The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

I am reproducing for your benefit a series of questions and answers taken from the Catechsim of the Catholic Church that will help you understand this day better.

What happens to us when we die?

In death, body and soul are separated. The body decays, while the soul goes to meet God and wants to be reunited with its risen body on the Last Day.

What is eternal life?

Eternal life begins with Baptism. It continues through death and will have no end.

Will we be brought to judgment after death?

The so- called particular or persona judgment occurs at the moment of death of the individual. The general judgment, which is also called the Last Judgment, occurs on the Last Day, at the end of the world, when the Lord comes again.

In dying every man arrives at the moment of truth. Now it is no longer possible to repress or conceal anything; nothing more can be changed. God sees us as we are. We come before his tribunal, where all is made right of if we are to be in God’s holy presence at all, we must be “right” with him, as right as God wanted us to be when he created us.

Perhaps we will still have to undergo a process of purification, or maybe we will be able to fall in to God’s arms immediately. But perhaps we will be so full of wickedness, hatred and denial of everything that we turn our face away from love forever, away from God. A life without love, however, is nothing but hell.