The Judgment

Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time A-1

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 96 (95): 1, 6 O sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In his presence are majesty and splendour, strength and honour in his holy place.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: 2 Samuel 7:18-19, 24-29; Psalm 132:1-3, 5, 11-14; Mark 4:21-25

Jesus said to them, “Does anyone put a candle under a bushel or under a bed? Does he not put it on a candlestick? For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor made secret which shall not be manifested. Those who can hear, let him hear.” Jesus said to them, “Take heed what you hear. In the measure you meet out, so shall it be measured to you again and more besides. For to the one who has it shall be given. From the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away from him.” (Mark 4:21-25)

The Judgment I invite you to count the number of times in the Gospels in which Christ alludes either directly or indirectly to the judgment of God on each person. There are many such allusions. There used to be a glib generalization which stated that while the Old Testament stresses the wrath and judgment of God, the New stresses his love. Now, while the great doctrine of the New Testament is indeed that God is love, it is a great error to think that the judgment of God on unrepentant sinners is underplayed. Indeed, the divine judgment is emphasised far more in the New Testament because far more is revealed of its eternal consequences. My impression is that many Jews do not derive from their reading of what Christians call the Old Testament much clear knowledge of the awesome results of the judgment of God following death. The doctrine of an eternity in either heaven or hell is not to them an indisputable revelation of the Old Testament. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead. I think one can say that generally, Jewish traditions do not accept an eternal hell following the divine judgment on the one who dies in a state of unrepentant mortal sin. Punishment is basically temporary. Whatever of this important difference of dogmatic view, there is no question that Christ stressed the ominous nature of God’s judgment on sin and also his judgment on the one who perseveres in the good. He keeps it before his audience because of its importance for each of us, and his words are unmistakable: “there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor made secret which shall not be manifested. Those who can hear, let him hear.” He continues in the same vein. “Take heed what you hear. In the measure you meet out, so shall it be measured to you again and more besides. For to the one who has it will be given. From the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away from him” (Mark 4:21‑25).

Cardinal Newman, who was perhaps the foremost religious mind of nineteenth century Britain, spent a lot of time and thought endeavouring to make more acceptable to the modern mind the doctrine of an eternal hell. But one thing he did maintain was that the first principle of religion is the thought of a judgement as it operates in the feeling of a conscience, especially the guilty conscience. A person feels guilty at the thought of the wrong he has done, and the element within that feeling that will turn him to religion is the thought that God will judge his deeds. It adds to his fears and it makes the thought of God more vivid. God bears down on him the more because of his perceived displeasure and threats. If this doctrine is lost sight of then God may be lost sight of in the midst of a trail of sins and neglect. Of course, Newman did not say that the thought of the divine judgment is the beginning and the end of religion, but he did say that in general it is the beginning of it. Such a view could be debated — especially in the light of comparative and indigenous religions — but at least it throws into full view the importance of it and the reason why Christ revealed it and then stressed it so very often. We must not lose sight of God’s judgment, for it is a holy and wholesome thought that can keep us from sin and from religious neglect. In our gospel passage today our Lord tells us that faith and our deeds will merit their deserts, and that “to the one who has,” the more will be given. From the one who has not — that is, who lacks in faith and good deeds and merits — what he has will be taken from him. The saints urged on all Christians that they keep before them the thought of the last things. Those last things are death, the judgment of God that follows on our death, and then either heaven or hell for ever. Those judged worthy of a place in heaven will, of course, very likely need further purification from sin in Purgatory prior to their definitive admission to the presence of the all‑holy God forever and ever.

Most persons who can, try to prepare for the future. The young student is continually preparing for his future. The breadwinner is preparing for the future of his family. One could claim that most of the work of any government is to prepare for the country’s future. Our Lord has told us of our future beyond the grave and how to prepare for it. Let’s prepare for it, then. Christ is our Way and our Life. If we abide in him here in this life we shall abide with him forever in heaven

(E.J.Tyler)

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