What happens when we die?
According to Christians there will be a final judgment of our souls, and we will be either
granted eternal salvation in heaven, or eternal damnation in hell.
I’m not sure about you, but I know what I’m shooting for.
Of course, for Catholics, being granted eternal salvation doesn’t necessarily mean that
it’s a straight shot to eternal bliss.
Sometimes, we need to make a stop in purgatory along the way for purification.
What do Catholics believe about this place and where does the teaching come from?
This is Catholicism In Focus.
—— One of the most common misconceptions about
purgatory is that it is a sort of “limbo” for souls, a holding sell where people await
their fate.
Maybe they’ll be admitted into heaven, but maybe they’ll go to hell.
And I thought waiting to hear test results in the doctor’s office was stressful…
Luckily, this is simply not true.
For Catholics, purgatory is not so much a holding sell for the in-between as it is a
purification process for the already saved.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
Those who are in purgatory are not damned, are not being punished, and are not in limbo.
They are among the elect, the chosen by God to enter his eternal dwelling place, only
they’re not quite ready yet.
They must undergo purification.
But if they’re already among the elect, what more purification do they need?
Is the blood of Christ not enough to redeem all sins?
Clearly, it is, and Catholics believe this fully.
We cannot merit our own salvation through good works or make up for our own sins.
It is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the work of God’s love and mercy, that redeems
us and takes away our sins.
Those who die in God’s grace and are considered his friends have no sins to worry about.
But that doesn’t mean that they are perfectly ready to enter the Kingdom.
While our mortal sins may be forgiven, Catholics acknowledge that we may still have minor faults,
weak consciences, underdeveloped wills, and impure hearts that still in need need refining,
not to mention temporal punishments that remain unfixed.
If we truly believe what is says in the book of Revelation, that nothing unclean will enter
the presence of God in heaven, then more work needs to be done.
Think of it this way.
A man lives in the 17th century United States.
He is a good man by the Church’s standards: he’s humble and generous, attends mass every
week, gives God thanks and glory for all of this blessings.
He has no mortal sins, and God deems him fit for the kingdom.
There’s just one problem.
A product of his day, he owned slaves and views black people as inferior to himself.
Uh oh…
Given when he lived and what was expected of him, can we really expect him to have NOT
had these opinions.
Probably not.
The Church even told him it was alright.
This is not something that should condemn him to hell, right?
And yet, it’s also not something fitting of the kingdom.
It is not okay to have people in heaven that have racist tendencies or think that owning
another human being is okay.
Thus, the Church would say that he is saved, he is free from his sins by the blood of Christ,
but there are still some impurities that need to be refined before he can enter.
Will this be a painful process?
Probably.
The Church speaks throughout history of the purifying fire of purgatory, like that of
a metal refinery.
St. Gregory of Nyssa once described it,
It’s important, again, to distinguish this fire and any sense of suffering from that
of Hell.
While there is suffering in purgatory, it is not the end in itself, but the means to
greater purity.
Some have likened the pain of purgatory to that of apologizing—when we are faced with
our faults, we feel within ourselves great disappointment and much distress as we work
to admit that we were wrong.
God has already forgiven us… but we may not be ready to admit it to ourselves or to
do what is necessary to make it right.
Hence, purgatory.
Which, sounds all well and good, you say, but where is this in Scripture?
Is this something that the Catholic Church just made up?
Absolutely not!
The foundation for our believe in purgatory goes back even before the time of Jesus.
During the Greek oppression of the Jews and subsequent revolt, soldiers like Judas offered
sacrifices for the dead:
If these souls were already in hell, they were beyond saving.
If they were already in heaven, then they would have no need of prayers.
Given that this is praised as a laudable action, there must be souls who can hear and benefit
from our prayers and yet are not in heaven.
Similarly, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “And whoever speaks a word against
the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be
forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
If there is no possibility of being forgiven after death, then why would he even mention this?
In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes, “He will suffer loss, though
he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
It’s clear that he is not speaking directly of purgatory, but it does offer justification
for it.
What else saves one by fire but also causes loss?
Heaven is without pain and Hell does not save.
Okay, so someone in the middle ages went back and proof texted a few passages, offering
evidence for some later, made up teaching of the Church.
Not exactly.
While the name “purgatory” doesn’t appear until later, the idea is well known throughout
the early Church.
Besides Gregory of Nyssa, we see in the Acts of Paul and Thecla a vision of the dead seeking
to be transferred to the place of the righteous; Tertullian insisting that we pray for the
dead; John Chrysostom suggesting that just as Job’s sons were purified by their father’s
sacrifice, so too should we must pray for the dead; St. Monica asked her son St. Augustine
to pray for her after her death; and St. Augustine himself wrote extensively on the topic.
Clearly, the Church did not simply make up this doctrine in the middle ages.
Saints all the way back to the beginning understand
that one could be justified and saved
while yet needing our prayers.
This is the place of purification.
And what a blessing this is.
For if there was no purgatory, we would have to accept either, that only the perfect are
admitted into heaven, giving each of us nearly no hope of salvation, or that heaven is a
free-for-all in which our faults and impurities on earth are admitted to live on forever,
leaving us wondering why we would want to go to heaven in the first place.
Neither of these options are particularly attractive.
With the doctrine of purgatory, a biblically-based, ancient teaching, we are given a gift: an
opportunity, even after our lives, to make sure that we’re entirely ready for the Kingdom of God.