Last Judgment

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One

God, Amen.

Today is Sunday, the Day of the Remembrance of the Last Judgment. How

should we approach this day? The Church stands as our guide, our teacher,

preparing us in advance for the examination of our souls, just as a wise instructor

equips a student before a crucial exam—not so the student fails, but so they may

pass faithfully and honorably. In the same way, the Church reveals to us what we

must do to prepare for the spiritual accounting before God.

This Sunday is called Meatfare Sunday because after this day the Church

asks us to begin a partial fast and stop eating meat. This is part of our preparation

for Great Lent. The Church slowly leads us into this time of spiritual struggle

because she knows that we are weak and need time to prepare. On the Saturday

before, the Church prays for all the departed, remembering those who died with

hope in the resurrection and eternal life. Christianity is a religion of love. Christ

did not teach only about personal salvation; He gave a new commandment: “Love

one another.” Love is the foundation of the Church. Sin separates us from each

other, but Christ brings us back together through love. When we pray for the

departed, we show our love for them. In Christ there is no separation between the

living and the dead, because He is Life, and in Him all are alive.

The Gospel reading for Meatfare Sunday is about the Last Judgment. Christ

tells us that we will be judged by the law of love. He will not ask if we only cared

about big social problems, but if we showed personal love to real people in our

lives — the hungry, the sick, the lonely. Christian love is not abstract or

impersonal. It means seeing Christ in every person and caring for them as a unique

and precious child of God. While Christians should also work for justice in society,

true Christian love begins with personal care and compassion. Love is stronger

than death and stronger than evil. The mission of the Church is to remind the world

of this love and to live it every day. In the end, we will be judged by how we loved:

“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you

did for Me.”

When the soul stands before God, there will be no need for inspection or

scanning—He already knows all. It is not only the good we have done that matters,

but also the good we failed to do when we had the opportunity. Likewise, it matters

if we resisted the temptations to do wrong. Every action, every inaction, every

word spoken or left unspoken, every thought, visible or hidden, counts in the

balance of eternity. We might think of fasting, prayer, or tears shed over sin as the

path to salvation, yet fasting alone is not enough, prayer alone is not enough, and

even a lifetime of tears may scarcely wash the soul, much less the face.

So what is most essential? True mercy given with love. We must learn to see,

behind every act of compassion, not only a good deed but Christ Himself. Many

acts of charity go unnoticed by their doers, and yet how often are they offered in

Christ’s name? The Gospel is clear: “Whatever you did for one of the least of

these, you did it for Me,” or conversely, “You did not do it for Me.” This reminds

us that every act of mercy, every gesture of love, must be done for Him, with Him,

and through Him. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the afflicted,

or aiding the sick is never simply social service; it is the service of Christ Himself.

Each genuine act opens a doorway for God’s grace, and the soul that becomes a

source of love and mercy experiences the beginning of true blessedness. Those

whose hearts overflow with compassion are already walking the path of Heaven.

However, the Lord who blesses mercy also speaks with authority to the

unrepentant: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the

devil and his angels.” This judgment is not for outward sins alone, but also for the

neglect of mercy, for ignoring the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the weak, and

the imprisoned—thus rejecting Christ Himself. Indifference and ingratitude shut

the door to eternal life and open the way to eternal torment. God’s judgment is

perfect, inseparable from His mercy; the refusal of love brings just punishment,

while acts of mercy unlock everlasting blessedness. Even now, we are given the

opportunity to choose differently. Mercy and love are the keys to God’s

acceptance. Those who ignore them risk eternal separation, while the righteous

inherit an unbroken communion with God, where every longing is fulfilled, every

sorrow is absent, and life flows with endless, ineffable joy.

Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord, who once created life, will restore

humanity from dust and decay on the Day of Judgment, from Adam until the last of

days.

The Day of Judgment is called “fearful” because it involves scrutiny not

only by humans but also by angels. Demons will witness themselves as they once

were—beautiful angels singing the hymn of the Cherubim to the glory of God.

Satan, who once belonged among the seraphim, will see how he turned against the

Lord, becoming a terrible infernal creature, a monstrous spider whose web

ensnared the world in sin.

The Day of Judgment is also called fearful because it is universal. Just as

none can escape death, none will evade the final judgment. Both the righteous and

the wicked will rise, and the body will transform to reflect the soul—it will no

longer be material, composed of earth and water, but spiritual and incorruptible.

The righteous will rise in the likeness of the resurrected Christ. Ephrem the Syrian

teaches that each of us will rise at the age of thirty-three, the age at which Christ

was crucified and glorified. This signifies the culmination of human spiritual

development—the earthly maturity of the soul. Both the very old and infants will

rise not in their earthly age but in perfected maturity, recognizing one another fully.

The Day of Judgment is fearful because it is final. While we live on earth,

repentance remains possible—a door leading from the prison of sin to freedom.

Some may wonder: can one be happy in eternity if loved ones remain in hell? Here

lies a mystery. Our earthly love clings to merit; it is attached to virtue or goodness.

Those who rise wicked will embody sin and evil, becoming instruments of

demons. We cannot love them, just as we cannot embrace disease or poison.

