second coming of Christ will enjoy the glories of heaven sooner than those who have died. He tells them that the dead shall arise and then all shall be taken up together to meet Christ. Hence "we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not be before them who have slept." [1]
Shall those found living at the second coming of Christ undergo death before the judgment? The Church has decided nothing in the matter, but Sacred Scripture seems to indicate that they will not. St. Paul says: "We who are alive shall be taken up." Again he says: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet . . . the dead shall arise again incorruptible; and we shall be changed." [2] He evidently makes a distinction between those who are dead and those who remain alive at the coming of Christ. In the preceding verse the Apostle writes: "We shall all in deed rise again; but we shall not all be changed." This indicates that all must undergo death but the Greek text reads: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." It mast be admitted that this reading agrees better with the context than the one found in the Vulgate.
However the question is of little importance. We must all be changed; "this corruptible must put on in- corruption; and this mortal must put on immortality." [3] The bodies of the just will be spiritualized and glorified
