Vatican
City, 11 December 2013 (VIS) – The Pope dedicated his final
catechesis on the Creed to its last article: “I believe in life
everlasting”, focusing in particular on the final judgement.
“When
we think of Christ's return and of His final judgement, which will
show, up to the very last consequences, the good that each person
will have done or omitted to do during his or her earthly life, we
realise that we find ourselves before a mystery that overwhelms us,
that we cannot even imagine. A mystery that almost instinctively
arouses in us a sense of fear, and perhaps even trepidation. However,
if we reflect closely on this fact, it cannot but enlarge the heart
of a Christian, and constitutes a great reason for consolation and
trust”.
Pope
Francis explained that “in this respect, the witness of the first
Christian communities is very interesting, since their celebrations
and prayers were generally accompanied by the exclamation
'Maranatha', an acclamation made up of two Aramaic words which may be
understood either as an entreaty: 'Come, Lord!', or as a certainty
nurtured by faith: 'Yes, the Lord is coming, the Lord is near'. It is
the exclamation in which all of Christian revelation culminates, at
the end of the marvellous contemplation offered in the Apocalypse of
St. John … in which the Church, bride in the name of all humanity,
turns to Christ, her spouse, in the hope of receiving His embrace,
full of life and love. If we think of the judgement in this way, all
fear and hesitation makes way for expectation and profound joy. It
will be the moment in which we will be judged as finally ready to be
clothed in the glory of Christ”.
A
second reason for trust is offered to us by “the realisation that,
at the moment of judgement, we are not left alone. … How good it is
to know that, in that situation, we can count on Christ, our advocate
before the father, and upon the intercession and benevolence of many
of our brothers and sisters who have preceded us on the path of faith
... and who continue to to love us in an indescribable way! The
saints already live in the presence of God, in the splendour of His
glory, praying for us, for those who still live on earth”.
A
third element is offered to us by the Gospel of St. John, when he
states that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him”. “This means, then,
that the judgement is already in process, throughout our existence.
This judgement is pronounced in every instant in our lives, as
reflected in our acceptance in faith of salvation, present and
through the work of Christ, or in our incredulity and our consequent
self-centredness. Salvation means opening oneself to Jesus. If we are
sinners, the Lord forgives us, but we must open ourselves to Jesus'
love, which is greater than all things; and opening up means
repenting”.
“The
Lord Jesus gave Himself, and continues to give Himself for us”,
concluded the Holy Father, “to fill us with the grace and the mercy
of the Father. We can become in a certain sense our own judges,
condemning ourselves to exclusion from communion with God and with
our brethren. … therefore, let us never tire of keeping watch over
our thoughts and attitudes, so that we might have right now a
foretaste of the warmth and splendour of the face of God, which in
eternal life we will contemplate in all its fullness”.
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