Don't Roman Catholics...
... Believe in Purgatory?
What Does the Church Say?
First of all, let's take a peek at what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say on the matter:
The Final Purification, or Purgatory
1030 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 heaven.
1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:
It goes on to quote St Gregory the Great (he references Christ's implication that some but not all sins can be forgiven post-death in Mt 12:31-32), and then briefly talks about the belief in prayers for the dead (I'll get to that later). But this is pretty much it. Of course, many people, councils, popes, other bishops, and saints have elaborated on this final purification. "Officially," however, this is basically the extent of the Church's teaching on Purgatory. Two paragraphs on what it is, one paragraph on praying for the souls in it, a quote, and some references. Considering that Purgatory is often seen as one of those odd, controversial beliefs, this is a surprisingly small amount of information. So let's flesh it out, bit by bit.
Are You Ready for Heaven?
The men and women in Heaven (those Saints from Part One) are the result of full submission to God. They are, in their current state, the men and women who are the most Christ-like in all of creation. They love as God loves, or at least insofar as any non-God is able. They are always exalting and praying to the Lord. They do not sin. They're as perfect as mankind can get.
But they weren't always that way. They used to be imperfect beings, just like us. More likely than not, very few people in history have become as holy-minded as the Saints in Heaven by the ends of their lives. Most only become this way after dying.
Consider yourself. Perhaps you and the Big Guy are on good terms, you're living the Christian life, you've got no major sins that you haven't repented of... As far as people go, you're a good one in God's book. Let's say, then, that you die. A meteor hits you, or whatever. Ask yourself, if that happened today, are you ready for Heaven as you are? Good person, yes. Person with ceaseless, all-encompassing, and perfect love of God? I won't say you can't be that person in life, but I will venture to guess that most people, even the good ones, aren't that good by the time they die. And yet, once they get to Heaven, they really are that good. They really do love God with all their being.
What happened?
Many people might not believe in the Catholic conception of Purgatory, but I would imagine that most of them nonetheless agree that God transforms people into something better when they die. This process by which men who imperfectly love God are transformed into Saints who perfectly love God is what Catholics call Purgatory.
There shall not enter into it any thing defiled
Revelation 21:27
"It may hurt, you know."
So, if we have to be changed to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, what changes us? Okay, God does, obviously. That's what the Journey's all about, God changing us into our best selves. But through what means does He purify us? I mean, if He wanted to He could just make us perfect with a divine snap of the fingers. But that's not really how this stuff tends to work. God seems to like to change us through our choices and experiences. If our experiences are what God uses to change us in life, why wouldn't it be the same if we needed to be changed after death?
Scripture implies that suffering brings us closer to Christ by "burning up" our flaws (1 Cor 3:15, 1 Pet 1:6-7, 1 Peter 4:13). On the surface, these verses are talking about the suffering we experience in our lives, yet there is no particular reason to believe that this is any different post-death. Like the Catechism says, Purgatorial suffering is in no way the same as eternal Hellfire. I like to equate it more with the temporal sufferings of this life. As Christians, we know that these sufferings temper us and allow us to participate more closely in the mission of Christ. After all, if we are truly to be as Christ-like as possible, then suffering isn't just an afterthought, but a necessity. Thus, Purgatory isn't the Big Guy's vengeance against smaller sins and flaws, but His final way of making us more like His Son. This point of view is why I don't fear the possibility of Purgatory, but welcome it as something that, even on a good day, I will probably desperately need. Clive Staples Lewis (I love that guy), not even a Catholic, seemed to espouse this view in a painful purification for at least part of his life:
Our souls demand Purgatory, don't they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, "It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy?" Should we not reply, "With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I'd rather be cleaned first" "It may hurt, you know." - "Even so, sir."
(C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer)
More Dead Guys
You want more Catechism, you got more Catechism.
1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."(2 Macc 12:46) From the beginning 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:
It goes on to quote St Gregory the Great (he references Christ's implication that some but not all sins can be forgiven post-death in Mt 12:31-32), and then briefly talks about the belief in prayers for the dead (I'll get to that later). But this is pretty much it. Of course, many people, councils, popes, other bishops, and saints have elaborated on this final purification. "Officially," however, this is basically the extent of the Church's teaching on Purgatory. Two paragraphs on what it is, one paragraph on praying for the souls in it, a quote, and some references. Considering that Purgatory is often seen as one of those odd, controversial beliefs, this is a surprisingly small amount of information. So let's flesh it out, bit by bit.
