A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 12: Purgatory

OLRL ^ | Fr. William J. Cogan

[NYer]

Lesson 12: Purgatory

"And the day following Judas [Machabeus] came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers.  And they found under the coats of the slain some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews:  So that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain.  Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden.  And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought Him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten.  But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain.  And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (for if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead), and because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.  It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins."  (2 Machabees 12:39-46)

1. What is Purgatory?
       A place and state of temporary punishment in the next world.  Hell, on the other hand, is a place of eternal or everlasting punishment.

• What does the word "Purgatory" mean?
      It means "cleansing" (or "purging").  Purgatory is a place where the soul is cleansed of unforgiven venial sin and/or the "debt" of sins already forgiven but not yet made up for.

  "If any one abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth."    (John 15:6)

• How do you know there is a Purgatory?
      The constant teaching and practice of the Catholic Church, based on the Bible and tradition, and even common sense, prove the existence of Purgatory.

• How does common sense indicate the existence of Purgatory?
      Only people with mortal sin go to Hell, and on the other hand, no one can enter Heaven with even the smallest sin.  Therefore, there must be a place in the next world where lesser sins can be taken off the soul.

• Who will go to Purgatory?
      People who die with Sanctifying Grace in their souls, but --
  1. who die with venial sin on their souls, or
  2. who have not completed (satisfied for) the punishment still due to their already forgiven sins.

• What is meant by the "punishment still due to sin"?
     This means that, even though God forgives your sins, He still requires that you be punished for them (i.e. "pay" for them), either in this life or in the next.

  For example:  A boy playing ball in his yard breaks his neighbor's window.  He goes and tells the lady he is sorry, and she forgives him but she tells him he will still have to pay for the window.

• Do you suffer in Purgatory?
     Yes.  Besides not being allowed to see God face to face, the souls in Purgatory suffer a great deal.

  "The fire of Purgatory", says St. Augustine, "is more terrible than man can suffer in this life."

• How long will you have suffer in Purgatory?
     That depends on the number and seriousness of the sins to be atoned for.

  "My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God."    (Psalm 41:3)

• Where do you go when you leave Purgatory?
     To Heaven to see God and enjoy Him forever.

  "Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not come out from thence till thou repay the last farthing."    (Matthew 5:26)

• Will Purgatory ever end?
     Yes, at the Last Judgment.  After that all souls will be in either Heaven or Hell forever.

• Can you help the souls in Purgatory?
     You can shorten their stay by having Masses said for them, by praying for them and by doing good works for them.

  "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me."    (Job 19:21)

• Does the Bible say anything about praying for the dead?
     Yes.  We read that Judas Machabeus, "sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifices to be offered for the sins of the dead."  (2 Machabees 12:43)

• How can you avoid Purgatory?
  Avoid even the smallest faults, do penance for sins already forgiven, gain indulgences and receive Extreme Unction (See Lesson 26.)

PRACTICAL POINTS

1. All Souls' Day is the day set aside by the Church for special prayers and Masses for all the souls suffering in Purgatory.  It is celebrated every year on November 2.

2. The souls in Purgatory cannot help themselves.  We should help them by our prayers and sacrifices.  They, in turn, can and do pray for us.

3. The souls in Purgatory are known as the Poor Souls.

4. Litany for the Poor Souls

[tbpiper]

if the Apocrypha are inspired books

Therein lies the rub.

[tbpiper]

This proves that there is another state after death,

I beg to differ. The phrase in this world or in the next is to emphasize the fact that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is absolutely unforgivable not to imply that there is a holding pattern for the not-quite-holy-enough to finally get their spiritual act together.

and the Church for 2,000 years has called this state purgatory

The early church started out preaching the shed blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sin. That's what Jesus talked about. At the last supper, I'm sure he didn't say, "...and if My body and blood aren't quite good enough, there's always purgatory..."

By the way, how does one get out of purgatory?

[Pyro7480]

You misunderstood. For those in purgatory, their sins are forgiven. The Blood of Jesus is applied to them. But the temporal punishment for these sins that is left is what is being repaid there.

[tbpiper]

The successors of the Apostles are the priests in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

That's a load of crap. The Catholic and Orthodox churches can't even agree on who the real pope is. With all of their history and tradition they might have a clue. However, it just seems to cloud the argument. Besides, Jesus is the head of the church not some man and the Holy Spirit is given to every believer not a select few.

[tbpiper]

You misunderstood. For those in purgatory, their sins are forgiven. The Blood of Jesus is applied to them. But the temporal punishment for these sins that is left is what is being repaid there.

Then you don't understand salvation. If Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, how come there is some penalty left over for us to pay. If there is, then His blood was not sufficient to wash away our sins. If we take on His righteousness because of the cross, how come we still have to pay a penalty for our unrighteousness that He said he took on the cross? Purgatory cannot be argued from the scriptures without a great deal of manipulation.

