The Church calls death, judgment, heaven and hell the Last Things. Thinking about them is not gloomy; it helps us live well now. Death is the end of earthly life and a consequence of sin, but for those who die in Christ it is a doorway. Saint Paul wrote, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Right after death, each person faces the particular judgment: our whole life is seen in the light of Christ, and we receive what we have chosen. That is either entrance into heaven, at once or after a purification, or separation from God forever. Saint John of the Cross said that in the evening of life we will be judged on love.
Heaven is perfect life with the Holy Trinity, Mary, the angels and all the saints: complete happiness, the fulfillment of our deepest longings. It is not an endless boring cloud. We will see God face to face, which is called the beatific vision, and love Him and one another perfectly. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard” what God has prepared for those who love Him.
Those who die in God's friendship but are not yet fully purified undergo purgatory, a final purification before entering heaven. It is not a second chance, but a cleansing by God's love. That is why we pray for the dead, especially at Mass and on All Souls' Day, November 2.
Hell is real. It is eternal separation from God, which a person freely chooses by refusing God's love to the very end. God predestines no one to go to hell. The Church's teaching on hell is a serious call to use our freedom well and to pray for sinners, because God wants all people to be saved.
At the end of time, Christ will return in glory. The dead will rise, and our souls will be reunited with our bodies, transformed like His. At the Last Judgment the truth of every life will be revealed, and Jesus told us what will count: what we did for “the least of these.” Then God will make a new heaven and a new earth and wipe away every tear.