“Purgatory shows God’s great mercy and washes away the defects of those who long to become one with Him.” – St. Josemaria Escriva
Posted on 08/08/2015 2:06:13 PM PDT by NYer
“Purgatory shows God’s great mercy and washes away the defects of those who long to become one with Him.” – St. Josemaria Escriva
When is the last time you heard a homily on purgatory? If your parish is like most, it’s been a very long time. Getting more personal, when is the last time you prayed for the Holy Souls? If you’re like many Catholics, the answer is not recently. The souls in purgatory are too often forgotten by Catholics, and I fear this is often out of a misguided desire not seem medieval (as if that were a bad thing), superstitious, or worse yet, ecumenically insensitive.
Regardless of the reasons for its neglect, it is the constant teaching of the Church that purgatory is quite real and that there are countless souls there in need of our prayers. But my point here is not prove that purgatory exists or to provide a theological basis for its existence. Rather, it is to urge you to pray for the Church suffering. Here are 5 reasons to pray for the relief of our brothers and sisters in purgatory.
1. The pain is real – The suffering of purgatory is likened by the saints to burning in a blazing fire. In fact, some saints have even said that the pain of purgatory is not all that different from the suffering of hell. One of the chief sources of the pain is the fact that salvation has been obtained, and yet one cannot immediately enjoy its consolations. This delay of the enjoyment of heaven leads to a spiritual agony of sorts. St. Thomas Aquinas explains it like this:
The more one longs for a thing, the more painful does deprivation of it become. And because after this life, the desire for God, the Supreme Good, is intense in the souls of the just (because this impetus toward him is not hampered by the weight of the body, and that time of enjoyment of the Perfect Good would have come) had there been no obstacle; the soul suffers enormously from the delay.
So the souls in purgatory are suffering in a very real and painful way, a way we cannot fully comprehend. We have the ability to help them and relieve them by our prayers and actions.
2. They are our relatives – Many of us have blood relations—grandmothers, aunts and uncles, and parents—who have died and are likely in purgatory. We should be praying for their souls out of love for them. But even if we have no dead relatives that we know of, the souls in purgatory are still our spiritual brothers and sisters. We are related by baptism into Christ, and this familial relationship should spur us to act on their behalf.
3. You will probably go there – Let’s be honest, most of us are simply not holy enough to bypass purgatory, and the vast majority of us will experience its cleansing fires. If you were suffering intensely, wouldn’t you want someone to offer you relief? Yes, you would. Praying for the Holy Souls, then, is a fulfillment of the Golden Rule given to us by Christ—to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you feel an aversion to praying for the poor souls, then simply remember what you would wish if you were in their position.
4. It will bring you joy – Praying for the souls in purgatory is not without its rewards. Can you imagine the joy of meeting brothers and sisters in Christ one day in heaven and realizing that you helped them with your humble prayers? “As we enter Heaven we will see them, so many of them coming towards us and thanking us,” Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “We will ask, who they are, and they will say a poor soul you prayed for in Purgatory.” The small sacrifice of time we made in this life will all be worth it when we see the faces of those who benefited from our prayers.
5. It isn’t that hard – Praying for the souls in purgatory is quite easy, so easy in fact that we have no excuse for not doing it. A prayer for the Holy Souls can be as simple as the short Requiem Aeternam prayer: “Eternal rest, grant unto him/her O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him/her. May s/he rest in peace. Amen.” We can also add a brief petition to our daily meal prayer: “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts…And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.” Why wouldn’t we pray these simply prayers daily?
Two effective ways to pray for the souls in purgatory are praying the Divine Mercy chaplet for them and remembering them in your Rosary intentions. The Divine Mercy Chaplet and Rosary require a time commitment of approximately 10 and 20 minutes. Even praying these powerful prayers once a week for the Holy Souls isn’t asking that much considering the benefit it brings to your spiritual family members.
Finally, one can have a Mass said for the poor souls. Mass stipends are usually $10, the cost of two coffees at Starbucks. This merciful almsgiving is pleasing to God and hardly burdensome to us.
Purgatory is nothing other than an experience of the burning and purifying mercy of God, a purifying love that consumes all defects with its intensity. While it may be strange for us to think of love and mercy as inflicting pain, this is the reality of purgatory.