Heavenly bliss, on the other hand, is the joy of divine love and the mutual love of

the saints. Seraphim Sarov writes that if one knew the horrors of hell and the

sweetness of heaven, all earthly suffering could be endured joyfully. Once, the

righteous Simeon, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaimed: “O God! Surely nothing

in the world surpasses this bliss!” And he was told that the joy of the saints on

earth only hints at the fullness of heaven, like a sunbeam reflected on a corner of

paper. Ephrem the Syrian teaches that in eternity, the internal will be visible as the

external, and the external as the internal; the body will reflect the soul, and the soul

will illuminate the body. We will communicate with the saints not through words,

but with our hearts and spirits, experiencing the radiance of their love and beauty.

Dear brothers and sisters, once the bishop Theophilus visited a hermit on

Mount Nitria and asked: “What is the best thing you have found in spiritual life?”

The elder replied: “To blame myself in everything.” The bishop added: “This is not

only the best, but the only way to salvation.”

I firmly believe that God will always fulfill our spiritual needs if doing so

helps us become better people. He arranges our lives according to how we live and

the desires we pursue, as long as these desires are good, not evil. And often, this

fulfillment comes through patience.

Sometimes, however, our desires are not accompanied by strong action, and

it may not be clear that we truly want them or are willing to strive for them. God,

in His wisdom, can guide anyone — a priest or any person — in a gentle or

unexpected way, teaching us what we truly need. Just as the Lord spoke through

the donkey, He can bring our own hearts’ desires to expression and show us the

path we are meant to follow. The last judgment is often connected with the Second

Coming, the final judgment, and the end of life. To explain this event, many people

use the Book of Revelation. Above I spoke almost about danger, but now I do not

want to speak about fear. I would like to connect this event with joy. Maybe this

will surprise you.

In the Book of Revelation, Saint John was not afraid of Christ’s coming. He

prayed for it. The last verses end like this: “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come,

Lord Jesus. After these words, much changed in Christian consciousness.

I remember once a professor said that in the Old Testament, God sometimes

delayed punishment when people repented. He suggested that maybe if we repent,

God will delay the final judgment. I think this is a mistake, because Christians

should not desire delay. In Christian symbolism, Christ is the Bridegroom and the

Church is the Bride. If a bride is waiting for her wedding day, would she be happy

if the bridegroom does not come and postpones the wedding? Of course not.

When Adam sinned, he hid after hearing God’s voice. Before sin, he spoke with

God freely and without fear. Fear began when Adam created false ideas about God

in his mind. God only called him; He did not threaten him. But Adam was already

afraid. God did not scare him—Adam scared himself. This also happens in the life

of criminals. After doing evil, they see police everywhere because their conscience

troubles them. God did not judge Adam immediately; Adam understood his own

guilt.

The same happens with us. When we think about the Last Judgment, we

imagine God as a punisher because we are afraid of our sins. We say, “Do not

come yet, Lord. We are not ready.” But if we read Gospel of Matthew chapter 24,

which is sometimes called the “Little Apocalypse,” Christ speaks about His Second

Coming. He says that nations will rise against nations and there will be disasters.

But in verse 22 He also says that for the sake of the righteous, those days will be

shortened. This means suffering will be reduced, not increased. His coming will

end captivity and pain.

Personally, I do not like the term “Doomsday.” It is better to say “Last

Judgment.” In Orthodox teaching, every Christian experiences two judgments. The

first happens after death, when the soul meets Christ. The word “judgment” in

Greek is connected with the word “crisis.” The soul experiences two such

meetings: one after death (traditionally remembered on the 40th day) and the

second at the final universal judgment.

At the first judgment, a person understands what he or she has done in life—

good or evil. Then comes the second, universal judgment. Can it be more terrible

than the first personal meeting with Christ? After death, if a soul is in suffering,

can it be helped? Yes, of course. That is why we pray for the departed, asking God

to place them in His Kingdom. And if a soul is already in the Kingdom, can it be

thrown into hell at the final judgment? No. Therefore, the second judgment is not

more frightening. It is a merciful meeting between the Father and His children.

Christ will judge humanity, and this is good, because He became human and knows

our weakness. Angels were never human; they do not know human weakness in the

same way.

Earlier I spoke about love. One powerful book is The Golovlyov Family by

Mikhail Saltykov-Schedrin. In this novel there is much evil and darkness, but also

repentance. One character realizes how much evil she has done and feels deep

regret. This is repentance without Christ—it is heavy and hopeless. She looks at

herself but not at Christ.

Christian repentance is different. It is not repeating, “I am evil.” It is saying:

“Lord, there was evil in me. Remove it. Renew me. Make me a new person.” True

repentance changes the soul, the mind, and life.

In the same novel, when a priest reads the Twelve Gospels during Holy Week,

another character begins to think about Christ’s suffering and forgiveness. He asks,

“If Christ forgave those who crucified Him, can He forgive me?” This is Christian

repentance—hope in Christ’s mercy.

If you read the Gospel carefully, what words do you see many times after the

Resurrection? When the disciples saw the risen Jesus, He said: “Do not be afraid. It

is me.” I think we often have more fear than love. We should not fear the devil as

much as we should fear our own wrong choices. The world is ruled by Jesus

Christ. Evil rules only in imagination, but it does not have true authority. Amen..