Ever wonder about life after death? ‘Death is the natural and inevitable end of life on earth.’ (USCCA, 153) Everyone will come face to face with death. God has created the human person to be a unity of a body and a soul. By death our soul is separated from our body. The soul is the immortal part of who we are that lives after the death of our body.

The doorway to eternal life For Christian’s, death is the doorway to eternal life. The Resurrection of Jesus is the basis of our hope that we, too, will live in a new way after our physical death. The risen and glorified Christ lives forever. We wait in hope for the Second Coming, or Parousia, of Christ, when he will return in glory and our bodies will rise again. Eternal life is living for ever with God in the happiness of Heaven, entered after death by the souls of those who die in the grace and friendship of God.

Death and Judgment In the face of death, ultimate questions about the meaning of life emerge. We may ask: What is the purpose of life? Why am I here? To whom do I belong? Death and life after death can give us tremendous hope. All the good you do in this life helps to make you who you are, and that will ‘remain’ with you in eternity. Death exposes the superficial, selfish and shallow parts of our lives. We are forced to think about what is really important and truly valuable to us.

Death in the Sacred Scripture In the Old Testament the belief of God’s people in life after death emerges gradually. At first, death is understood as the passage from the land of the living to sheol, the dark unhappy realm of the dead. Later on, death is understood to be the separation of the body and soul, with a judgment after death and a possible resurrection of the body. The New Testament clearly reveals that there is life after death, with a judgment of how we have lived that has eternal consequences. How Jesus faced his own death is the model for every human death. Jesus’ Death brought us the promise of new life.

Judgment after death Particular Judgment takes place at the moment of a person’s death, when one’s whole life is open to God and to one’s self. It is a moment of utter honesty in the presence of God. It is a time when we must take full responsibility for our life on earth. At the Last, or Final, Judgment, each of us will appear in our own ‘resurrected’ body before Christ, the Just Judge of the living and the dead, to give an account of our life. People who die in friendship with God are People of God beyond death. All creation will join in one voice to give glory to God forever.

Judgment after death Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. (CCC, no. 1023) Just as Christ is risen and lives for ever, so all of us will rise at the last day. (CCC, no. 1016) Read the Parable of the Judgement of Nations in Matthew 25: Do you identify with the ‘sheep’ or the ‘goats’ in the parable? Perhaps, a little of both?

Heaven Heaven is a state of eternal happiness. It is, first and above all, living in communion and intimacy with God, who is Love. The Church uses the term Beatific Vision to describe this eternal and intimate communion and happiness with God. Heaven is also being with Christ and living in the presence of Christ forever. The love of God drives us to do all we can to help others come to eternal life. All of us are companions on the path to life.

Purgatory At the moment of their death there may be people who have lived a good and holy life but who still bear some of the damaging effects and consequences of their personal sins. God gives these people the opportunity to undergo the purification necessary before achieving full union with him, with the angels, with Mary and all the blessed in Heaven. The Church has named this state of purification ‘Purgatory’. It is a temporary process through which we shed our residual selfishness and sin and are freed from the temporal punishment of sin so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter Heaven.

Hell Hell is a state of being, a self-imposed permanent and eternal alienation and exclusion from Love, who is God. Hell is the consequence of our freely and knowingly choosing not to have the life of happiness for which God created us and for which we long. God respects the choices we knowingly and freely make, as we must accept their consequences. How have your images of Heaven, Purgatory and Hell changed since you were a child?

The Communion of Saints There is a real connection between the faithful living on earth and the faithful living in life after death. Joined to Christ in Baptism, there is a bond that unites the members of the Church on earth, the souls in Purgatory and the Church in Heaven. All the faithful belong to the one Body of Christ. The bond of Baptism is never broken, not even by death. We call this connection the ‘Communion of Saints’. We live in communion with Christ and with one another both here on earth and in the life everlasting.

Saints in Heaven The saints are our ‘great cloud of witnesses’ who show us the many ways by which we can live holy lives as faithful disciples of Jesus. Remember, all of the saints in Heaven were ordinary people like ourselves. Through the lives of all the saints ‘God shows, vividly, to humanity his presence and his face. He speaks to us in them and offers us a sign of his kingdom, to which we are powerfully attracted, so great a cloud of witnesses we are given’ (Vatican II, Constitution on the Church, no. 50). Who among the saints might you choose to learn from and pray to? Why this particular saint?

Día de los Muertos Catholics in Mexico, Mexican American Catholics and Catholics in other Central American countries have a special regard for the memory of los muertos (the dead) in their religious traditions. They usually celebrate El día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, on November 1 and 2, when the Church celebrates the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls respectively. Certain indigenous traditions come alive through many of the rituals that are part of Día de los Muertos, such as dances, songs, prayers and the preparing and sharing of food—especially the favorite dishes of the remembered dead.

Día de los Muertos People also create colorful altars around the graves of loved ones. Symbols of life and death share the same space on these altars―as if there is little difference between them. Ultimately, Día de los Muertos is an affirmation of life: death does not have the last word. This celebration reflects the conviction that Jesus Christ has conquered death and that the living and dead remain united in Christ. How does your family or parish honor and celebrate the lives of the saints?