We have the power to help our suffering friends and bring them relief. To do so is an act of mercy and self-giving love. The sacrifice it requires of us is minimal, and yet the rewards are great. On this All Souls day, let us renew our commitment to praying for our brothers and sisters who suffer in the purifying love of God.
Requiem Aeternam dona eis, Domine
Et lux perpetua luceat eis:
Requiescant in pace. Amen.
"In his preface to the New Testament, Luther ascribed to several books of the New Testament different degrees of doctrinal value: "St. John's Gospel and his first Epistle, St. Paul's Epistles, especially those to the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and St. Peter's Epistle-these are the books which show to thee Christ, and teach everything that is necessary and blessed for thee to know, even if you were never to see or hear any other book of doctrine. Therefore, St. James' Epistle is a perfect straw-epistle compared with them, for it has in it nothing of an evangelic kind." Thus Luther was comparing (in his opinion) doctrinal value, not canonical validity."
Interesting. What of the other 3 Gospels? The remainder of the NT? Not enough doctrinal value? Really?
" The version of the Bible in use at the time of Jesus was the Septuagint (abbreviated LXX, for the 70 men who translated it from Hebrew into Greek by the beginning of the first century B.C.).
This version of the Bible included the seven Deuterocanonical books. This was the version of the Old Testament used by the New Testament authors and by Christians during the first century A.D.
With the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70 A.D. and because the Christians were seen as a threat, the Jewish leaders saw a need to get their house in order. One thing that they did was to decide officially the list of books that were to compose their Scriptures.
They did this at the Council of Jamnia (about 100 A.D.), at which they rejected the seven Deuterocanonical books because they believed that they were not written in Hebrew. (In 1947, however, fragments in Hebrew of Tobit and Sirach were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. In addition, most Scripture scholars believe that 1 Maccabees, Judith, Baruch and parts of Wisdom were also originally written in Hebrew.) The early Church did not require all Scripture to be written in Hebrew, and the New Testament books were written in Greek.
The early Church continued to accept the books of the LXX version, although some debate about these books continued through the 5th century.
This list, as accepted by the Catholic Church, was affirmed by the Council of Hippo in 393 A.D., by the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D., and by Pope Innocent I in 405 A.D. At the Ecumenical Council of Florence in 1442, the Catholic list was again restated, against those who wanted to include even more books. "
" In the 16th century, Martin Luther adopted the Jewish list, putting the Deuterocanonical books in an appendix. He also put the letter of James, the letter to the Hebrews, the letters of John, and the book of Revelation from the New Testament in an appendix. He did this for doctrinal reasons (for example: 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 supports the doctrine of purgatory, Hebrews supports the existence of the priesthood, and James 2:24 supports the Catholic doctrine on merit). "
So if Luther dropped the books from the Old Testament because they were not in the Hebrew Bible (how convenient!) what was his reason for cutting then rearranging the New Testament?!
The Luther Bible is a German language Bible translation from Hebrew and ancient Greek by Martin Luther.
Luther added the word "alone" (allein in German) to Romans 3:28 controversially so that it read: "So now we hold, that man is justified without the help of the works of the law, alone through faith"[8] The word "alone" does not appear in the Greek texts,[9] but Luther defended his translation by maintaining that the adverb "alone" was required both by idiomatic German and the apostle Paul's intended meaning,[10] and that sola was used in theological tradition before him.
The Apostle Paul's intended meaning. Hmmm... I wonder how he was able to divine that? And by what divine right was permission given him to change the wording?
" He also had harsh words for the Revelation of John, saying that he could "in no way detect that the Holy Spirit produced it."[13] In his translation of the New Testament, Luther moved Hebrews and James out of the usual order, to join Jude and the Revelation at the end, and differentiated these from the other books which he considered "the true and certain chief books of the New Testament. The four which follow have from ancient times had a different reputation."[14] "
Again, quite interesting. Amazing also that a man who wanted so much to stick to the Hebrew Bible became so anti-Semitic afterward... Ahhh, but that's another thread...
Sorry, Courtesy Ping for post above!
So Luther’s back on the good list? Poor guy doesn’t know if he’s coming or going.
The result:
Caucus shut down;
intelligent responses ignored;
parameters set by non-authorities;
discussion so vehemently insisted upon replaced by sarcasm and lack of topic-related response to posts.
This is one of the reasons why a caucus is a good thing, at least when those outside respect the privileges given to the group involved.
