The end of time!  The last judgment!  The Coming of Christ!  What will the coming of the Lord be like? Today’s Gospel reading is about the glorious day when Jesus, in all His glory, returns to earth.  All of the angels will be with Him.  He will sit upon His glorious throne, and all the people, from all the nations, for all time, will be gathered before Him!

This story is powerfully visualized at the Vatican, in the Sistine Chapel, where the walls are painted with stunning biblical scenes by some of the great Renaissance artists, including Rosselli, Botticelli and Raphael.  However, the ceiling and altar wall, painted by Michelangelo, is the main focus.

On the wall behind the altar is the largest fresco, the one depicting The Last Judgment.  This painting portrays the moment when all who have hoped for the coming of the Messiah, and all who have rejected His Gospel, find themselves together before Christ, the Righteous Judge.

The saved are seen rising to Heaven, abandoning themselves in a display of ecstatic jubilation, having inherited eternal life!  They are caught by the artist’s eye in the euphoric state of taking in the Kingdom of God that was prepared for the all the righteous from the foundation of the world.

In contrast, the lost are shown being dragged down to hell by the devil and his demons, eternally lost and separated from God forever!

This inspiring artistic masterpiece is a dramatic visual that gives an eye-opening snapshot of what Jesus is talking about in today’s Scripture reading.