Does the Bible Really Say That?: Discovering Catholic Teaching in Scripture (14 page)

CHAPTER 35

This Is
Your
Life!

They say that two things in life are unavoidable: death and taxes. We can add another item to that list: having all the details of our life, including our sins, completely revealed for all to see on the Last Day.

Oh joy.

The Bible repeatedly reminds us that when we are judged, individually (Hebrews 9:27) and at the general judgment (Matthew 25:31–46; Romans 2:15–16), our deeds, good and bad, and even our secret thoughts, will be made known. For most of us, that’s a highly disconcerting thought.

Imagine what it must be like for a person who stands before Christ at the end of life to be judged, and has every detail of his earthly career exposed for inspection. Not a pretty picture, right? Well, there is something you can do, starting today, to make that experience much less embarrassing. The more you cultivate virtue and avoid sin, the happier your life will be
and
the less dirty laundry you’ll have to be embarrassed by.

Consider these comforting words in John 3:17–21:

For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

That’s the solution. If, when the details of your life are revealed, you have lived “in the light” of God’s grace, you will have nothing to fear from his judgment. But if you have lived a life in the furtive darkness of sin, look out!

All the way back in the Garden of Eden, the truth that “you can run but you can’t hide” from your sins was made clear. Genesis 3:1–13 recounts the story of how Adam and Eve ran away from their sin, attempting to hide it from God. “I was naked; and I hid myself” (v. 10).

First Corinthians 3:13 says that “each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.” Verse 15 says that this process involves suffering. “He will be saved,” we’re told, “but only as though passing through fire.” So the smart way to prepare for that day is to live a good life, frequent the sacraments, pray and avoid sin, as these passages show:

Jeremiah 23:23–24
  “Am I a God at hand, says the
Lord
, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the
Lord
. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the
Lord
.”

1 Corinthians 4:5
  “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God.”

Matthew 10:26
  Christ said, “[N]othing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”

Matthew 6:1–6
  “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them.... But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Here Christ reminds us that the good deeds we do in secret will also be brought to light in the end (Matthew 6:18).

Matthew 12:36–37
  The Lord said, “I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account
for every careless word they utter
; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (emphasis added). Indeed, no detail of our lives will be too small to escape notice.

Luke 12:2–3
  “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

Remember Sirach 11:27: “[A]t the close of a man’s life his deeds will be revealed.” We can run from our sins, but we can’t hide from them. Happily, those who remain faithful to Christ won’t need to do either.

Further Reading:
Matthew 7:21–23; John 8:11–12; 12:44–46; Romans 2:2–15; 1 Corinthians 3:13; Ephesians 5:3–13; 2 Thessalonians 1:5–12; 2 Timothy 4:7–8

CHAPTER 36

Reverence for Sacred Things

A few years ago, I was in Jerusalem and had the opportunity to visit the Western (or Wailing) Wall. It’s all that remains visible of the massive foundation upon which the temple once stood. Several hundred Jews stood at the wall praying, bowing rhythmically as they addressed their petitions to God. The reason for this unusual motion, also known as “dovening,” can be seen in passages such as 2 Chronicles 7:3 and Psalm 5:7, which speak about bowing down in fear and trembling before the presence of Almighty God.

For many, this ancient Jewish custom is utterly foreign, even weird. But in reality what’s weird is not that Jews bow to show reverence at the Western Wall, but that so many Catholics have lost their sense of the sacred. They have become oblivious to those unseen holy realities that surround us.

A thoroughly secular mindset is metastasizing rapidly among Catholics and other Christians. It’s common, for example, to see teens and adults come to Church on Sunday dressed in anything but their best clothes. Shorts, tank tops, flip-flop sandals, and tee shirts emblazoned with beer logos are common sights at Mass during the warmer months. What does that say to others about that person’s level of reverence for Mass? What does it say to God?

Would they dress so carelessly for the prom, or if they were invited to have dinner at the White House or to a party with some celebrity? Of course not. And yet they can’t be bothered to dress appropriately for the occasion of attending a banquet hosted by the King of Kings!

Irreverence for holy things takes forms other than just dressing inappropriately for Mass. There are those, for example, who visit and chitchat loudly inside the Church after Mass while others are trying to pray. That should be done in the parish hall over coffee and doughnuts, not in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Some people go up to receive Holy Communion while chewing gum. Others never bother to genuflect or show any form of reverence to Christ in the tabernacle.

