It is our Catholic belief that we are judged on what we do. The good that we do is rewarded and the evil that we do is punished. However, we often hear of judgment expressed in terms like particular and general. Just what do these two terms mean? Well, simply put our faith teaches that at the moment of our death we are individually judged for our actions and rewarded or punished; pretty straight forward.
Now the question ... What is the general judgment and how do we know that it exists? Well turn to chapter 25 of St. Matthew's gospel. Right there in black and white you have the General Judgment.
What Jesus refers to in that chapter is what will occur at the end of time and after everyone has died - In other words, at the end of the world. All the nations will be assembled before Him and they will be judged. And on what will they be judged? It seems to me that they will be judged on how the nations conduct themselves in the affairs of the world and how they fulfill the mandates and the teachings of God as they are presented to us in scripture.
We are taught that all human life must be protected and no one has the right to take any life, especially that of the unborn. If a government permits the taking of innocent human life and we vote for an individual who advances the cause of abortion and permits it at any stage, then are we not also advancing abortion? Can we possibly say, "Well I'm personally against abortion but I'm voting for one who permits it because his or her position on taxes is important to me?"... Are we not saying saving taxes is a more important issue than that of a human life? Are we not complicit in the act of abortion? Certainly we are.
So, the General Judgment is how we, as a nation, fulfill God's will by agreeing or disagreeing with our leaders. If we elect our leaders through our vote, and the consequence of that vote is the allowing of the destruction of human life (or for that matter the advancing of any moral evil), then we are in fact agreeing with the intrinsic evil by allowing that moral evil.
God bless you.
Father Joe
- Fr. Joseph L. Di Gregorio
- Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Priest - Stella Maris Church - Major, US Army, Retired - Fr. attended Officers Basic, Advanced & Combined Army Service Select Schools. 1st assignment was 5th Bn, 101st AirBorne in KY, deploying in ’90 with the 101st to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Also: 5th of the 2nd Air Defense Artillery in Crailsheim, FRG for 2 yrs; Bamberg for 1.5 yrs. The Field Artillery Tng Ctr at Ft Sill, OK in 94 & 95. Post Catholic Pastor at Ft Sill in 96 & 97. In 97 to the USAG, Yongsan, Korea. In 98 to the USAG at Ft Wainwright, AK. 11/01 to HST USAG, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. In 9/02 he deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving soldiers in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait & Iraq. His awards & decorations include the Bronze Star, the Air Assault Badge, the Meritorious Service, Army Commendation, Army Achievement, Korea Defense Service, Global War on Terrorism Service, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary, National Defense Service, Armed Forces Expeditionary, Southwest Asia Service, Saudi Arabia and Kuwaiti Liberation & Overseas Medals.
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