Catholic Faith Refresher Course

DIRECTIONS TO THE STUDENT

In the twentieth century our education, our amusements, our daily experience do not teach us the complete truth about man. Man is more than a body, more than an animal, he is also spiritual. In this lesson we will study the spiritual side of man-his soul. In the lesson on the Fifth Commandment we will study man's duties to his body.

A. WHAT IS MAN?

A man is a creature who has a body and a soul. No one denies that man has a body; but some claim that man does not have a soul.

B. YOU HAVE A SOUL

How do you know that you have a soul ? Even though human beings are similar to the other things that God has created, they are different. Like a rock, man has height, size and weight; like a tree, he grows and takes nourishment; like a horse he feels and moves about. But the thing that makes man different is the soul, the spiritual part of man.

We know that a man has a spiritual side to him because he can perform spiritual actions. His spiritual actions are thinking and willing. You cannot take a thought out of a man and place it on the table to be examined; you cannot put a thought in a test tube. No one has ever seen or touched a man's will. Yet he certainly has a will-he uses it every time he makes a decision. This spiritual part of a man by which he thinks and wills is his soul.

The soul is just as real as a man's foot. J ust as man performs actions with his feet, so he performs actions with his soul. He walks with his feet; he thinks and wills with his soul.

Where is your soul ? In your head or in your heart ? No! It is in your whole body -in every part of you that is alive. But you cannot see or feel it because it is completely spiritual.

When a human body is formed in the mother's womb, God creates the human soul and joins it to the tiny body in the womb. It remains joined to the body until God decides to separate it from the body. This separation is called death.

C. SHOULD YOU TAKE MORE CARE OF YOUR BODY OR YOUR SOUL ? Death is the separation of your body and soul. Death will certainly come. Suppose that you have a serious accident and die instantly. There is your body-broken and bloody, without life. It is buried in a grave where it will rot From "worm food" it will turn to dust. Then you will ask yourself: "Why did I spend all my time on the body, forgetting that I had a soul?"

Ask yourself this question. How many times today did you remember that you have a soul? Most people spend 99% of their time and energy taking care of the body-from the first cup of coffee in the morning to the Beauty rest mattress at night. Think of all the cosmetics you or your wife has used! What a pile it would make! Millions of dollars are spent each year for cosmetics, reducers, muscle builders. Look at the ads in the newspaper, streetcars and buses- they tell you how to have beautiful teeth, good figure, strong muscles, nice hair, and how to avoid bad breath and body odor. Do any of them tell you to make your soul beautiful?

You should take more care of your soul because the soul will never die, while the body will rot in the grave.

D. THE SOUL WILL LIVE ON FOREVER The soul cannot die. You cannot strangle it, cut it up, smother it, bum it. Worms cannot eat it. None of these things can be done because the soul is spiritual. When your soul leaves your body in death, you will leave everything behind-your body, your money, your friends, your television, your videos, your clothes. When you die your soul appears immediately before God. God will not ask how much money you had in the bank, how many friends you had, how important you were, how famous you were. God will ask only one question. What kind of care did you take of your soul?

E. THE REAL MEANING OF LIFE TO SAVE YOUR IMMORTAL SOUL. Life is serious. You were not born just to eat, sleep, work, marry , grow old and die. You were not made by God to search continually for pleasure, entertainment, money, fame. God placed you in this world to put you on trial for a short time. You were put in this world to know, love, and serve God, and to be happy with Him forever in the next world.

You have only one purpose in life, to save your soul. A light bulb has only one purpose, to give light. When it is burned out, you throw it in the ash can. It has lost its usefulness; it is no good any more. You have only one purpose for which God has made you, that is: to get to heaven. If you don't serve the purpose for which God made you, God throws you into the ash can called hell. You have lost your purpose; you are no good any more.

..F or what shall it profit a man. if he gain the who/e wor/d and suffer the /oss of his soul

When you die you may be the richest, most famous man in the world. Your death may make the headlines and the daily news  - you may have been a great success in the eyes of the world. But if you lose your soul you are a magnificent failure-a fool! Or again you may die without friends and money. You may be just "bed 23 in ward 62" of the County Hospital; there will be no reporters, no news bulletins. Your body will lie unclaimed in the morgue; it will be buried in an unmarked grave. You will be a failure in the eyes of the world. B But if you save your soul, you are a tremendous success. You have fulfilled the purpose for which God made you. You will hear the summons, "Come. ye blessed of my F ather. possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)

F. AFTER DEATH THE JUDGMENT

God will judge you twice-in a private judgment and in the public or general judgment.

Immediately after you die, the private judgment will take place. Imagine what it will be like. Your family will be crying at your death bed.; but you will be alone with God. No one can help you then. By the way you have lived your life, you have determined whether you will go to heaven or to hell. Imagine yourself alone before God about to hear the eternal sentence. The public or general judgment will take place at the end of the world in the presence of everyone who has ever lived. You will see all your friends and relatives. Christ will come seated on a throne amid the clouds. His angels will separate the good from the bad.

..And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty .and all the angels with Him. then shall He sit upon the seat of His majesty and all nations shall be gathered to gather before Him; and he shall separate them one from another. as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: And He shall set the sheep. (the good people-those who die in the state of grace), on his right hand. but the goats (those who die in mortal sin) on his left. Then shall the King say to them that shall be on his right hand: COME YE BLESSED OF MY F ATHER. POSSESS YOU THE KINGDOM PREPARED FOR YOU FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand DEPART FROM ME, YOU CURSED. INTO EVERLASTING FIRE. which was prepared for the devil and his angels. ..(Matthew

All of us will be there. Where will the angel place you? How are you living now? Those of you who are in serious sin, who continue in serious sin, who die in serious sin shall hear the words of Christ: "DEPART FROM ME, YOU CURSED, INTO EVERLASTING FIRE."

G. THE RESURRECTION

At the end of the world God will reunite your body to your soul. The same body you have now will be united with your soul. Whether you are in heaven or in hell, you will then have your body.

You will not become an angel in the next world; you will still be a human being. You will have the same body and the same soul-you will not be someone else.

H. AVOID CHRIST'S CONDEMNATION AT THE GENERAL JUDGMENT

Study this instruction book; come to instructions regularly. Give up your serious sins. Live a good life; save yourself and your children from the terrible condemnation reserved for those who die in serious sin.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW OF THIS LESSON

2. Why did God make man?                               5. How long will the body exist?

3. How do you know you have a soul?              6. Will the body and soul be      

                                                                                  reunited after death?