
out of fear of the Last Judgment. He tells us elsewhere that being, as he
was, completely filled with sin, he hid himself day and night, fearing that
he might hear the words, "Jerome, come forth!" and that he would then be
forced to pay the last penny.[xiv]
Saint Ephrem, who
led a solitary life from his childhood, and who was so pure, so penitent,
and so filled with the Spirit of God, says that his heart trembled and his
whole body shook every time he reflected that all our thoughts, words, and
actions will be made manifest on Judgment Day. Acknowledging that he was
still guilty, he constantly feared to be judged in strict rigor, knowing
that he had no excuse for his negligence.
If such
great saints felt so much fear when considering this terrible day, what
feelings of dread should we not experience, we who show such little fervor
in God's service, and who fulfill our duties so negligently?
|