This list of examples could be multiplied, but you get the idea. The fact is that we Catholics can learn something very important here from our Jewish friends at the Wall about respect for holy things.

Without a doubt, we need to recover our sense of the sacred, our reverence for sacred things. This holy attitude of reverence flows from what the Bible refers to as “fear of the Lord.” For example, Psalm 111:10 says that “The fear of the
Lord
is the beginning of wisdom.” (see Proverbs 1:7; 9:10).

We read in Numbers 4:15 that Aaron and his sons, the first priests who ministered to the Lord, had to wrap the liturgical vessels in cloth because those objects were so sacred that their hands were not to touch them!

Second Samuel 6:6–10 describes an astonishing episode regarding the ark of the covenant, among the most sacred artifacts in all Israel at that time. While being transported from one town to another on a cart, the oxen stumbled, causing the ark to become unstable and in danger of falling. Uzza, one of the men driving the cart, reached out to steady the ark.

Bad move.

We read that “the indignation of the
Lord
was enkindled against [Uzza], and he struck him for his rashness: and he died there before the ark of God” (DR). That’s a pretty clear indication that God wants people to exercise respect for sacred things.

In Exodus 3:1–5 we read about how the very
ground
on which Moses stood was considered sacred because it was in the immediate presence of God as he appeared in the burning bush.

Consider these other passages that speak about the importance of reverence for sacred things.

Leviticus 19:30
  “God commanded, ‘You shall...reverence my sanctuary’” (see Leviticus 26:2).

Psalm 5:7
  “I will come into thy house; I will worship towards thy holy temple, in thy fear” (literally, in “awe” of thee) (DR).

Matthew 7:6
  “Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you” (DR).

Hebrews 12:28
  “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire” (see Hebrews 10:31).

Further Reading:
Deuteronomy 32:51; 2 Chronicles 19:7–9; Job 28:28; Proverbs 15:16, 33; 22:4; Psalm 19:9; 34:11; Isaiah 11:2–3; 2 Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:21

CHAPTER 37

Don’t Delay Conversion
!

You’ve heard the saying, “When you least expect it, expect it.” Consider those words in light of the horror of the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004, killing some 200,000 people. Many of those killed were relaxing on the beach one moment, and the next, being swept away to their deaths. One moment, they were having fun, the next moment they found themselves standing before Christ the Judge, having to render to him an account of their lives. “[I]t is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

How many of those tsunami victims were prepared for their eternal judgment? How prepared would
you
be if your life ended suddenly?

The tsunami tragedy is a grim but important reminder that we must always be spiritually prepared to die. This means a sincere conversion of heart, repentance and turning away from sin and a return to the sacraments. Since we have no way of knowing when death will come, the only sane option is to live in such a way that we are always ready.

In his classic work
The Imitation of Christ
, Thomas à Kempis wrote: “Every action of yours, every thought, should be those of one who expects to die before the day is out. Death would have no great terrors for you if you had a quiet conscience.... Then why not keep clear of sin instead of running away from death? If you aren’t fit to face death today, it’s very unlikely you will be tomorrow.”
¹

These Scripture passages make this point perfectly clear:

Isaiah 55:6–7
 
“Seek the
Lord
while he may be found, / call upon him while he is near; / let the wicked forsake his way, / and the unrighteous man his thoughts; / let him return to the
Lord
,  that he may have mercy on him, / and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

James 4:13–15
  “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain’; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.’”

Luke 12:16–21
  “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Matthew 25:1–13
  “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Mark 13:32–37
  “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Watch therefore—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.”

1 Thessalonians 5:2–6
  “For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail [i.e., labor pains] comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape. But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief.”

Sirach 5:7
  “Do not delay to turn to the Lord, / nor postpone it from day to day; / for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go forth, / and at the time of punishment you will perish.”

Saint Francis of Assisi wrote, “Praised are you, my Lord, for our sister bodily death, from whom no living man can escape. Woe on those who will die in mortal sin! Blessed are they who will be found in your most holy will, for the second death will not harm them.”
²
He understood the importance of preparing for death, and that the most foolish thing one can do is delay his conversion. Some people, sadly, delay too long—and by then it’s too late.

Further Reading:
Genesis 3:19; Deuteronomy 32:29; Job 14:5; Sirach 1:13; Ecclesiastes 7:1–2, 11:8; Psalm 103:15–16; Matthew 24:48–51; Luke 12:35–37; 21:36; Hebrews 10:31; 1 Peter 4:7; Revelation 3:2–3

CCC,
1005–1060