We know that Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. Will the living die before being transformed or will they be directly transformed?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the teachings of the Church on the Last Judgment quite nicely—and it’s even available on the Vatican’s website for free! In particular, sections 1038 through 1050 will help us to answer this question.

First, as to whether there will be people physically alive at Jesus’ second coming, the answer is a straightforward “yes.” Jesus himself affirms this in the Gospels—see Matthew 24. There will be people working (v. 18), people out fighting in wars (v. 6), and even pregnant and nursing mothers (v. 19). Since we do not know the day and hour (v. 36) when Jesus will come again, it only makes sense that we would be going about our normal human activities. That is why Jesus urges us to be watchful and keep ourselves pure by a life of virtue: “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (v. 44).

Since there will be people alive at the time of Jesus’ return, it makes sense to say that those people living at the time of the second coming will not die before being transformed. St. Paul thinks so too: “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep” (we shall not all die before Christ’s coming), “but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor 15:51-52).

So there we have it. All those who have already died will rise at Christ’s coming, and together with those who are still alive, we will be judged. Then, for the righteous, we will all be “changed” and glorified with Christ. However God chooses to transform and renew the universe, the “old order” will pass away and a new creation will come (see 2 Cor 5:17 and Rev 21:4).