Purgatory is a place where remaining sins are purged so that the person might achieve entrance to Heaven. Purgatory means “a cleansing place.” Purgatory is the place where sins that have been committed since the last time the person participated in the sacrament of reconciliation are purged.
A
person spends times tin this transition between Earth and Heaven when they die.
The time spent there is dependent upon the number of sins that the person
committed. The time spent in Purgatory is equal to the severity of the
sins that one has committed that were not forgiven before their death.
The person still dies in a state of grace, but they died with sins that they
either failed to pay penance for, or they failed to confess before death.
A Bible
verse that implicates the doctrine of Purgatory is Matthew 5:26 (CEV): “I
promise you that you will not get out until you have paid the last cent you
owe.” A Bible
verse that is in conflict with the doctrine of Purgatory is John 5:24 (VOICE): “I tell you the truth:
eternal life belongs to those who hear My voice and believe in the One who sent
Me. These people have no reason to fear judgment because they have already left
death and entered life.”
Here are the essentials of the
doctrine of Purgatory:
1.
It’s like spiritual
summer school: Just as sitting in a classroom
during January is easier than sitting in a classroom during July, doing the
suffering and sacrificing it takes to grow in holiness is easier on earth than
it is in Purgatory. Our task is to become conformed to Christ. That’s a task
we’re supposed to do here, and it’s a task for which we’re supposed to use our
bodies.
It has a physical dimension to it. With our bodies, we can
do good works that break us of attachments to sin and self. Without a body, all
those ways of loving and serving others as well as atoning for sin are
impossible. Purgatory is like summer school because no one has to go there.
With the right works, the outcome can be controlled. God gives each and every
one of us all the graces we need in this life to become saints. We can do all
the work necessary to become holy here. We just need to make use of the graces
He gives us now.
2.
It’s existence: The Roman Catholic Church’s doctrine on
Purgatory reminds us all that sin has eternal consequences. While God is love,
He honors the free choices made by men and women. While few of us are so wicked
that we would choose to be forever without God, not many of us are so pure that
we can be catapulted straight into the arms of God. Most of us are somewhere in
between.
The need for purgatory is the final purification of those
who die in friendship with God, but who haven’t fully broken their attachment
to sin (or atoned for wrongs done in this life). When we stand before Christ
the Judge, all the compromises we’ve made, all the gray areas into which our
choices led us, have to be accounted for. We’ve got to square accounts with the
Judge.
3.
It’s not a punishment,
but a testimony to God’s love:
Sometimes, people hear about the sufferings of the souls in Purgatory, and they
think suffering is the desire of a vindictive God, God forgives us immediately
when we ask. The role of suffering is to undo the damage we’ve done. It’s God
the Healer applying the remedy to make us the perfect images of Christ.
God doesn’t simply desire to save us from an state of
eternal separation from Him. He desires to save us from being anything less
than the men and women He created us to be. In Purgatory, we’re no longer able
to resist the healing we need, and He can finish the task He began during our
lifetime.”
4.
It’s suffering isn’t physical pain: In Purgatory, the soul remains separated from its
body so it can only suffer
spiritually(not physically). That’s not to say that the flames of Purgatory
aren’t real. They are.
In other words, the primary pain endured by those in
Purgatory is the loss of the sight of God (spiritual fever). As that fever
rages, it separates the soul from sin. This is a process almost equally
painful.
5.
Prayers for the dead matter eternally: The souls in Purgatory may be bound for glory, but the
process of purification can be long and painful. There’s nothing those souls
can do to speed up the process (or lessen the pain). We need to be greedy for
graces for the souls in Purgatory. When the soul leaves the body, the time for
worth is up. The soul is helpless.
That’s why they need r prayers ( the Rosary, adoration, the
Way of the Cross, and, the Mass. The Masses offered for the souls in Purgatory
are the best thing that can be done for the beloved dead. The Mass is the
highest form of worship and prayer. Our sufferings and sacrifices can be
parlayed into actual assistance for the holy souls because of His suffering and
sacrifice.
You extend yourself so that another might have an easier
time of it. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Purgatory operates outside
of space and time as we on earth experience it. The prayers we pray for our
loved ones throughout the entirety of our lives play a part in helping them
enter into Heaven.
6.
Souls here experience joy and pain: Purgatory isn’t the outermost room of Hell, but rather the
anteroom of Heaven. Every soul in Purgatory is bound for glory. Their fate has
been sealed as blessed. The time they spend in Purgatory (whether short or
long) is a time marked by suffering and joy.
Anything worthwhile requires pain to make progress, but it’s
pain with a reward at the end. It helps to think of Purgatory like the process
of getting physically fit. There’s pain, but it’s a sign of progress. It means
you’re on the road to where you eventually want to be. That makes it a joyful
pain.
7.
Souls intercede for us:
The souls in Purgatory can’t do anything for themselves, but the Roman Catholic
Church has long believed that they can do something for us:
They can pray for us, helping obtain for us the graces we
need to follow Christ more perfectly. They want to help ensure that we
understand the meanness of sin and the importance of molding our lives to God’s
will so that we can go straight to heaven when we die.”
“The way I understood
purgatory - and maybe you've got a different version - but in Chicago in the
'70s, the idea was it was like detention. You had screwed up and you go over
there in purgatory and you sit there until the end of days and then we'll
decide. You'd made your mistake, and you were in prison, and it's not terrible
and it's not great, and you feel a little crappy because you were not in the
presence of God.” (George Saunders) [i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“9 Truths about Purgatory: What Catholics Need to Know about the ‘Anteroom
of Heaven’” by Emily Stimpson Chapman
·
“What Do Christians Believe About Purgatory?
What Does the Bible Teach?” by Jack Wellman
This topic was suggested
by my Small Group Facilitator, Tom Critser. This post is dedicated to my Aunt
Phyllis. Though I found this topic fascinating, it is not one I believe in.
No comments:
Post a Comment