What Does the Catholic Church Believe About Life After Death?

“Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.” (Rev. 14:13)

When we die, or more correctly, “fall asleep in the Lord” (1Thes. 4:14), we reverently bury the body of the one who has passed from this life to the next. While the body is buried, as was the body of the Lord Jesus, the soul goes on to judgement. This judgement is before the Lord and he judges us on our faithfulness to the Gospel and the work that follows from that faithfulness. Actually, we judge ourselves by how we lived our lives, how well we tried to conform our lives to the life of Jesus.

 

Two Judgements

The judgement right after death is called the particular judgement. At the time of our falling asleep, we are judged either as worthy of the eternal life of heaven (which may first require a “stop off” in a place of purification from any last remaining imperfections) or are separated from God and consigned to eternal life in hell. This particular judgment awaits all of us at the very moment that we die and it will be clear in an immediate way.

The general judgment is that act of judgment which accompanies the glorious return of Jesus Christ in His second coming, when He comes “to judge the living and the dead” (as we say in professing the Nicene Creed). This general judgment is characterized by the Lord’s own words in Matthew 25:31-46, as Jesus speaks of how He will separate the sheep from the goats, saying to the sheep at his right that they are to inherit the kingdom, as they fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, etc., while sending the goats off to eternal punishment for not having carried out the way of charity.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that this general judgment “will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life.” (CCC 1039) Everything that was hidden will be revealed to all, the just and the damned. There will be a revelation of the whole plan of God for the salvation of the human race and what was distorted and disordered by original sin will be restored to what it was meant to be. All things will be restored in Christ (Eph. 1:10). Also, the Father through Christ will resurrect our bodies from the grave and reunite them with our souls, the just to live in the new heavens and the new earth (2 Peter, 3:13). The damned will be separated from God and their loved ones for eternity in hell.

Often when we die there are imperfections or, to use a modern phrase, “unresolved issues” that we carry into the next life. These are traditionally called “venial sins.” Unlike “mortal sins” which kill the grace of God in our souls and break our relationship with the Lord, venial sins do not stop us from entering into heaven. Mortal sin must be reconciled in the Sacrament of Penance. This intermediate place the Roman Catholic Church calls “purgatory.” Purgatory is a place of waiting, it is a place where our desire to see God burns within us, not as fire but as spiritual longing and yearning. This desire and longing cleanses us and prepares us to see God in his glory. God decides when we enter heaven to see him face to face. The good part about this intermediate place or “purgatory” is that if we go there, we are assured of heaven.

 

When we die we do not become another species. People do not become angels or demons. Sometimes people will say, “So in so is my angel in heaven.” Sentimental but untrue. Angels have their own role in salvation. They are pure spirit and as they were created have no bodies. Angels are often God’s messengers to humans. Angels are not human but they can take on human form so we can see them and relate to them. Each of us is assigned a guardian angel at Baptism. People do not become angels. People do not become demons.

While we might greatly love a spouse, relative or friend we cannot decide if a person is in heaven. We never know the interior or private lives of people. One can appear as “saintly” but have deep secrets that are not so saintly. Even if this part is not true, only God and those with him in heaven know who is in heaven and who is not.

 

To proclaim that someone is in heaven is false. To say this is not Catholic teaching, nor is it the faith of the Church. It is not Catholic belief.

Telling ourselves or others that someone is in heaven deprives the one who has fallen asleep of prayers that are necessary if the person is not yet in heaven but in “purgatory.” Our prayers and good works help a person enter fully into the life of God. This is why Catholics offer Mass for those who have died. This is why we have prayers for the dead. The Mass being the Sacrifice of Calvary re-presented is the greatest and most powerful prayer we have. Our prayers continue the bond of love
that is not destroyed by death. If we truly love someone who has fallen asleep, we will not proclaim what we cannot know. We don’t know who is in heaven except canonized saints and this is by miracles and revelation from God to the Church, not to an individual. We continue to pray for those we love who have gone before us.

“Nice” is defined as “respectable,” “people pleasing,” or “agreeable.” The Lord Jesus was not “nice.”

He was not respectable in the eyes of many people mentioned in the Gospels. Christ was not people pleasing, he said what was true, even if it “hurt” so that people might change their lives. The Lord was not agreeable with those who were sinning or with those who preached and taught lies. He gave his life for the truth even though it led to his suffering and death.

Believing in Jesus is not simply saying, “Jesus is Lord” but about living out that Jesus is truly the one who has all power, is wisdom itself and came to guide us to heaven. He will help us by his mercy to enter into heaven. We must back up what we say with how we live our lives. Being nice does not cut it. Atheists can be nice. “Faith without works is dead." (James 2:26b)

To “get into heaven”, we must have faith in the Lord. We must be baptized. We must pray always (1 Th 5:17). We must come to Mass to worship God as we are asked to do (Ex 20:8). We must avoid sin (Mt 5:48). We must repent of our sins (Acts 3:19). We must receive the Body and Blood of the Lord in Holy Communion so that we can become partakers in divine life (Jn 6:53, 2 Peter 1:4). We must care for the least of our brothers and sisters (Mt 25). All of these put us in a right relationship with the Lord.

No. God does not send us to hell, we send ourselves to hell; people do this by how they lived their lives.

Why would a person who was not faithful to God, did not live for God and acted against God want to spend all eternity with God? A person like this lives only for himself/herself. They deny the goodness of God and seek to do wrong instead of what is just. This becomes a lifestyle, a way of orienting a person’s life. They are unmerciful. They seek to offend God. They seek to cause others to sin. They reject God though they know God exists and is all good.

And there are people like this in the world. By how they live they condemn themselves to hell. If they make hell for themselves and others on earth why would they want to live with the God who is merciful, filled with goodness and loves us
beyond expression?

Yes, God is too good to send anyone to hell, but we can do it ourselves.

May God be merciful towards us. May we love our God with all our heart, mind and soul. May we love our neighbor as ourselves.

Remember your loved ones who have fallen asleep.

“It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins.” (2 Maccabees 12:46)

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.