THE JUDGE

(June 11, 2016 at 1:48pm)

This old and timeworn story was told by a Catholic friend when I was still a bubbling, cute (?) teenager. Catholics believe that when a person dies he’s immediately judged by someone named ‘St. Peter.’ And somewhere in the gates of heaven, this he said then was what did happen:

‘St. Peter’ was interviewing the first person in line: “You, what have you done when you were alive?” The man replied, “I was the boss of illegal loggers in the forest. Prosecutors would drop the case against my men at my behest.”

“Quick! Go to that room! The sizzling one that’s colored green. Its heat is prepared for those who against nature have sinned!”

‘St. Peter’ queried the second soul who was unabashedly crying, “Hey, what did you do for a living?” In between sobs, answered the assassin, “Literally and figuratively, I made a killing in killing.”

‘St. Peter’ judged him, “Haste! Go to that room, the smoking one that’s colored red. He paused and continued, “From everlasting to everlasting, the boiling blood will be your bed!”

The third one, an ashamed stunning woman, was vehemently asked too. Shaking in fear, she would respond, “I was a prostitute all my life through.”

And ‘St. Peter’s’ voice did boom: “Hurry up! Go to my room!”

We, as ordinary human beings, intentionally or not, just simply do like that. When we hear and see what we perceived as evil, we would easily judge. We’re quick to condemn other people for the wrong they’ve done. But we’re too slow to know the mistakes we did with our own hand.

I remember what said to us by Jesus: “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7:1). “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote of thy brother’s eye” (v.5).

And Paul said we are inexcusable when we pass judgment on someone else, it’s like we condemn ourselves too, for we do the same things either (Romans 2:1). As what was written by James in his rejoinder: “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are thou that judgest another?” (James 4:12).

Besides, we must all surely appear before the judgment seat of Jesus. We will receive things according to what we did, be they good or bad (2Cor. 5:10).