One of the best preparations that we can make for that day is regular and detailed self-examination of conscience.  We should do this at the end of each day, and especially before we make our Communion, in a straightforward, practical way.  Business people who never or rarely made up their books would never know where they were until they found themselves bankrupt, and a similar spiritual account taking is just as necessary for the soul.  If we neglect self-examination now, we shall have no idea of our real, inward state until the judgement, which follows immediately on death, reveals it to us in all its stark detail.

But if we judge ourselves severely now, we shall be better prepared when we come to be judged by Our Lord after our death.