On Purgatory
What is Purgatory? First of all, we need to understand what it is not. It is not Limbo. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made it very clear that there is, in fact, no such thing as Limbo; Limbo was only an attempt to explain what happens when someone who was clearly a good person (or a person too young to sin, such as a baby) dies before being baptized. Also, Purgatory is not an alternate state of eternity (not quite Heaven and not quite Hell) where someone goes after death who was not quite good but not quite bad.
Okay, so what is Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraphs 1030-1032) tells us that “all who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heav-en.” (CCC 1030) Purgatory is the “final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” (CCC 1031) Pope St. Gregory the Great teaches that “as for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He Who is Truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against het Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence, we understand that certain offices can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.”
The Catechism goes on to reference the Second Book of Maccabees in the Old Testament, in which we read that Judas Maccabeus “made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from there sin.” (2 Macc 12:46) From the earliest years of Christianity, “the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.” (CCC 1032)
“Let us help and commemorate [the beloved dead]. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.” (St. John Chrysostom)
Why Purgatory? Because God’s merciful love truly is that powerful. Even a single venial sin is enough to cast us forever out of Heaven, but in His infinite love and mercy for us, the Lord gives us a way to be purified of sin even after we have died. Death, after all, is when everything is made to be permanent forever; we can make no fur-ther atonement or contrition after we have died. And yet the Lord loves us so much that He gives us still further opportunities to be purified from sin – even after death itself.
But Purgatory not only purifies us from sins that still cling to us after death, but also purifies us of the tem-poral punishments that we have incurred on account of our sins. For example, the sin of gossip. I might gossip, then go to confession and be absolved of the sin itself, but before long, it spreads, and the gossip passes from person to person (thus is the insidious nature of gossip). All of that gossip spreading on account of my sin incurs the holy justice of punishment – again, even if the sin itself has been absolved. Purgatory purifies us of that holy justice of punishments incurred due to sin.
It might be helpful to think of Earth, Purgatory, and Heaven as the backyard sandbox, the bathroom, and the dinner table. When Dad (God) calls to us to come inside from the sandbox (life on Earth) for dinner (Heaven), and then he sees how dirty we are, we do not get to sit right down at table and eat dinner. No, Dad makes us wash up first in the bathroom (Purgatory). How soon we get to sit down at the dinner table to eat depends on how long it takes us to get cleaned up. Maybe we are taking way too long to get cleaned up, so in comes Mom (the prayers of the faithful, prayed for the repose of the Poor Souls in Purgatory) to help us get cleaned up faster so that we can get to the dinner table sooner. So it is not a question of if we get to eat dinner but how soon. Just so, with the blessed reality of Purga-tory, it is never a question of if we get to go to Heaven but how soon.
~ Fr. Lewis
What is Purgatory? First of all, we need to understand what it is not. It is not Limbo. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made it very clear that there is, in fact, no such thing as Limbo; Limbo was only an attempt to explain what happens when someone who was clearly a good person (or a person too young to sin, such as a baby) dies before being baptized. Also, Purgatory is not an alternate state of eternity (not quite Heaven and not quite Hell) where someone goes after death who was not quite good but not quite bad.
Okay, so what is Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraphs 1030-1032) tells us that “all who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heav-en.” (CCC 1030) Purgatory is the “final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” (CCC 1031) Pope St. Gregory the Great teaches that “as for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He Who is Truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against het Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence, we understand that certain offices can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.”
The Catechism goes on to reference the Second Book of Maccabees in the Old Testament, in which we read that Judas Maccabeus “made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from there sin.” (2 Macc 12:46) From the earliest years of Christianity, “the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.” (CCC 1032)
“Let us help and commemorate [the beloved dead]. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.” (St. John Chrysostom)
Why Purgatory? Because God’s merciful love truly is that powerful. Even a single venial sin is enough to cast us forever out of Heaven, but in His infinite love and mercy for us, the Lord gives us a way to be purified of sin even after we have died. Death, after all, is when everything is made to be permanent forever; we can make no fur-ther atonement or contrition after we have died. And yet the Lord loves us so much that He gives us still further opportunities to be purified from sin – even after death itself.
But Purgatory not only purifies us from sins that still cling to us after death, but also purifies us of the tem-poral punishments that we have incurred on account of our sins. For example, the sin of gossip. I might gossip, then go to confession and be absolved of the sin itself, but before long, it spreads, and the gossip passes from person to person (thus is the insidious nature of gossip). All of that gossip spreading on account of my sin incurs the holy justice of punishment – again, even if the sin itself has been absolved. Purgatory purifies us of that holy justice of punishments incurred due to sin.
It might be helpful to think of Earth, Purgatory, and Heaven as the backyard sandbox, the bathroom, and the dinner table. When Dad (God) calls to us to come inside from the sandbox (life on Earth) for dinner (Heaven), and then he sees how dirty we are, we do not get to sit right down at table and eat dinner. No, Dad makes us wash up first in the bathroom (Purgatory). How soon we get to sit down at the dinner table to eat depends on how long it takes us to get cleaned up. Maybe we are taking way too long to get cleaned up, so in comes Mom (the prayers of the faithful, prayed for the repose of the Poor Souls in Purgatory) to help us get cleaned up faster so that we can get to the dinner table sooner. So it is not a question of if we get to eat dinner but how soon. Just so, with the blessed reality of Purga-tory, it is never a question of if we get to go to Heaven but how soon.
~ Fr. Lewis