Episode 3186: The Four Last Things: Restoring Forgotten Truths to Awaken Catholic Souls

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Book Recommendation of the Day
A Simple Life: Wisdom from Jane Frances de Chantal (2011)
Available through Pauline Books & Media, this devotional book distills her spiritual teachings into accessible reflections. It emphasizes simplicity, total surrender to God’s will, tranquility of heart, and meditative prayer drawn directly from her life and spiritual outlook.
The Four Last Things: Restoring Forgotten Truths to Awaken Catholic Souls
Introduction
Now I am not a big fan of Harry Truman mostly because he was a freemason but also his bombs over Japan just happened to be over the Catholic cities which is a well kept secret. Nagasaki was known as the heartland of Japanese Catholicism, tracing its roots back to St. Francis Xavier (who first brought the Faith to Japan in 1549).
After centuries of persecution, Nagasaki had become the largest concentration of Catholics in Japan by the 20th century.

At the time of the bombing:
• About one-third of all Japanese Catholics lived in Nagasaki (tens of thousands).
• The Urakami Cathedral, then the largest Catholic church in East Asia, stood almost directly at ground zero and was completely destroyed.
• Thousands of Catholics perished instantly including entire families of “hidden Christians” whose ancestors had kept the Faith secretly for centuries.
But I digress:
Harry Truman when he was president use to have a plaque on his desk that said “The Buck Stops Here”
In other words no matter who says what he as the President was not only the leader of the US but was responsible for all its policies.
They use to always say “Give them Hell Harry” and he would respond “I don’t give them Hell I give them the truth and they think its Hell”
I want to discuss something that has been absent from the Pulpit since Post Vatican II which is the forgotten teaching of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.
If you go out to the catholic-reboot website you will find a table labeled Hard Copy and Audiobooks

• For centuries priests, catechisms, and saints constantly taught this not as a scare tactic, but as a compass pointing us to eternity.
• Contrast with today’s silence in many parishes: often only “God loves you” without the reminder of accountability.
• Quote St. Augustine: “If we always thought of the last things, we would never sin.”
•
I found a bulletin from our local parish St Williams from 1963 and in that was this:
“Mr. Catholic went to mass every week and never missed a Sunday. Mr. Catholic went to hell for the things he did on Monday” too harsh?
In that same bulletin it told all illegal aliens to register with Immigration services and fill out their cards.
Death: The Doorway to Eternity
• Scripture: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27)
• Traditional Catholic view: Death is not the end but the passage to eternity.
• When we say the Hail Mary “pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” Why has the Church placed this reminder on our lips thousands of times? To prepare.
• Saints spoke often of the art of dying well:
o St. Alphonsus Liguori: “By the grace of God, we can die in friendship with Him, but if we live carelessly, death will catch us unprepared.”
o Stories of saints who kept a skull on their desk (memento mori) as a daily reminder.
• Application: Encourage young Catholics to pray daily for a holy death, frequent the sacraments, and live as if today were their last day.
Judgment: God’s Perfect Justice
• Particular Judgment: Immediately after death, the soul stands before Christ and receives its eternal sentence.
• Final Judgment: At the end of time, all souls reunited with their bodies, and all deeds revealed before mankind.
• St. Thomas Aquinas: “As man is at death, so shall he be judged.”
• Contrast with today’s culture that avoids personal accountability and promotes universalism (“everyone goes to heaven”).
• Catechism of the Council of Trent: clear teaching that our eternity is determined by how we die in grace or in mortal sin.
• Application: Young Catholics should examine their conscience nightly, go to confession regularly, and remember Christ’s words: “With what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:2).
Heaven: The Goal of Life
• Scripture: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard… the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
• Heaven as the beatific vision seeing God face to face, the fulfillment of every longing.
• St. Catherine of Siena: “All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, ‘I am the Way.’”
• How did the saints viewed heaven: not a vague happiness, but union with the Blessed Trinity, Our Lady, and all the saints.
• Application: Orient your daily choices toward heaven living with heaven in mind transforms work, relationships, and sufferings.
Hell: Eternal Loss
• Scripture: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41).
• A truth rarely spoken of today, yet Christ spoke of hell more than anyone else in Scripture.
• Our Lady of Fatima who showed the children a vision of hell to awaken repentance.
• St. John Vianney: “The road to hell is paved with the sins that were thought too small to confess.”
• Hell is eternal separation from God chosen by rejecting grace.
• Application: Teach the young that fear of hell is a grace when it leads us to conversion. Encourage devotion to Our Lady, frequent confession, and daily fidelity as protection.

Why This Teaching Was Forgotten And Why We Must Restore It
The Shift After Vatican II
In the decades following the Second Vatican Council, the emphasis in preaching and catechesis shifted strongly toward the mercy of God. While mercy is indeed the heart of the Gospel, it began to be presented in isolation, without its inseparable companion: justice. Homilies and catechetical materials often avoided speaking about sin, judgment, Hell, and the need for penance, fearing it might “turn people away.”
This was a drastic departure from centuries of Catholic preaching, where the balance of mercy and justice safeguarded the faithful from two opposite errors: despair on the one hand, and presumption on the other.
The Consequences: Presumption Without Conversion
The result of this lopsided emphasis has been devastating. A whole generation of Catholics was raised with the assumption that “God is love” means “everyone is saved,” regardless of repentance, confession, or fidelity to the commandments.

