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Do you know where you're going to go when
you die?
You probably think you're going to Purgatory to get cleaned up first. I bet you would say you
wouldn't go directly to Heaven, because you're
not good enough.
I was raised a Catholic
and this is the bottom line with what's wrong
with Catholicism. I'm glad I learned the truth
through the Scriptures.
Please don't answer by explaining what it doesn't
mean, as if to explain away
the verse, but explain what it does mean.
Bernie
{
Do
you know where you're going when you
die and can you explain what Ephesians 2:8-9 means? }
Mike
replied:
HI, Bernie —
Thanks for the questions.
You said in your question:
Do you know where
you're going to go when you die?
Sure!, the John Everett funeral home
here in Natick.; Ha, Ha, Ha : )
Seriously. I have a moral confidence
that I will be going to Heaven but I
can't have an absolute assurance
of going to Heaven, because then
I would be denying that I have the
free will to sin and offend God.
Catholic Christians believe we have
our own free will to choose God
or Sin.
This is a choice no one can take
away.
Any Baptized Christian can go straight
to Heaven after death. Anyone who
tells you otherwise is wrong. It
is very hard, but in the history
of the Church, saints and other holy
men and women have done it.
The issue here, Bernie, is choice.
In many faith sharing conversations
on Purgatory, this is one of two
critical issues that is left out;
the other being, the purpose of Purgatory:
Holiness versus Salvation. (See the
last paragraph in this web posting.)
When I sin and offend God, whose
choice was it?
God's choice or my choice?
The Catholic Church teaches it is
my choice. I offended God. Since
I offended God, I have to make amends
with the Lord God Almighty and the
members of His Church who are also
wounded by my sins.
The only other answer to this question
is: It was God's choice. If God is
responsible for my sin, then you
end up calling God a sinner who does
not appear to be interested in my
salvation; something I would not
want to say :
)
If one dies in a pure state of holiness,
one will go straight to Heaven. If
one dies in less than a 100% holy
state, God in His Mercy demands that
our self love be purged as a requirement
before entering Heaven, which is
all holy. Scripture attests to this:
27 But
nothing unclean shall enter it,
nor any one who practices abomination
or falsehood, but only those who
are written in the Lamb's
book of life.
In many Protestant denominations,
they would say, Mike, no one can
be perfect or holy. But Christ tells
us: Be perfect as your Heavenly Father
is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) Our Lord
is telling us holiness is the goal.
(Hebrews 12:14) Nevertheless, I believe,
many good hearted disciples have
reached and will continue to reach
high levels of holiness, but many
have also come a little short. (James
3:2)
Do they go to Hell?
Obviously not. St. Paul tells us
they would suffer loss, though as
through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:15)St. Theresa tells us there is no
love in Hell.
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. (cf. Council of Florence (1439):DS 1304; Council Of Trent (1563):DS 1820; (1547):1580; see also Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336):DS 1000) 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: (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:15; 1 Peter 1:7):
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe
that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying
fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned
neither in this age nor in the age to come. From
this sentence we understand that certain offenses
can be forgiven in this age, but certain others
in the age to come.
St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4,39:PL
77,396; cf. Matthew 12:31-32.
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 Maccabees 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. (cf. Second Council of Lyons (1274):DS 856) 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.
Important
side note: Many
still refute this by saying
that Maccabees isn't in their
Bible but that's not the point
we are making. This passage
still attests to a historical
reality that this event really
happened, as attested to by
the Jewish people and their
history.
15 If
any man's work is burned
up, he will suffer loss, though
he himself will be saved, but
only as through fire. 16 Do
you not know that you are God's
temple and that God's Spirit
dwells in you? 17 If
any one destroys God's temple,
God will destroy him. For God's
temple is holy, and that temple
you are.
The term fire means purification.
See also 1 Peter 1:6-9.
6 In
this you rejoice, though now for
a little while you may have to
suffer various trials, 7 so
that the genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold which
though perishable is tested by
fire, may redound to praise and
glory and honor at the revelation
of Jesus Christ. 8 Without
having seen him you love him;
though you do not now see him
you believe in him and rejoice
with unutterable and exalted joy. 9 As
the outcome of your faith you
obtain the salvation of your souls.
