The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 141: The Last Judgment (2026)

Episode Date: May 21, 2026

We delve into the cosmic event that will take place at the end of time known as the Last Judgment. Fr. Mike explains the difference between the Last Judgment and our particular judgment at the time of our death. We learn that the Last Judgment will reveal the consequences of all our actions and how God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices we’ve committed and suffered. Fr. Mike emphasizes that the message of the Last Judgment is ultimately one of hope and conversion. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1038-1041. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in Scripture, and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in Ere is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. It is Day 141. Today we're reading paragraphs of 1038 to 1041. I'm using the Ascension Edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own catechism in your reading plan by visiting

ascensionpress.com slash CIY. And also you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications today is day 141. We're reading paragraphs 1038 to 1041. It is only a few short paragraphs. In fact, I counted them. There's four of them. And we're talking today about the last judgment. You know, we talked about particular judgment about how those who have chosen God get God, right we get heaven eternal life with the lord with our lady with the saints incredible we also have the purification that purgatory that can happen in our lives if we have chosen god imperfectly still have attachments we talked about hell yesterday but today there's this resurrection of the dead at the end of all time and that's the last judgment a couple things to keep in mind as we read these four short paragraphs

is remember there's the particular judgment we experience that at the moment of our deaths and then there's the last judgment, meaning when Christ comes at the end of time and everything is done, like the whole story of creation has been written. And all there is is eternity. So keep this in mind, this is a cosmic kind of event that is going to happen. This cosmic event that's going to happen is the end of time when the entire story has been written. And this is the last judgment. And it's not, it's not as if we get another shot at it. Right. It's like, well, you know, if you chose hell the first time, you might choose heaven this time or you might lose. was heaven, not that at all. What it is is the finalization, essentially, of the whole story to its

furthest extent. And I want you to, I invite you to keep that in mind that when we talk about the last judgment, again, it's Christ's triumph over history where he basically brings everything to right. All of the sorrows that we experienced, all the evil that he tolerated on this earth. In all of our stories, all of that is brought to right. And that's, it's a great message of hope, but also a message that reminds us to use this time to prepare ourselves for that moment of judgment that every one of us is going to experience. And so let's pray. If you just call upon our Heavenly Father, Father in heaven, we give you praise. We thank you for this day. We thank you for giving us time. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day of repentance. Now is the time for us to come back to you

and give you our hearts. We ask you to please meet us in the midst of our brokenness. Meet us in the midst of our hesitancy, meet us in our lives, and we ask you to please give us your grace. Help us to choose you. Help us to turn away from sin and believe in the gospel. Help us to remember that we are dust into dust we shall return. Help us to realize and remember it that you've made us for eternity. You've made us for yourself. Help us to choose you in such a way that we can spend eternity with you.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 141. We're reading paragraphs 1038 to 1041. The last judgment. The resurrection of all the dead, of both the just and the unjust, will precede the last judgment. This will be the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear the son of man's voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Then Christ will come in his glory, and all the angels with him. Before him will be gathered

all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left, and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. In the presence of Christ, who is truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare. The last judgment will reveal, even to its furthest consequences, the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life. As St. Augustine wrote, 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, saying, I place 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. would that you had known that my little ones were in need when I placed them on earth for you

and appointed them your stewards to bring your good works into my treasury. But you have placed nothing in their hands. Therefore, you have found nothing in my presence. The last judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour. Only he determines the moment of its coming. Then, through his son Jesus Christ, he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning.

of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his providence led everything toward its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustice is committed by his creatures, and that God's love is stronger than death. The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion, while God is still giving them the acceptable time, the day of salvation. It inspires a holy fear of God and commits them to the justice of the kingdom of God. It proclaims the blessed hope of the Lord's return when he will come to be glorified in his saints

and to be marveled at in all who have believed. All right, so there it is day 41, paragraphs 1038 to 1041, short four paragraphs on the last judgment, the ultimate destiny of all of humanity. It's just incredible. Paragraph 1039 highlights this, in the presence of Christ who is truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare.

