The Four Last Things: Journey of a Soul
Give the Gift of Good Catholic.
Already subscribed to this series? Login.
Are You Ready for Eternity?
Do you ever think about life after death? What will it be like? Will the things you did in this life follow you into eternity? What are the souls of your departed loved ones experiencing right now? Far from being morbid, reflecting on what will happen to our souls at the moment of our death is not only fascinating, it also does us much good. When we contemplate the life that awaits us, it will help us to increase our faith, our hope, our love for God, and our desire to be with Him forever. It is a means by which we can learn more about our Savior and marvel at the greatness of how He has redeemed our fallen world. All of this is encapsulated in the Church’s teaching on The Four Last Things.
What Are The Four Last Things?
Every human soul will experience the same thing at the end of their earthly life: the soul will be separated from the body and immediately face the justice of God. After we give Him an account of our lives, the soul will receive one of two destinies: either blissful union with God forever, or painful separation from Him forever. The Church calls this The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.
Many people have mistaken ideas about life after death, and believing what is false can put our souls in danger. In fact, there is no other subject that is more important to learn the truth about. And there is no other authority to which we can turn to tell us the truth about our eternal life than the visible Church founded by God Himself, Jesus Christ.
The Catholic Church teaches us everything we need to know about the meaning of life, what happens to us when we die, and what we will experience in eternity. There’s no subject more fascinating to learn about. Reflecting on these amazing truths will allow us to live in the light of God’s truth about who we are and where we’re heading.
Why Join This Series?
The Four Last Things: Journey of a Soul is a 40-day journey through the Church’s teachings on The Four Last Things. In this series you will learn how God has created the world and the human soul, the journey of the soul as it transitions from this world to the next, and the final destiny that awaits the good and the bad. Through the detailed explanations in this series you will begin to see life as God sees it, and gain a better understanding of the great importance of your every thought, word, and deed.
What will your eternal destiny be? God leaves the choice up to you. There is no better time than now to prepare your soul for eternity by studying the awesome truth that God has revealed to us through His Church.
Series Contributors
Father Timothy Reid
Fr. Timothy Reid, a convert to the Catholic Faith, earned his B.S. in Marketing from Indiana University, but later changed his focus to pursue the study of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America. After attaining an M.A. in Philosophy in 1996, he took a job with the Migration and Refugee Services of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Following his Theology studies at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, earning an M.A. in Theology and a Masters of Divinity, Fr. Reid was ordained in 2004. In 2007 he was made Pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he continues to serve today. Fr. Reid is a Third Order Carmelite and serves as the Spiritual Director of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Secular Carmelite group in Charlotte.
Gretchen Filz, O.P.
Gretchen Filz, O.P., is a Catholic content writer with an M.A. in Christian Apologetics. As a result of her studies in theology and philosophy at an Evangelical seminary, she discovered the truth of Catholicism and entered into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2011. A passionate convert and Lay Dominican, Gretchen lives out her vocation through prayer, study, teaching, writing, and engaging in a variety of apostolates. Her articles have provided catechesis and inspiration for Catholics around the world. She currently works in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina.
80 Reviews
I have loved this series…I feel I have been brought closer to my GOD and his Mother and the saints.
I am so excited. I have taken “100 years of Fatima” and “Mary, Undoer of Knots.” This one, [The Four Last Things] has really made me look at my life and the way I live…much improvement is needed, which I probably wouldn’t have even noticed had it not been for this series. Thank you Good Catholic for leading me in the right direction.
Wow!…I have learned so much in these past few weeks. It took me so long to catch up on the readings bc I need total silence in order to concentrate and understand the full meaning of the readings. So many things I have not realized and now know what a loving and forgiving savior we truly have! We are given opportunity to save ourselves AND our loved ones who may be suffering in life and/or death! That is pretty amazing and something to be thankful for and strive to achieve! It IS our will! I finally get it.
I too went to confession two weeks ago…Your spirit will be lifted today and your burdens will feel less heavy after confession…it had been 30 years plus that I walked into a confessional. Very cathartic.
I am going to confession today at 7am. I am excited, scared, hopeful and relieved all at the same time. My heart will be eased of the pain and sin from decades of no religion in my life and granting me penance so that I may receive holy communion and God into my body will be the best gift I can ever receive…It’s 26 years for me.
I am so grateful for this Lenten series… I have grown so much in my understanding of God’s Will for us and his immense mercy and graces. The Sacraments, especially Reconciliation, seem to be the open door to the ??narrow gate?. During Reconciliation now, although my confession starts as if I am talking to the Priest, at some point I have begun talking with Jesus himself. It is so humbling, and the act of Contrition is a natural outpouring of my need to let Him know I don’t want to hurt Him ever ever.
I finally “get it”. I wish I could have been exposed to a series like this in my younger years. Catechism was nothing but recitation back then, the meaning didn’t matter to me. I finally get it and I have never felt better in my life.
All my life I haven’t really known what the will of God is for my life and my soul and I’ve constantly been asking him what is it what is it what am I supposed to be doing? Where am I supposed to be going? And it wasn’t until I took this course that I understood that his will for my life is to come home to him. It’s that simple. He wants me to come home. And the roadmap for my life is so much more simplified now that I know this. Because the only way to come home to him is to love him with all of my heart and all of my soul and all of my strength and all of my mind and in doing so love him completely. Then I need to love my neighbors. And then I need to listen to him. And as I do all of that he uses me as an instrument to further the building of his kingdom…So the big lesson for me so far in the course is that it taught me the truth about where I am headed, and that makes all the difference.
This is the Best Lent I have ever had in all my years.
I love going deep deep deep, and this series has been wonderful for that! I am most grateful for God bringing me back to the Church after being away for over 30 years. There’s nothing else on earth like the real deal.
There is just so much I find myself every day going back to day One and then on and then back again because it is too much for my soul to absorb all at once! It has brought me much peace and enlightenment…I praise God for this series because it lifted me from darkness and despair and brought me back to the gift God graced me with of childlike faith and deep love and trust in him.
In this series I am enjoying all the art work and the visual imagery I get when reading about hell, purgatory, and heaven. My husband passed four years ago so I have had many questions about death, hell, purgatory, and heaven. Prior I had not given it a lot of thought, now I wish I had had this information before his passing.