[Pyro7480]

Not from your version of the Scriptures.

[AnAmericanMother]

Basically, here's how the Apocrypha (or "deuterocanonical books" as the Catholics call them) came to be:

In Jesus's time, the Old Testament canon used by most Jews, including those in Roman Palestine, was the Septuagint (so called because according to Jewish tradition it was prepared by 70 (septuaginta) scholars). This was a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, because by that time most Jews could not speak Hebrew fluently.

The Septuagint contained a number of books that were later dropped from the Jewish canon - 1st & 2nd Maccabees, part of the book of Esther, Ecclesiasticus, etc. By the time the committee that prepared the King James Bible got organized, these books had been dropped from the Jewish canon and thus did not get into the KJV.

But the original Catholic OT was taken from the Septuagint, so it did include those books.

[AnAmericanMother]

Your sins are forgiven you, and Christ's sacrifice is a full, perfect and complete expiation of the punishment for sin. But sin and sinful habits leave a mark - what we call the temporal consequences of sin. And God being perfect justice, not the least mark of sin can endure in His presence. So Purgatory is for removing those marks and habits and for getting ready.

C.S. Lewis may have explained it best. You have escaped from a train wreck with your life -- but your clothing is filthy, you're unshaven, you're feeling kinda bad. The Host of the Feast says, "Come, enter into joy." You say, "my garments aren't ready, I'm not fit to enter in." The Host says, "Still, come in." "I would rather be clean." "It may hurt." "Even so, Lord!"

[AnAmericanMother]

“I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

[franky1]

Re: Purgatory

Look at 1 Corinthians 3:14–15: “If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

You see, the Latinate word purgatory means a purgation or burning by fire. Paul in these verses refers to a purgation process whereby a man is saved even though his works are burned away. This is precisely what the Catholic Church teaches. A person at death who still has personal faults is prevented from entering into heaven because he is not completely purified. He must go through a period of purgation in order to be made clean, for nothing unclean will enter heaven (cf. Rev. 21:27).

A key word is “faults”. A fault can be as small as saying an unkind word about your neighbor to another even though the “unkind word” is true.

Moses is an example when he met God. Moses could not look upon God for all the brillance, brillance being perfection.

God bless.

[doc1019]

So, if purgatory exists, Hell must not (at least for mere mortals). If my sins can be punished by a stay in purgatory, why did GOD even create a Hell … just for Satan and his fallen angels?

If my sins can be forgiven bya stay in purgatory, why did GOD send his only begotten Son to save us? Jesus would have better spent his time overseeing purgatory than dying on a cross.

[Salvation]

Martin Luther took out these books because disproved his beliefs about three things and probably others.

Off the top of my head:
Faith ONLY — remember Martin Luther added the word, ONLY
Faith versus works — works are mentioned in some of these books, and disapproved of that theory.
Strong allusions to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the OLD TESTAMENT

I’m sure there are others. Anyone else?

[Salvation]

Hell does exist. See the link for the Lesson on Hell below.

[Salvation]

Another thing is Luthers five Solas.............you know what they are.

The Bible and the Catholic Church do not support them. Tradition is proved valid even in your KJV.

[doc1019]

Doesn’t do much to answer my question.

[tbpiper]

Purgatory is for removing those marks and habits and for getting ready.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

New creations don't have to be purgatorially spruced up to stand before God.

and

From Hebrews 10:

[19] My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place [20] by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.

[21]We have a great high priest who is in charge of God's house. [22]So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let's keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water.

There's no need for any postmortem spiritual purging. It was all done at the cross by the blood of Jesus.

C.S. Lewis misses the mark. You don't show up in heaven tattered and disheveled from a train wreak. No, the blood of Jesus makes it as though you'd never been in a train wreak at all.

[Salvation]

Luther's Five Solas

[Salvation]

Maybe these links will:

A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 1: Religion
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 2: The Bible and Tradition
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 3: God and the Holy Trinity
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 4: Prayer
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 5: Public Worship of God

A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 6: Angels and Devils
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 7: Human Beings and the Purpose of Life
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 8: Sanctifying Grace
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 9: Heaven
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 10: Mortal and Venial Sin

A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 11: Hell
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 12: Purgatory

[tbpiper]

Look at 1 Corinthians 3:14–15

Look at 2 Corinthians 5:17. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

[Salvation]

If you get to Purgatory you know that you are going to heaven. It is a waiting place where souls wait to be moved to heaven. This is one of the reasons that Catholics pray for the dead.

Have you had a grandfather, grandmother, mother, father die?

If you said even one prayer for them, maybe you were the one who got them to heaven. The souls in Purgatory and do nothing for themselves, only wait and long for their days in heaven.