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The Four Last Things Death, Heaven, Hell & Purgatory

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The Four Last Things Death, Heaven, Hell & Purgatory The Four Last Things Death, Heaven, Hell & Purgatory 5 min: Open with prayer 10 min: Activity: Heaven – Hell – Purgatory (See sheet below) 20 min Teaching: Death What happens when we die? At the time of death our body and soul separate. The body is mortal and the soul is immortal. That means – our soul will live forever somewhere! Our soul goes to stand before God and be judged. This is what we call particular judgment. (See #208 in the Compendium) So this is when we find out where we will be spending eternity. What are our options when we die? (there are really only two) Heaven or Hell – if they bring up Purgatory tell them you will discuss that later. Some have an image of God as this big mean judge with a gavel that wants to pick apart everything we have done through our whole life, show us all our faults and send us off to eternal damnation. That is not God! Our faith teaches that when we stand before God and our life is revealed to us that is when we will know where we are going because of our choices in life. In a way, it is not God that sends us to hell; we choose hell by the choices we made during our life – He just reveals the truth to us. Some people refuse to believe that there is a Hell, there is! Jesus speaks about it a lot in scripture. He warns people that if they don’t repent and change their ways they will end up there. Just because someone doesn’t believe Hell exists doesn’t change the fact that it’s real. At the end of time, there will be a final judgment. (See #214-216 in the Compendium) This is when God judges all of humanity. Question: If at our particular judgment we entered hell; then at the final judgment, will we have the opportunity to be repentant and come out of Hell and live in Heaven forever? No! Our “assignment” does not change at the final judgment. At the final judgment, we find out how our actions - good and bad affected all of humanity! Hell: Hell is a state of eternal punishment which consists, primarily, in the deprivation of the enjoyment and sight of God face to face. Those that enter Hell are punished until the end of time. Some people that don’t know God may not think much of that. They may not understand what it is like to live without God because even though they don’t know (or believe in) God, God is still with them, loving them, helping them, and supporting them. We were created to be with God forever, Hell is to be without God for eternity. God has revealed to a few saints what hell is like. **Our Lady showed the children in Fatima in 1917: The children were given a vision of Hell and souls were falling into Hell like snowflakes fall in a snowstorm. And then we think, 1917, things were pretty good back then. Where have we come since 1917? If it was a snowstorm of souls falling into Hell at that time what is it like now? But what is hell like? ***Read St. Theresa of Avila’s account of her vision of hell. (see attached) Heaven: There are plenty of misconceptions about Heaven and our participation there, but this is because the wonders of Heaven are far beyond anything that we can ever imagine. Everything in Heaven is pure – without blemish/sin! 10 min: Journal question: Optional – take the class to Adoration for journaling What you think Heaven is like? When they are done – explain to them that their idea of Heaven is not even close to what the joys of Heaven are. This is not an earthly joy that goes away – it’s a joy that only God can give and its forever! **St. Paul says that, “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man can conceive what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor 2:9) 10 min: Purgatory: Now some of you are thinking – what about purgatory? When we die there are only two choices right? Heaven or Hell. However, in order to enter Heaven we have to be pure. The reality is that most people that die – probably are completely pure and free from all sin and the temporal punishment that goes with sin. So what now? They don’t necessarily deserve hell but aren’t pure enough for Heaven. That is why we have the gift of Purgatory. Purgatory is a temporary state in which the soul suffers for a while and is purged (or cleansed) before they go to heaven, on account of their sins. ALL souls in purgatory will go to heaven eventually! This purging is very painful but needed; the pain is an intense longing for God beyond what we can understand, the blissful vision of God to the soul is delayed. (See #210 & 211 in the Compendium) From the Diary of St. Faustina: " ...I saw my Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames, which were burning them, did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call Her “The Star of the Sea”. She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of that prison of suffering. [I heard an interior voice which said] ‘My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it. Since that time, I am in closer communion with the suffering souls.’” (Diary, 20) 15 min: Students read (popcorn) pages 36-40 from Apologetics. Teacher: read and understand the purpose of Apologetics on pages 4 & 5. Some students will look at the teaching of apologetics as bashing the Protestant faiths. Assure them that the purpose is to educate and explain the faith clearly, be able to defend it charitably and share it confidently; it is not to cause division or arguments. 10 min: Open discussion Allow students to ask their questions about Death, Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. Close in prayer Heaven – Hell – Purgatory Supplies: *Three sheets of paper, on each sheet list one of the following: Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. *10-12 slips with descriptions of people Directions: Handout a description of a person to each student, tell them that they have to decide where they feel that person would go after death. Notes: † Discourage group discussions about any opinions where each ones goes, the person that has the slip decides. † During the activity - If one student figures out that we are not to judge others and that only God can judge – just tell them to play along and don’t engage that discussion yet. After the activity is done, when you explain the point of the activity, then acknowledge the student that said that before. When everyone is done……. Teaching: Clarify with the students that it is okay for us to judge the action/sin of others but not the sinner. Read Ezekiel 33:7-9 & Matthew 18:15-17 Explain these passages to them – One of the Spiritual Works of Mercy is to Admonish Sinners; that means that we are responsible to warn our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ of their sins. If God tells us something is a sin (via the Ten Commandments or Bible) and we see others sin but don’t correct them we are just as responsible for their sin and God will hold us responsible as well. Read Matthew 7:1-2 – point out the footnotes in their Bibles “This is not a prohibition against recognizing the faults of others,…. But against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of one’s own faults.” We should ALWAYS inform the person of their sin out of love for them, not because we think we are better than them or free from sin. Also, we should always be open to others correcting us of our sins! The purpose should always be to bring that person closer to Christ! Now take all of the slips away and explain: Teaching: The TRUTH IS………………… Only God judges peoples souls. (pause to let it sink in) We are all sinners and no matter how good or bad we have lived our lives………….only God knows our hearts! .
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