Most people have an instinctive fear of death, but many also have a conviction that something lies beyond, that death does not have the last word. The Catholic faith is rooted in the belief that God made us to enjoy eternal life with him.T IS
The reality of death?
In God’s plan, human beings were created for holiness and eternal life with him. But through the original sin of our first parents, our nature has been wounded, and we experience suffering and death. This was not part of God’s original plan, but it is part of the reality of our lives now.
On the one hand, in purely natural terms, death is a frightening mystery. We are stripped of all our attachments to this world; our body lies corrupt; and our immortal soul goes to meet the Lord. We will see the whole truth of our lives, and we will face God’s judgment.
CAN WE SEE DEATH’S REALITY IN THE BIBLE?
Based upon Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church, we can say the following about death and what follows. At the moment of death, the soul is separated from the body and no longer sustains order within the natural body; as a result, the body begins to corrupt and left to its own will decompose. The soul, however, is immortal and never ceases to exist, once created. Immediately upon death, the soul of each person is judged by the Lord, either to eternal life or the damnation of hell. For those damned to hell, such a soul immediately experiences hell thereafter. For a soul judged to heaven, if the soul is truly holy then it may immediately experience the fullness of heaven. We call such souls “the saints.” For those who are judged to eternal life yet still have some attachment to sin or there is some temporal punishment due for sin, such a soul experiences purgatory in the manner that God determines. Purgatory is really a blessing, for not only does the soul know that it is destined for heaven but purgatory purges anything from the soul which would limit the vision and enjoyment of God in heaven. Eventually, when the end of the world comes about, there will be a resurrection of the bodies of all the dead and final judgment of all souls and the angels in which we will all see the justice and mercy of God. Our bodies will be resurrected and body and soul will be rejoined, for to be a human person means to have both body and soul. This is true both for the saved and the damned, and both will experience either eternal happiness or eternal suffering in both body and soul
WHAT DOES THE CHURCH SAY ABOUT DEATH?
the moment of death, the soul separates from the body, is judged immediately, and enters either heaven (immediately or through purgatory) or hell.
Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven—through a purification or immediately—or immediate and everlasting damnation. (CCC 1022)
(For scriptural evidence of this, see Luke 16:22; 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23.)
Every soul will unite with its resurrected body just prior to the Last Judgment ("Judgment Day") when Christ returns:
In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life . . .
The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death. (CCC 1039-1040)
