Judgement Day 

   Upon my death I will stand before Jesus for judgement.  He will judge according to my life and how I’ve lived it.  There will be no interest in the car I owned or the house I lived in.  Instead, the way I treated others, my efforts to follow His will, the help I provided to those who needed it will be of great concern.  I believe my sins will be present to me as well, to vividly remind me of my unworthiness of God’s love and mercy.

   As a Catholic I believe in purgatory, the need to answer for my sins.  I look at purgatory as I would a broken window.  If I throw a stone through a window the owner might well forgive me, but I would still be responsible for replacing the window.  I think in some sense the same applies to my sins.  They are forgiven if I have sought forgiveness with sincerity, yet there was damage done and the damage must be acknowledged.

   I don’t know what purgatory will entail and neither does anyone else since no one has come back to explain.  Some believe it is a period of punishment for sin before final acceptance into heaven.  I think of it more as an awareness of the cost of my sins.  I must recognize the hurt caused by the sins I’ve committed; the heartache I may have caused, the hurtfulness they inflicted on others.  Most of all I must recognize that my sins resulted in the passion and death of my Lord, Jesus Christ.  He died on the cross to pay the debt for my sinfulness.

   I can think of no greater punishment than standing before Jesus as He shows me my sins and the hurt they caused to others, and especially to Him.  How great must be the pain of becoming fully aware of all my sins; of knowing that my sins were the nails that nailed my Lord to the cross. 

Lord I have sinned.

I am so deeply sorry.

Help me to avoid sin.

To serve only You. 

Amen