Are You Ready for Heaven?
The men and women in Heaven (those Saints from Part One) are the result of full submission to God. They are, in their current state, the men and women who are the most Christ-like in all of creation. They love as God loves, or at least insofar as any non-God is able. They are always exalting and praying to the Lord. They do not sin. They're as perfect as mankind can get.
But they weren't always that way. They used to be imperfect beings, just like us. More likely than not, very few people in history have become as holy-minded as the Saints in Heaven by the ends of their lives. Most only become this way after dying.
Consider yourself. Perhaps you and the Big Guy are on good terms, you're living the Christian life, you've got no major sins that you haven't repented of... As far as people go, you're a good one in God's book. Let's say, then, that you die. A meteor hits you, or whatever. Ask yourself, if that happened today, are you ready for Heaven as you are? Good person, yes. Person with ceaseless, all-encompassing, and perfect love of God? I won't say you can't be that person in life, but I will venture to guess that most people, even the good ones, aren't that good by the time they die. And yet, once they get to Heaven, they really are that good. They really do love God with all their being.
What happened?
Many people might not believe in the Catholic conception of Purgatory, but I would imagine that most of them nonetheless agree that God transforms people into something better when they die. This process by which men who imperfectly love God are transformed into Saints who perfectly love God is what Catholics call Purgatory.
There shall not enter into it any thing defiled
Revelation 21:27
"It may hurt, you know."
So, if we have to be changed to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, what changes us? Okay, God does, obviously. That's what the Journey's all about, God changing us into our best selves. But through what means does He purify us? I mean, if He wanted to He could just make us perfect with a divine snap of the fingers. But that's not really how this stuff tends to work. God seems to like to change us through our choices and experiences. If our experiences are what God uses to change us in life, why wouldn't it be the same if we needed to be changed after death?
Scripture implies that suffering brings us closer to Christ by "burning up" our flaws (1 Cor 3:15, 1 Pet 1:6-7, 1 Peter 4:13). On the surface, these verses are talking about the suffering we experience in our lives, yet there is no particular reason to believe that this is any different post-death. Like the Catechism says, Purgatorial suffering is in no way the same as eternal Hellfire. I like to equate it more with the temporal sufferings of this life. As Christians, we know that these sufferings temper us and allow us to participate more closely in the mission of Christ. After all, if we are truly to be as Christ-like as possible, then suffering isn't just an afterthought, but a necessity. Thus, Purgatory isn't the Big Guy's vengeance against smaller sins and flaws, but His final way of making us more like His Son. This point of view is why I don't fear the possibility of Purgatory, but welcome it as something that, even on a good day, I will probably desperately need. Clive Staples Lewis (I love that guy), not even a Catholic, seemed to espouse this view in a painful purification for at least part of his life:
Our souls demand Purgatory, don't they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, "It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy?" Should we not reply, "With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I'd rather be cleaned first" "It may hurt, you know." - "Even so, sir."
(C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer)
More Dead Guys
You want more Catechism, you got more Catechism.
1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."(2 Macc 12:46) From the beginning 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:
Let us help and commemorate them. 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. (cf. Job 1:5)
Catholics, Orthodox, and some others include Second Maccabees in the Canon of Scripture. For various reasons, Protestants do not include it in the official Canon, though some still hold it (and the rest of the deuterocanonical texts) in good regard. The place for explaining the canonicity of the Deuterocanon is not here, so if you don't think 2 Maccabees is part of God's inspired word, then the prayers and offerings to the dead referenced in it are of little importance to you. So I'll try to approach this from another perspective.
Remember in Part One when I talked about the three states of the Church? The Church Triumphant (Saints), the Church Penitent (souls in Purgatory), and the Church Militant (us). One of the big things that unifies us is prayer. The living pray for each other. We pray to the Saints for their prayers, and the Saints pray for us. This goes for the the souls of the dead, as well. We pray for them, the Saints pray for them, and I have little doubt that they pray for us. Why not?
We living Christians pray that God have mercy on each other. If there are souls anticipating Heaven, ought we not pray that God have mercy on them, as well? Yes, the Church Penitent are assured their salvation; but if prayer in general is efficacious, then any help along the way that our prayers can offer are worth it. We don't know the exact nature of Purgatory, but we do know that there are people there who are not yet in Heaven. They need prayers just like the rest of us.
There are a lot of smarter folks who've said and written great things regarding prayers for the dead; but to me it's as simple as one person praying for another person.
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