Now, that truth, that honesty is so important. Why? Because sometimes we deceive ourselves, right? We can deceive ourselves into thinking that we're better than we are, and we can deceive ourselves into thinking that we're worse than we are. This is the big temptation so many of us have. This is one of the reasons why we all need humility. Because how many times do I think that, oh, yeah, the good thing I did, that's because

I, you know, I'm pretty good guy. I'm pretty generous. I'm pretty patient with people. as opposed to realizing, oh, the reason I did good is because I was well fed and because I had enough sleep the night before and because, you know, I just kind of happened to be in a good mood or even more mysteriously because God's grace was moving in me in such a way that he made up from my lack of graciousness. Or on the other hand, we can sometimes condemn ourselves and say, you know, I can't believe I'm so broken. I can't believe I'm so weak. I can't believe

that I keep doing the same sin over and over again. This kind of a situation where maybe the truth of this is, well, there are some wounds in your past. There are some wounds that you still carry every day. And as you bring them into these relationships, as you bring them into your working day or into your family, yeah, you're battling. You're in the middle of a struggle that maybe even you're unaware of. That's not to give any excuses to anybody, but it is to say that here, in the presence of Christ to his truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be lay bare. The truth of it, you know, God knows our hearts so fully. Like, again, he knows us better than we know ourselves. We sometimes, again, think that we're better than we are,

and sometimes we can think that we're worse than we are. But the truth ultimately will be laid bare in the presence of Jesus. The next statement goes on, and we're going through this line by line, only because every line is packed with power. The last judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life. The story is written. And I think about how complex the story is right now on this planet, There's billions and billions of people. But over the course of all of human history, think of how many people have lived, how many people will live after us, this complex web of how we belong to each other,

how we impact each other, like the decisions that you and I make now, how they'll affect people for generations. And here's what this is saying in 1039. The last judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life. I mean, this is so powerful to realize that the good. good you do today has consequences far beyond today. And the sin that we choose today has consequences far beyond today. That even your private act of virtue, and we talked about this before,

how we're part of the body of Christ and therefore, you know, when one member is strengthened, the whole body strengthened, when one member is weakened and damaged, the whole body becomes damage. But also this recognition that when I even commit a private, you know, quote unquote private sin that no one knows about, well, there's consequences to that. And the consequences to its furthest end will be known. And the good, the good, the even private good, personal good that I've done or you've done, the consequences, you might think, well, what good is it that I fasted on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday? What good is it that I fast are abstain from meat on Fridays? What good is it that I, you know, show up and pray my prayers and just kind of live my quiet life

that no one ever knows? Well, you know, at the end of time, that good will be known. And it's remarkable, not only that, but in heaven, everyone will know. In heaven, everyone will know the full good and the full sin that they've committed. Think of this. You know, it's hard to remember our whole lives. Hard to remember yesterday. But the truth of the matter is, in the end of the whole story, in heaven, or in hell, I guess, but in heaven for sure, we will know. When you meet someone, you'll know their entire story. You'll know everything they've done. And they'll know everything you've done.

That's one of the reasons why in heaven there is no room for pride. You know, someone who's got a bunch of crowns in heaven kind of situation like they can't boast about that but they wouldn't because why? Because they know the truth. The truth is, I only am here because of God's grace. So there's no room for pride.

But there's also no room for shame. That everyone in heaven, yep, they know my sin. Everyone here knows whatever public sin, whatever private sin I've committed. They all know it, but there's no room for shame. Why? Because they all know the whole story. And you know their whole story. Think about the two things that get in the way of love, pride and shame, right? Two things that get in the way of really seeing a person and really knowing them and really loving them are pride and shame. And there will be no pride in heaven and there will be

no shame in heaven because everyone will know and everyone will be fully known. And this is just remarkable. But here's St. Augustine highlights this and says, okay, so because of that, let's do our best to take care of those people who are on earth. Let's do our best to take care of those people who are poor among us. In fact, I love how he calls them in paragraph 1039. He calls the little ones. He calls the people that we're supposed to serve. He calls the people that can't do any good for us. He calls them our stewards. Why? Because they are our stewards who will bring your good works into God's treasury. And it's remarkable. Every person that you and I serve and they can't do anything for us, it doesn't matter. Here is St. Augustine who says that they bring your good works before the Lord.

