Meet Your Maker and Other Euphemisms About the Final Curtain Call

Out of all the euphemisms for dying, “meet your maker” is the most intriguing from a Christian perspective. The word “death”, used alone, seems too abrupt and final to describe a process that ends with an exit from this world and an entrance into another realm. Like a child exiting the womb only to enter a new reality, death finds us saying “The Big Adios” to this life, while meeting Jesus a moment later in the next.

For many, facing the reality of death is easier if it’s kept within the nebulosity of figurative language. Diverting to the abstract can enable avoidance of a process that culminates in a “face-to-face” meeting with God. “Dirt nap” and “kicking the bucket” fall short of describing the most meaningful conversation of your life this side of eternity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:

Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven—through a purification or immediately,—or immediate and everlasting damnation (CCC 1022) .

The term “retribution” is often viewed as punishment but can also mean reward. The Merriam-Webster definition is “the dispensing or receiving of reward or punishment especially in the hereafter”.

The Particular Judgment is placed at the “moment of death” as stated above. While no detailed account is available, this one-to-one encounter will be with none other than the second person of The Blessed Trinity. A judgment will be rendered immediately, then realized in the General Judgement when the Second Coming occurs.

The Gospel of Matthew gives us this extensive picture:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations[o] will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Mt 25: 31-46).

The” black and white” of Heaven and Hell, the separation of the sheep and goats, and eternal inheritance or punishment are fleshed out in the “grey area” that is Purgatory. Much has been written about this state of purification necessary to enter Heaven. The following two paragraphs of the Catechism explain that the purification of Purgatory is entirely different from the punishment of Hell:

All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven (CCC 1030).

The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire (CCC 1031).

As Christians, we pray for those who have “gone before us marked with the sign of faith” to help them on their journey of the “holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven”. As a means of “landing the plane” on this discursive, a heavenly euphemism will serve: See you at the “Pearly Gates”!