And this is precisely why Catholics need a caucus.
E, your response to my post did not reflect any relevance to it. If you close discussion of Maccabees, and won't respond to my post regarding Luther's bible, where is the discussion? Why break into a caucus if you do not wish to discuss? By what authority do you decide what can and cannot be a topic here?
We've had some interesting discussions, but I have to say, I'm disappointed. That isn't your style.
God bless you, my friend.
Subsequent posts by a catholic warranted the caucus protection being removed.
I'll go back and review your post regarding Luther.
Courtesy ping! Sorry, confused one post with another. Please see above.
Ok...I’m not sure how this relates to the discussion on Purgatory.
The caucus was closed because a fact, not opinion, that included another Faith, was included. It was a technicality. An intelligent person such as yourself would know the rules: I even copied and pasted them into a polite response.
I've said my peace. I don't believe Luther any more than you believe the Pope. You and I can let this go, as you should have read well my response on Luther before you posted. Let us rather remain as two people who are capable of intelligent, respectful discussion and the courtesy to hear one another out.
God's blessings to you, E, sincerely! ✞
This kind of thinking, especially given his change in attitude toward the Jews later on, is to a Catholic a total discredit to Luther's ideas. This is the same as another doubting/recurring the Catholic Sacred Tradition.
Therefore, deciding that Maccabees is not a point of discussion is rendering the discussion one-sided.
Thank you for reading it over...
An honest read will indicate the status of the apocrypha as being canon was not officially settled for the rcc until Trent in 1546.
The reader should also draw the conclusion that Jerome, not Luther, held more sway over the decision to relegate the apocrypha to a secondary status.
The reader will also note that Origen and Athanasius also were centers of influence in not including these books as canon.
So here we have again some ECFs that are in favor of inclusion and some against.
I have found this is the case with all of the points of contention we discuss on these threads.
Four primary factors influenced Jerome's criteria for inclusion or rejection of the apocrypha.
Obviously, the inferior rank to which the deuteros were relegated by authorities like Origen, Athanasius, and Jerome, was due to too rigid a conception of canonicity, one demanding that a book, to be entitled to this supreme dignity,
1)must be received by all,
2)must have the sanction of Jewish antiquity, and
3)must moreover be adapted not only to edification,
4) but also to the "confirmation of the doctrine of the Church", to borrow Jerome's phrase.
The last one is the most telling as to why these books should be rejected.
These books did not conform to the doctrine of the Church then and they do not today.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm
And, thanks for the advice. You would not believe the number of times I've heard that or something similar.
Purgatory, as a conceptual "place" with a purpose, fits in my growing understanding of the Heavenly Hierarchy.
First, let me say that I know that my ways are NOT His Ways. Using my human mind, I barely understand people and I've been one all my life. How am I to understand Him and His Ways, right?
However, I can see that, just like with any Bell curve look at humanity, there is a spectrum of believers from sinner to saint, according to my human perspective.
As it is, I've never been able to get my head around the idea that someone could mouth the Word, but not live the Word, and still be every bit as forgiven as someone with a truly repentant and confessed heart. Just walk right on through the Gate and into Paradise. No problemo.
Not saying it doesn't happen, just that I don't understand the mechanics of the process of how Heaven gets all the stains out before welcoming a soul home.
With some, life's most stubborn stains either remain or come back in spite of a seemingly effective baptismal cleansing.
Others have never even taken that bath, but instead just did a splash and go at the Holy Sink and went back to work.
I have friends who claim their belief when asked and similarly know what Jesus said about loving your neighbor, but that's not how they live. Not even close.
Hey, who am I to judge, but "loving their neighbor" is definitely not revealed by what they say and how they drive in heavy traffic, for example.
And, yes, that's been my face in that mirror, too. Let's be honest, there's no foolin' God and people are known to do what they mean more often than they say what they mean.
And some people are mean. There are the "holier than thou" types somewhere on the spectrum closer to a Pharisee-type Christian, who aren't a bit shy about detailing the ways that you're a sinning, wretched mess riding the world's rails straight to the Gates of Hell.
They know the Bible, but it doesn't feel like they live the Bible. You know what I mean? For them it's like it's all head stuff, but not much heart stuff.
For good decisions, a truer understanding and a better life experience, you need both the head and the heart. Or said in a bigger picture way, the Law and the Love. One without the other leads to error.
