What Happens the Moment You Die?

This is not Public Revelation, nor even private revelation. It is from a vivid dream I had many years ago after a good friend of mine was killed in a hit-and-run. Some months after his passing, he came to me in a dream to tell me what he experienced the moment he died.

I have shared this dream with some family and friends over the years, and am now sharing it publicly. My prayer is that it is edifying for you and brings some sort of clarity as to what could await all of us when the heart takes its final beat and the lungs take their final breath.

My friend’s name is Joseph Anthony Wichmann, and he passed away on October 9th, 2007. Shortly after 9:00pm, after having left me a voice-mail saying that “the clock is ticking, time is running out,” he walked outside his front door and started his nightly ritual of praying the Rosary while walking around his block. As he crossed the poorly lit street, he dropped his Rosary and bent down to pick it up. A vehicle, without its headlights on, came speeding down the street at over 100mph, slamming into my friend who flew approximately 90 feet on impact.

According to Joe, he remembers reciting the words of the Hail Mary, while he was thinking about his plans for the next morning. He did not remember being hit, but he remembers still thinking about his plans for the following day while beginning the Glory Be prayer, when suddenly it dawned on him that his sight had left his body, and he was somehow seeing his lifeless body laying on the pavement as he began ascending upwards.

He remembers being surprised that his thought life essentially remained unbroken. He was realizing that he had died, and he remembers thinking about family and friends. He specifically thought about his mom discovering that he had passed away, and his Godson Benny. And he hoped they would be okay.

What happened next was difficult for him to describe to me, because he said that until we die, we really can not conceive about an existence where time ceases to exist. Hours, minutes, seconds, no more. He said he remembers going through some sort of tunnel or whirlwind, where he saw vibrant colors that he did not know existed. They were not even formulations of colors such as blue and purple or orange and red. He specifically said they were colors that we had never seen before on Earth.

As this happened, he vividly recalled every moment and facet of his earthly life. He suddenly had complete knowledge of exactly who he was, what formed him to be that way from his upbringing, every good deed he had ever done, the good he had brought to others, the ripple effects of his life to even strangers, the evil he had done, the times he had intentionally failed to do good, the consequences of his sins on others around him. The different ways and times he had scandalized others and caused them to turn from God, also the ways and times he led others to God through his words or deeds. He recalled scenes of his childhood with exactness in his memory, even some which he had long forgotten.

It was all occurring simultaneously in a space which seemed to be a moment, since time no longer existed. And yet, it was his entire life. Every aspect of it. Included in this as well were his moments of sanctifying grace. Every Confession, every Eucharist, every soul he helped in Purgatory, every homeless person he had ever fed out of love for Christ, every prayer he had ever prayed even if only in his thoughts. He saw entire mortal sins blotted out from his life story due to the graces of Confession. He also saw sin in all its ugliness, and virtue in all its shining glory. In every memory, he also perceived the hidden intention and motive underlying the memory.

The result of this entire experience for him was he had a completely transparent and honest view of who he truly is. He couldn’t knock himself overtly down and he also couldn’t puff himself up too much. He knew exactly who he was before God. Joseph told me this was important because it is a preparation for the most important part of what happens when we die.

“Do you know who is the first person you meet when you die?,” Joseph asked me. “It is not a relative, not an old friend, not an Angel, not Mary, not St. Peter. The first person everyone meets when they die… is Jesus.”

Jesus came approaching to Him, seemingly from a distance. In that moment, Joseph told me he realized with conviction, “Everything the Catholic Church ever taught us about life and death is all true. All of it. It is all true.” When Jesus approaches us, we are unable to lie to ourselves or Him, or have any trace of deception. The soul is now meeting its Maker and Redeemer. Pure Goodness is about see us face to face. As Jesus takes His final steps, the soul instinctively will take only one of three possible actions.

One, it will embrace Jesus face to face, and thus immediately be ushered into Heaven through Him. This is reserved for the few souls who die in a state of grace, with no stain of mortal sin due to the Sacrament of Confession, and who has made the proper penances and reparation to combat venial sins and live a life of true virtue and charity.

Two, it will turn away from the face of Jesus, sorrowfully and painfully, desiring to see Jesus but feeling some semblance of shame or unworthiness. This soul is then transferred immediately into Purgatory. This is for souls who die in a state of grace (no unconfessed mortal sin) but did not make the proper penances and reparation, and had venial sins attached to them.

Three, it turns from the face of Jesus in anger and repulsion, with bitterness and disgust. This soul then finds itself of its own choosing in the pit of Hell. This is for the soul that dies with even one intentional unconfessed mortal sin.

My friend, Joseph, was the second soul. He found himself in Purgatory. The purpose of the dream was to ask me for seven Mass offerings to assist him. That same night, we found out he had also appeared to a mutual friend, Cindy, in another dream, wherein he requested seven Rosaries to be prayed for him.

As the Church prepares to celebrate All Souls Day, may you remember your loved ones who have passed away, especially those who are most in need of prayer and those who have no one to pray for them. And may we all prepare each day for our own final day.

As Fr. Ken Roberts once said, “God can come at any time for any one of us. No matter how young you are or how old you are. Look in the newspaper today, in the death column. Somebody your age died. And somebody younger than you died today. And somebody your age and younger than you will die tomorrow. Every day of the week someone your age dies, no matter how young you are. And none of them knew it was going to be the day they died. None of them.”

Are you prepared to meet Jesus? He waits for you now in the Sacrament of Confession. And He encounters you in every Holy Mass, in the Eucharist.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We love you. Save souls. Amen.