There is Hope

Yes, there is such a thing as Judgment.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations[a] will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous[b] will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 [c]Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 [d]Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ 45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”-Matthew25:31-46

There are some people who believe that there is no judgment. They would say that if God would condemn some people to Hell, it would be against His nature. God is Love, and He cannot bear seeing His beloved children suffer in Hell. These people would claim that God would eventually free and save those who are in Hell. But today's gospel is clear, God would separate the good from the bad, period! Eternal fire doesn't mean 50 years or 100 years only, but for all eternity. But there is hope. There is always hope. On our own, we cannot save ourselves, we cannot make a reservation in Heaven, nor buy a seat There already. But with God, everything is possible and everything - including our salvation - is in His hands. What can we do then? To feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome a stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned. In short, to Love and to Give. For me, we can still add more to the list of Loving and Giving - to teach the unlearned; to be understanding, loving and caring to the elderly and to the orphans; to help migrants; to be non-judgmental to others; to care for nature; and so forth.

image courtesy: artist