Now, last two things, paragraph 1040 is so encouraging and so necessary for all of us. It says, we shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation. And in the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his providence led everything toward its final end. What that means is, you know, on this earth, we're like, wow, why does God let bad things happen? Why does God allow these bad things? Here is 1040 that says, well, we shall know the ultimate meaning of the entire economy of salvation, work of creation, and understand why God did this and all the ways in which God was working.

Now, we walk through this world and we don't know how God is working. We walk through this world and we experience loss and we experience suffering. We experience grief. And we experience confusion at that. And here is the catechism saying, but there will come a day when you will know. There will come a day when you will know the answer to all of your questions. In the last line, in 1040 says, the last judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all of the injustices committed by his creatures and that God's love is stronger than death.

And this is just, I want this to be a word of consolation for every single one of us. God's justice will triumph over all the injustices committed by us and against us. That God's justice will triumph in the end. In the end, as they say in England, all will come to rights. All will come to rights. The last thing. And this is so important. it says in 1041, the message of the last judgment calls men to conversion while God is still

giving them the acceptable time, the day of salvation, and inspires a holy fear of God. Now, the fear of God is something that I think a lot of us may be shy away from, but the fear of God is something so important. I came across a story relatively recently, and it was the story of a man, he's a non-catholic pastor, and he had written a book, and Jimmy Baker, if you remember Jimmy Baker, was a televangelist back in the, I think, the 1980s. And Jimmy Baker, there was a big scandal. And he kind of had a big fall. He was very famous and very popular. And then it came out that there was affairs, there was money scandals and there was, you know, all these embezzlement, these kind of things. And so he was in jail. And Jimmy Baker reached out to this pastor who had

written a book. And he just really moved by this book. And he said, would you come visit me in prison? So he did. And the pastor was saying that as he was meeting with Jimmy Baker, he said at one point, he said, just, I have to know this. Jimmy, when did you fall out of love with Jesus? You know, in all this, you know, all the infidelity, all the embezzlement, all the lies, when did you fall out of love with Jesus? And the pastor said, Jimmy Baker looked at me and he said, oh, I never, I never fell out of love with Jesus. Is it really? He said, yeah, no, I always, I always, I did all those things. I was in love with Jesus. I did all those things. He said, what I didn't do, what I lost is I lost the fear of the Lord. I didn't lose my love for the Lord. I didn't lose my love for

the Lord. I lost my fear of the Lord. And I just thought that was so struck by that. Here is paragraph 1041 that reminds us, okay, the message of the last judgment. What does it do? It calls us to conversion. Inspires a holy fear of God, which is true. You know, yes, Jesus Christ has come close to us. He comes close to us in the sacraments, which we're going to talk about in like two or three days from now. Amazing. He comes to us in his grace and his mercy and he wants us to belong with him, wants us to be with him forever. That's where we belong. He wants us to actually choose what we belong. At the same time, we can choose not God. At the same time, we can go our own way. At the same time, while we love God, we have to, we have to cultivate a healthy fear of the Lord. We recognize that this is not a game.

This takes our eternity. And sin is no joke. And so I just invite all of us. You know, some of us, we actually need to lean more into love of the Lord than fear of the Lord. but maybe a lot of us listening today need to be reminded of yes this god who is my friend who calls me friend because he does Jesus Christ he calls you his friends the father who's made you his sons and his daughters beloved sons and daughters is also still god right he also is still the master and lord of the universe he also is still the one who holds life and death in his hands he's also the one he's so good but as c s lewis says about aslan the lion he's good he's good but he's not tame. We can count on him. We don't need to be afraid of him. But there is a gift

called the fear of the Lord. So I'm praying for all of us, that we have both. We have love of the Lord and fear of the Lord, that we hold on to both and cultivate both and grow in both so that we can belong to him forever. That's what I'm praying for. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.