The New Saint Joseph Baltimore
Lesson 14
The Resurrection and Life Everlasting
The sheep must follow the Good Shepherd through death to Resurrection
“I believe in…the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”
We read in the Holy Bible:
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May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord,
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furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will. May he carry out in you what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever (and ever). Amen.
Explanation
Heaven is our true home
Our Blessed Lord loves us very much. He went to heaven to prepare a place for us. He told this to His Apostles the night before He died. “I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go to prepare a place for you, I am coming again, and I will take you to Myself; that where I am, there you also may be. And where I go you know and the way you know” (John 14, 6).
Thomas was not sure of the way, so he asked Our Lord what it was. Our lord answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14, 6).
By dying to ourselves we shall live forever
Our Lord has shown us that we must die in order to rise. We die to ourselves every time we do something we don’t feel like doing to please. This kills the selfishness in us.
Some day our bodies will die. If our selfishness is dead too, then we will be ready to rise with Christ.
Those who die with some selfishness still in them have to go to purgatory to be cleansed. Those who die in mortal sin must go to hell.
Practice: We will die to ourselves today in some way so that we may rise with Jesus to live with Him forever.
CATECHISM
78. What is meant by “the resurrection of the body”?
By “the resurrection of the body” is meant that at the end of the world the bodies of all men will rise from the earth and be united again with there souls, nevermore to be separated.
79. Has the body of any human person ever been taken into heaven?
By the special favor of her Assumption, the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary was raised from the dead and taken into heaven.
80. What is the judgment called which will be passed on all men immediately after the general resurrection?
The judgment which will be passed on all men immediately after the general resurrection is called the general judgment.
81. What is the judgment called which will be passed on each one of us immediately after death?
The judgment that will be passed on each one of us immediately after death is called the particular judgment.
82. What are the rewards or punishments appointed for men after the particular judgment?
The rewards or punishments appointed for men after the particular judgment are heaven, purgatory, or hell.
83. What is meant by the word “Amen” with which we end the Apostle’s Creed?
By the word “Amen,” with which we end the Apostle’s Creed, is meant “So it is,” or “So be it.”
Discussion Questions
1. Is death the end of all life for us?
2. What is Our Lord doing for us in heaven?
3. What must we do on earth?
4. When will Jesus come again?
5. Why must we always be prepared for death?
Yes or No (Explain your answer.)
1. Will the world last forever?
2. Is death the end for us?
3. Is life a preparation for heaven?
4. When will Jesus come again?
5. Will Jesus take everybody to heaven?
Fill in the Blanks
1. Mary’s body taken into heaven is called………….
2. On the last day our Lord will rise again………… will rise again.
3. The………… judgment will rise again.
4. The judgment right after death is called the………………….
5. By………… to ourselves we shall live forever.
Other Readings
1. The happiness of heaven, Revelation 21, 3-4.
2. The way in which we must die to sin to rise with Christ, Romans 6, 3-11.
3. What the resurrection will be like, 1 Corinthians15.
4. John 18 and 19.
Reading even one of these accounts of the Passion of Our Lord will give a greater understanding and appreciation of what He did for us.
Class Liturgical Action
Learn to say (or sing) the “Victamae Paschali.” This is the Sequence from the Easter Mass, which explains the victory of Christ’s Resurrection.
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