So, what of the proud of heart believers or the ignorant believers who've never examined their beliefs or learned His sayings or what of those who have but have never lived His sayings?
What of the unrepentant believer? What of those believers who still perhaps unknowingly have one or more of the Serpent's invisible spawn coiled within doing their ego's bidding?
There seems to be many classes or degrees of believer, yet I've read that as believers we all pass through the same door. I accept that as fact without knowing what that means. What is "the door" experience like?
All believers aren't the same. Once freed of its earthly body and realm, I figure that the more stained a soul is, the "heavier" the soul is and the lower its rise and resting place in the heavenly hierarchy until the Son lifts it up and washes it clean enough for Heaven. The heaviest souls sink all the way to the bottom.
For me and my understanding, purgatory, conceptually and as described in what I've read so far, is sort of like a found missing puzzle piece. It fits with the surrounding pieces I've found so far and, though the puzzle is still incomplete, with it in place I think I have a better view and understanding of the cosmic heavenly hierarchy.
As such, purgatory as a concept satisfies both my head and heart and hopefully has lead me to a better understanding to go with a now stronger faith and belief.
Works for me. Thanks for the help!
Recommend you read Colossians.
There is no concept of a "heavier" soul due to sin.
EXCUSE ME? Would you, e, care to clarify that statement, since it was I, who posted from 3 sources, to whose post you are referring?!? My patience is wearing thin. My Faith isn't. I saw the other thread going on about Purgatory. I see, e, that since your arrival, our thread and caucus was derailed. Are our beliefs so threatening that we have to be thwarted when discussing them amongst ourselves? Do what you want, but the more I learn about both sides, the stronger my Faith becomes. The reading I did for that post was truly a revelation for me. Oh, not the Book of Revelation in the Bible: after all, according to Luther, well, for those who haven't, read my post.
BTW: While St. Jerome may not have agreed with everything, he translated to the best of his ability, without alteration. He also reminded faithful, that is, he did not run off and found a new church, eliminate sacraments, truncate the Bible while changing passages and attempting to remove NT books. He knew where the truth was and stayed there. So shall I. May we all meet one another in Heaven, as shall all men of good will, regardless of their faith- (Vatican II) just don't mess with my integrity.
G-d ♡ bless you all!
Grateful ✟ ✡
Purgatory is not real, therefore there is no pain there.
Nobody’s relatives are somewhere that doesn’t exist and nobody is going to somewhere that doesn’t exist.
It may not be hard, but it’s a waste of time. Pray for people here and now.
The BLOOD OF JESUS is what cleanses us from ALL sin. There is nothing left on our account to *burn off* by a stay in purgatory.
Purgatory cannot cleanse what doesn’t exist.
The born again, born from above person is perfect and sinless in his regenerated spirit. The problem we have with sin is in the flesh, and when this body of flesh dies, the last issues with sin are done and gone. All that’s left is the sinless spirit.
Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Suffering cannot purify from sin. Only the blood of Jesus is capable of doing that. If suffering in purgatory could deal with any sin, then Christ died for nothing. We would just all go to purgatory and have our sins burned off.
Our life is hidden with Christ in God, and THAT is what makes us worthy to stand in God’s presence. Nobody can get any purer than the righteousness of Christ.
Did you read the article?
As to the rest?
Based upon the Rules that I observe and follow in life, and at all levels of life that my senses and intuition have shown me thus far, and based upon the Principle "As above, so below; as below, so above", I respectfully disagree.
Regardless, we'll each find out one way or the other one day and then we'll have something to talk about!
Can you substantiate your belief regarding the “heavier” soul concept? I have to admit, that’s a new one.
But, on the other hand, I know I don't see things the same way as a lot of people I talk to do, especially about things above and below the "see" level. Just weird that way, I guess.
I also admit that don't write or express myself very well and always wish I could correct and re-correct what I wrote long after posting it.
Help me to understand what is giving you trouble.
Isaiah 61: King James Version (KJV)
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
2 Corinthians 5: King James Version (KJV)
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Romans 3: King James Version (KJV)
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
How sad when one abandons truth! I pray several times a day for the Holy Souls, especially for the good people whose loved ones don’t believe and thus don’t pray for them! The people who loved them the most in life, abandoning them at death and prolonging their suffering...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.