Advent Daily: St. Alphonsus on the Last Judgment (Ken & Janelle)

Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of Advent Daily! 🌟 Today, we dive into St. Alphonsus Liguori's powerful reflection on the Last Judgment, a profound meditation grounded in Scripture, teachings of the Saints, and private revelations. St. Alphonsus doesn’t speculate—he lays out a sobering sequence of events that will impact every soul: past, present, and future.

JOIN US: Get all Advent reflections by email, Monday-Friday:
Join Here

Transcript

Welcome back we're so excited to have you because today is the first Sunday of Advent so this is day one of Advent daily where we explore St Alphonsus his daily sermons for Advent today he starts off with a real bang he talks about the last judgment and in his mind will go through the sequence of events and in his mind this is what will happen to you this is not if this is not talking speculation what he does is he goes into script scure he looks at other Saints and what they have said in their private Revelations and he lays it out all in a sequence of events and in his mind this is what's going to happen to every single person who has lived is living and will live all together all at the same time so let's go through the sequence of events for the last judgment this day shall commence with fire from the heavens which will burn the Earth all men then living and all things upon the Earth and the Earth and the works which are in it shall be burnt up All Shall become one heap of Ashes now what strikes you about that you know for me I always thought when Jesus came again at the end of time I remember having this thought as a little boy oh would't that be exciting I don't got to die you know I'm going to be there and Jesus come again I'm going to see him coming in his Clouds Of Glory St Alonso says not so you're going to burn he's he's saying like everything on this Earth shall be burnt up that means every living thing and person now some might respond and think well that's kind of unfair to those living people why do they have to die it sounds like not the greatest way to go out you know well I think in his mind it's fitting because I think in St Al fasa's mind he's thinking that we are Disciples of Jesus Christ followers of him and to be like him in all things and if Jesus had to die then it's fitting that his disciples his followers also die for we are not greater than the master he uses his logic by the way to justify his reasoning for Mary's uh ending of her Earthly life he is of the opinion that Mary physically died because she's the perfect disciple and followed Jesus and his example in all things so I think he uses this logic to the end of time and says you know we're going to be followers of Jesus we're like him in All Things Jesus died well so will we the other thing that catches my attention is this um you can't save the Earth and there's a whole religion out there that's all focused on saving the Earth saving it for future generations and we have to do everything physically possible there's no expense too high that we should not be willing to pay to save the Earth from its destruction first off should we be responsible yes do what we can but we have to realize divine revelation has shown us that you can't save the Earth that there's going to be a point in the end well this physical Earth will end that it will be burnt and St alonsus makes reference to 2 Peter 310 for this and you can check that reference out for yourself but it's quite clear clear so those are right away couple things that catch my attention at the very beginning with st alonsus and the next thing he talks about is the sound of a trumpet so there's a sound goes out I don't know what it's going to look like but it says a trumpet so it must sound like a trumpet and two things happen at the sound of the trumpet he says the blessed in heaven descend and reunite with their physical bodies the bodies that they use to glorify God and serve him and the second thing is The Souls of the DED rise and reunite with their bodies their bodies that they used to serve themselves they're bodies that they used to reject and offend God and he says these two bodies when they're United to the soul look very different oh how different the appearance of the former compared with that of the latter the Damned will appear deformed and black like so many fire brands of hell but the just shall shine as the sun oh how great will then be the happiness of those who have mortified their bodies by works of penance St Teresa says oh happy Penance which merited for me such Glory so actually this quote just reminds me just briefly about um the apparitions of Our Lady of Lords when she was appearing to St bernardet in France and there was one occasion when Mary appeared to St bernardet and all she said to her was was Penance Penance Penance and I just think like wow that must be a really important point that we can do Penance with these bodies that God has given us and that there's a glory that's associated with our acts of penance in our bodies um one big take away from this is nothing is wasted in the kingdom of God every little secret little Act of penance that we do God sees and he's just and rewards it the Angels shall go out and shall separate the wicked from among the just oh how great will then be the confusion which the unhappy damned shall suffer this punishment Alone says St cusum would be sufficient to constitute a hell for the wicked brother shall be separated from Brother husband from wife son from father St alons is saying that the angels are involved at the end here so what is exactly happening while we have been physically reunited with a body the bodies of the Damned and the glorified bodies of those from Heaven are all United so if there's a separating of the the the the saved and the damn that means that they're physically assembled because we have a physical body so then that must happen in a physical space because a body occupies a space now with this in mind then you have all of mankind Assemble for this to happen every person that has ever lived all assembled all together what a sight we are there and then the Angels go about separating people left and right those who are saved those who are damned this will happen and you will be there we will all be there what a sober thought yeah definitely sobering but behold the heavens are opened the Angels come to assist at the general judgment carrying as St Thomas says the standard of the Cross and the other instruments of The Passion of the Redeemer Sinners shall weep at the sight of the cross for as St chrysostom says the nails will complain of them the wounds and the cross of Jesus Christ will speak against them so as I was just thinking thinking about that it was just the the mere appearance of the Cross will then convict us and then we'll think like did was our life worthy of Jesus's crucifixion and one thing to remember at this time is that it's not a reud of our souls but a confirmation of the particular judgment and the particular judgment is different than the final judgment the particular judgment happens at the moment of death where the Eternal resting place of our soul is finalized it's Hell or Heaven or Heaven through Purgatory so that we're purified so at this point there is no surprise here of like oh I didn't realize I was going to go to hell or oh I'm I realize now I'm going to heaven no this is a confirmation of what God has already declared at the particular judgment it's for all to see which is different and this is and this glorifies God CU it's all all laid bare it's all before all and including God and this is interesting he talks about the signs somehow there's a sign the sign of the cross and the signs of the passion will be present to us in some way Most Holy Mary the Queen of saints and Angels shall come to assist at the last judgment and lastly the Eternal judge shall appear in the clouds full of Splendor and majesty and they shall see the son of man coming in the Clouds Of Heaven with much power and Majesty according to St Jerome the presence of Jesus Christ will give the reprobate more pain than hell itself it would he says be easier for the damn to Bear the torments of Hell than the presence of the Lord so what do you think about all the sequence of these events like honestly part of me is like I don't know if I want to be there for that but it's like I have no choice well he does focus a little bit more heavily on those who are damned and doesn't speak about the joys of those who are saved that's right yeah he hasn't talked about the joy s Alanis is good on that side he you know fills you with fear um but there's also that's we have to remember that God is perfectly just MH and um and we will see his Justice before ush so I guess the point of this is this will happen and this will happen to you and it's good for us to remember this so that we are preparing for this not in an speculative thing I wonder if this is going to happen no divine revelation reveals us to be true Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead he's coming when How we'll leave that up to him but this is a season of preparing our hearts mhm and we might think that this isn't a great way to start Advent but it really is because it helps us to remember what the whole reason why we we are even here mhm so so share with us below instead 2 and Y and if this is your first time watching and you'd like to get these videos by email uh there's a link in the description where you can hop in and join and you'll get the next videos in your inbox oh and we're going to end on a nice note Janelle will end us off with a prayer from St alanes therefore make me know the great good Thou Art the love thou Hast borne me and how much thou Hast done to oblige me to love thee ah my God and my savior let me no longer live ungrateful to thy great goodness my Jesus I will never leave thee again I have offended thee enough already it is but right that I should spend the remaining years of my life In Loving thee and pleasing thee