• Confession lines dwindled.
• Mortal sin was seldom mentioned.
• The Four Last Things Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell nearly disappeared from catechesis.
Instead of forming souls ready for the narrow way of the Cross, many Catholics absorbed a false sense of automatic salvation, where conversion of life was no longer considered essential. This mindset contradicts Our Lord’s own words: “Enter by the narrow gate… For the gate is wide, and the way is easy, that leadeth to destruction, and those who enter by it are many” (Matt. 7:13).
Mercy and Justice in Perfect Union
Traditional Catholicism, rooted in Scripture and the teaching of the Fathers, always held mercy and justice together. God is infinitely merciful, but He is also infinitely just. The Cross is the ultimate sign of this truth:
• Justice demanded satisfaction for sin.
• Mercy provided the Lamb of God who offered Himself in our place.
To preach mercy without justice is to empty the Cross of its meaning. To preach justice without mercy is to lead souls to despair. Only when the two are proclaimed together is the Gospel complete.

The Call to Restore the Four Last Things
The Church has always taught that meditation on the Four Last Things is essential to salvation. Saints like St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Teresa of Ávila, and St. John Vianney constantly urged the faithful to reflect on death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell not to terrify them into paralysis, but to awaken them to reality and stir them to deeper love of God.

Death reminds us that our time is short and precious.
Judgment reminds us that our choices have eternal consequences.
Heaven gives us the hope of eternal union with God.
Hell warns us of the real danger of rejecting Him.
When these truths are neglected, faith becomes sentimental, detached from real conversion, and incapable of sustaining souls in the trials of life and death.

A Call to Action for Today

We must recover the practice of preaching and meditating upon the Four Last Things. Not to terrify, but to clarify; not to spread fear, but to awaken love and fidelity.
The crisis of our times is not a lack of knowledge about God’s love, but a loss of understanding about His justice. To restore souls to Christ, we must restore the meditation on the Four Last Things, which brings us to repentance, humility, and a true longing for Heaven.
Practical Devotions for Young Catholics
1. Nightly Examen: Ask, “If I died tonight, am I ready to face Christ?”
2. Monthly Confession: Make it a habit, not an exception.
3. Daily Rosary: Especially the Hail Mary’s plea for help at the hour of death.
4. Read Traditional Works: e.g., Preparation for Death by St. Alphonsus Liguori.

Closing Exhortation
• Encourage listeners not to fear this teaching but embrace it as the roadmap to eternal joy.
• “Keep your eyes on eternity, and every cross becomes light.” – St. Teresa of Ávila.
“Wisdom, Virtue, and the Pearl of Great Price”
Introduction
My dear friends in Christ, welcome to today’s reflection. On this day, August 21st, the Church commemorates St. Jane Frances de Chantal, a holy widow, mother, and foundress who together with St. Francis de Sales gave us the Visitation Order. She is a model of perseverance in faith, balancing the daily duties of motherhood with the higher call to sanctity.
The Holy Mass today offers us two readings that beautifully complement her life and mission:
Epistle: Proverbs 31:10–31
“Who shall find a valiant woman? Her value is far and from the uttermost coasts… She hath opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on her tongue. She hath looked well to the paths of her house, and hath not eaten her bread idle. Her children rose up, and called her blessed: her husband, and he praised her.”
Reflection on the Epistle
• The passage from Proverbs 31 gives us one of the most beautiful descriptions of the Christian vocation of womanhood. It is not sentimental or worldly, but deeply practical, rooted in charity, wisdom, and diligence. The “valiant woman” is not praised for beauty or charm, which Scripture tells us are fleeting, but for her fear of the Lord and her dedication to her household and family.

• This reading reminds us that true feminine strength is found not in rebellion against God’s order, but in living within it with holiness, courage, and love.

• St. Jane Frances lived this perfectly first as a devoted wife and mother, later as a foundress of a religious order dedicated to humility and charity. She proves that sanctity is attainable in every state of life.
Gospel: Matthew 13:44–52
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field: which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it…”

Reflection on the Gospel
Our Lord’s parables in today’s Gospel turn our eyes toward eternity. The treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price both point to the Kingdom of Heaven. The radical call of these parables is unmistakable: if we wish to inherit eternal life, we must be willing to give up everything else.
This is precisely what the saints teach us. St. Jane Frances de Chantal, after the death of her husband, renounced comfort and worldly security to embrace the life of prayer and service. She recognized that Christ was the true treasure, more precious than riches, honors, or even the ordinary attachments of this life. Like the wise merchant, she sold all her comfort, her ease, her self-will to purchase the pearl of great price.
Christ concludes the Gospel with the image of the fisherman separating the good fish from the bad. It is a sobering reminder that not all who hear the Gospel will enter Heaven. Only those who, like the saints, place Christ above all else will be gathered into the nets of salvation.

Feast of St. Jane Frances de Chantal
On her feast, we are reminded that holiness does not demand extraordinary circumstances but extraordinary fidelity. She endured personal tragedy, the pain of widowhood, and the daily burdens of family life, yet turned all of it into a pathway to God. Her collaboration with St. Francis de Sales produced one of the most beautiful religious families in the Church, one that emphasizes humility, gentleness, and devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Her life teaches us this simple truth: the treasure of the Kingdom is within our grasp if we are willing to sacrifice, to persevere, and to trust completely in Divine Providence.
Conclusionary Prayer
Let us pray:
O God, who didst vouchsafe to inflame the heart of St. Jane Frances with a wondrous love of Thee, through her prayers and example grant that we too may seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, counting all things else as loss, if only we may gain Christ. Strengthen us to live with wisdom, perseverance, and charity, after the example of the valiant woman and the pearl of great price. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal, pray for us.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, intercede for us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.