Death never takes the wise man by surprise; He is always ready to go.

'Great is already the punishment of sin when the fear of the future divine judgment is lost.' - St. Augustine

Gospel Text: (LK 17:26-37)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”

We never know when God will call us to our particular judgment. Many souls in this lost and terribly confused time live their lives as if they will never die, or at least, never be judged. Increasing numbers of people are either so completely convinced there is no God, or that at least no one goes to hell, that they opt for suicide over facing a potentially long and difficult illness. But Catholics are blessed to know better. We know that we will face a Judge, and that we may have to face Him at any time, day or night. Or, at least, we should know that.

Sadly, Catholics are among the most confused around on these critical topics. So many priests and theologians have convinced Catholics that even if hell exists, God certainly would never condemn anyone but a Hitler or Stalin there, and certainly not YOU. As a result, we have mass indifference even within the Church, even against all the evidence from Scripture and Tradition.

In so believing, these priests, theologians, and lay people make Our Blessed Lord to be a liar, for He Himself spoke more of hell, judgment, and damnation than all the law and prophets combined.