9781644135945

The Light of the World
Tuesday
“The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who would take an account of his servants” (Gospel).
We are waiting for the Lord to appear for the so-called particular judgment, which follows
immediately after death. This judgment will decide our lot in eternity; that is, whether we shall
spend our eternity in heaven or in hell. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the
judgment” (Heb 9:27).
The particular judgment. The Mass for the Dead gives us a startling picture of the judgment
of the world. The day of the coming of the Lord, the day of death, the day of our particular
judgment, is a day of reckoning, a day on which we shall have to render an account of the sins
and faults of our past life. It is a day of reckoning on which we shall have to give an account of
all our talents and graces, of our health, our bodies, and our faculties, of our thoughts, words,
and deeds, and of every moment of time.
Lo! the book exactly worded
Wherein all hath been recorded;
Thence shall judgment be awarded.
When the Judge His seat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unavenged remaineth. 23
“Give an account of thy stewardship” (Lk 16:2), give an account of thy whole life. At the
moment of our death the good and the evil which we have done, the things that we have neglected
or done imperfectly, will stand out before our soul as clearly as the light of the sun.
Then the Judge will pass an eternal sentence, saying either, “Come, ye blessed of My Father,” or
“Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire” (Mt 25:34, 41). What will be the sentence
that will be passed on me? It will be the sentence which I have prepared for myself by my actions
while living in this world. How terrible and how important is that moment of death! But every
moment of my life is just as important. Each one may be my last, the moment of my judgment.
Our Holy Mother the Church presents her children to the Judge. She identifies herself with
her anxious child and implores the Lord on its behalf:
Think, good Jesus, my salvation
Caused Thy wondrous incarnation.
Leave me not in reprobation.
Faint and weary Thou hast sought me,
On the cross of suffering bought me.
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?
Thou the sinful woman savedst;
Thou the dying thief forgavest;
And to me a hope vouchsafest. 24
23
Ibid.
24
Ibid.
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