Hi Bill,

Because charity covers a multitude of sins, as Scripture says. Almsgiving and love purify us and pay our debts so much more quickly and easily than Purgatory, and to our everlasting credit because done by free will. Purgatory is done without our cooperation. Marine boot camp is now - this is our training ground when we can cooperate and put forth our best effort. Afterward, it is purification "as if by fire". One is easy, and does others good . One is harder and only brings us up to snuff.

Mary Ann

Hi Bill,

Actually Bill, your "boot camp" analogy is an interesting one.

I usually compare purgatory to a hospital where we the suffering souls face is healing pain.

Either way, purgatory is the final step for many souls in which GOD by His Grace completes the work of sanctification in the heart of man.

The notion of time in purgatory is really not dogmatic. Rather as temporal beings we relate to everything in terms of time. So it's a reference point.

In terms of prayers for those purgatory, that's pretty simple too. We are not saved in a vacuum.
When by grace we are saved ( see Ephesians 2) we become part of the Mystical Body of Christ.

St, Paul put it this way:

1 Cor 12:19-21

19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."

Hence all being on "in Christ" we are connected. When part of the body suffers the other responds.

When a toxin enters a body that attacks a particular organ it is the brain which gives the command to the liver to detoxify the blood. It also gives the command to white blood cells to and the anti-bodies.

So, too, in the Body of Christ, when a brother in the Lord is made ill by his sin, Christ the Head of the Body commands us to pray, offer acts of Charity or take what ever measure to assist the weakened brother.

This may seem odd to you because the Protestant view of Salvation doesn't really incorporate the ramification of being included in to the Body of Christ.

It's sort of a juridical model that focuses on the individual and pronouncement of not guilty which is attained by faith.

While at the most elemental level that description is true ( Christ did indeed suffer, die and rise from the dead to pay for our sins), it is incomplete.

We as his body to a degree, participate in the same process. It's part of the Mystery of the incarnation.

Again St. Paul puts it this way:

Col 1:17-26

17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
(NKJ)

Pay attention to verse 24. Note Paul talks about his suffering for the sake of the body and even references what is lacking in the suffering of Christ.

Now Paul is not saying the Calvary was insufficient. But he was saying that we are members of His Body and that we participate in the process of our own and each others salvation.

John

Hi John,

I actually don't think that, scientifically, this is true. White blood cells act strictly on their own in finding toxins and invaders; like policemen, they don't receive a message from the Chief of Police to go after someone they see committing a crime, they just go after them. They have no way of communicating with the brain. This is what anti-bodies are all about. I'm not sure how the liver works.

Eric

Hi Eric,

You're probably right. However, I think you get the point. In addition the white blood cells only survive because the brain is constantly giving a command to the lungs to breath.

So white blood cells as part of the body act are empowered to act as free agents as are we as members of the Body of Christ, but that power we have by our baptismal priesthood, is contingent on Christ who is the head of the Church.

Does that work better ?

John

Hi Bill,

I just wanted to add to what my colleagues have said but from a different angle.

You are correct!

You should be puzzled about why Catholics go to such extremes to try avoid Purgatory but you should also be puzzled that Catholics would want to go to Purgatory.

Your probably saying: What is this nut case talking about?

• The first train of thought is our divine nature desiring union with Our Lord.
• The second train of thought is our human nature desiring no pain.

The Catholic Christian is human in nature, though through the Eucharist we partake in Divine nature.

Our whole life is a struggle between the voices and temptations of our human nature/weaknesses versus those of the divine nature we partake in through the Eucharist.

Through private revelation, which no one is bound to believe, it has been reported that the pains of Purgatory are so harsh, but at the same time these saints in Purgatory have expressed an intense joy, because they know that as their self-love gets burned away, their union with Our Lord is closer.

The MOST important thing to remember about Purgatory is that it has nothing AT ALL to do with anyone's salvation. It has to do with one own personal holiness.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Hi Bill,

We are not trying to shun Purgatory. We are trying to get it done early. We are trying, through prayer and fasting and almsgiving (charity) to bust our egos and add love to the world. All by the grace of God, by the way. It is Christ who works in us now, with our consent and cooperation, and all merit, whether shared or passed around or "earned" is His. The smart Catholic knows that we all need to be made holy, if not in this life all the way, then finishing up in the next. But our love here on earth changes our souls easily, with love, while in Purgatory God's love has to work on us from the outside. Look, if the purpose of life is to bring our wills in union with God, and we have free will to choose until the moment of death, it is "easy" to decide to do God's will here. And our spirit is changed by our decisions. Somehow, in purgatory, we are changed from the outside - and that is always more uncomfortable. I would rather love and pray and fast here on earth than be in debtors' prison to the last penny, as Jesus mentioned.

Mary Ann Parks

We welcome technical questions, some of us a have degrees in theology, others like myself are former Protestant ministers.

We try to give examples that lay people can easily understand.

Purgatory is a condition as much as it is a place. It is in the here after hence it is in the eternal now as God is in the internal now. The Church uses time as reference point to explain a mystery.

At the heart of all Mysteries is the mystery of the Incarnation. God became man and in so doing chose a plan of salvation which includes man. So when a Christian offers prayers for a soul in purgatory, they assist the perfection of that soul. It's like an extension of preaching the Gospel. Also the person interceding is also becoming more Christ-like because they are responding to grace as they act in charity.

No one enters the presence of God until they are purified. So no one is looking for a get out of jail free card.

If you are looking for scriptural support you'll find it in the book of Maccabees. Perhaps my colleagues can give you the exact phrase.

Also prayer for the dead is an ancient Jewish Tradition which is still carried out to this day.

John DiMascio