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) .

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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:

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