Msgr. Pope on Teachings of the Lord that Correct Flawed Notions of Judgement

"When it comes to our personal and final judgment, after we die, there are many caricatures and distortions that are possible. One is of Jesus as a stern and grouchy judge who is looking for reasons to keep us out of heaven. This is the 'sinners in the hand of an angry God' distortion. Or perhaps the Lord is weighing our good deeds against our bad deeds in a kind of impersonal, numerical manner. This is the Pelagian distortion where salvation depends on our earning it. 

"But at the other end of the spectrum and far too common today is the universalist distortion which presumes that almost everyone is saved with little or no reference to one's preferred spiritual or moral life. It is an overreaction to the stern and litigious 'God' of the first two distortions because it trivializes and reduces the Lord to a kind of harmless hippie, tokin' on a number and saying, 'Who am I to judge?' and, 'All are welcome.'

"The truth, of course, is in what the Lord actually teaches, not in such distortions. God wants to save us (e.g. Ezekiel 33:11; 1 Tim 2:4). But the real question is what do we want? . . ."

In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on how the Lord's judgment is "rooted in and recognizes what we ourselves have chosen and manifest by the way we live our lives."

To access Msgr. Pope's complete post, please visit:

Community in Mission: Two Teachings of the Lord that Correct Flawed Notions of Judgement (8 AUG 22)