You won't find the word, Purgatory in the Bible
because we get the word Purgatory
from Latin which is "the language of the Church" and
Greeks aren't going to give us a
Latin word!
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For
we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.
Biblical Fundamentalism, today,
refers to interpreting the Bible
with a rigid literalism that wrenches
a text from the context of the
passage, the whole of Scripture,
and the living Tradition of the
Church. This method of literalistic
interpretation, literalism, should
not be confused with the literal
meaning of Scripture, which the
Church has always affirmed.
"For by grace you have
been saved through faith; and
this is not your own doing,
it is the gift of God - not
because of works lest any man
should boast."
Fundamentalists often cite this
passage as a proof-text that one
is saved by faith alone, thus
rejecting the necessity of good
works. However, the verse never asserts
that one is saved by faith alone.
That false idea is explicitly
rejected in James 2:24: "You
see that a man is justified by
works and not by faith alone."
What St. Paul teaches is that
we are saved by grace through
faith, which is exactly what the
Catholic Church teaches. Concerning
the misuse of Ephesians to reject
the necessity of good works, that
interpretation falls apart once
verse 10 is considered. "For
we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works"
(Ephesians 2:10).
Many Protestants are confused about this teaching of the Church. My Catholic Notes on Purgatory may be helpful.
Catholic Notes:
When talking with friends and family about Purgatory, it's important they know the basics:
Purgatory does exist.
Purgatory is not a third place along with Heaven and Hell nor is it a second chance.
Purgatory has nothing to do with Limbo, which was only a theological opinion and was never a doctrine of the Church.
Souls in Purgatory have been saved just as much as the souls in Heaven.
Purgatory is like the Holy Hospital of Heaven.
Purgatory refers to a temporary state of purification for those who have
died in the state of grace but still need to get rid of any lingering imperfections
(venial sins, earthly attachments, self-will, etc.) before entering the perfection
of Heaven.
Purgatory has nothing to
do with one's justification or salvation. Those in Purgatory are justified; they are saved. Purgatory
has to do with one's personal holiness and the burning away of remaining self-love. Revelation
21:27 It's our personal holiness because each person uses their free will differently in life to make good or bad choices on our pilgrimage to our particular judgment.
The Scriptures tell us, Our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29) We believe that All Consuming Fire is Our Very Lord Jesus Himself burning away all the self-love from our souls.
This article by Emily Stimpson from Our Sunday Visitor (osv.com) September 29, 2013 will also be helpful.
If you struggle to understand the Catholic view of Purgatory, this analogy may help:
Think of sin as a self-inflicted wound in your life.
When we physically hurt ourselves, many times we have to be brought to the hospital and the doctor or nurse will put an alcoholic disinfectant in our cut or wound. It will hurt ... a lot!!! but it's a good hurt; it's a holy hurt, that is needed to make us physically better.
We also have to distinguish between less severe physical injuries where we cut ourselves and require stitches and more severe injuries, like a NASCAR racing driver who gets into a major collision and ends up with third or fourth-degree burns over 90 percent of their body. There are varying degrees of damage that we do to our bodies, not only physically, but spiritually too!
Because Revelation tells us that nothing impure can enter Heaven (Revelation 21:27) and because God Himself is all Holy, we too, have to be all Holy to enter Heaven. To achieve this, any remaining self-inflicted spiritual wounds (meaning self-love) from our pilgrimage on earth has to be burned off, healed, and purified.
If our spiritual injuries are along the line of just needing stitches, that healing period where our self-love has to be burned off will be short;
but if our self-inflicted injuries are along the line of third or fourth-degree burns, the healing process will take longer.
Saints in the past have had private revelations from the souls in Purgatory. They, (the Holy Souls in Purgatory), have shared that, while the (healing|burning) fires of God's Love in Purgatory are painful (Hebrews 12:29, Exodus 3:1-6), at the same time they had an internal, burning joy because they knew they were being conformed to the image of God and their final destiny would be Total Union with Him.
Instead of the alcoholic disinfectant that the doctor gave us to heal our physical injuries so we can re-enter the Earthly world again, in Purgatory, we experience a holy, healing pain under Jesus' Care which purifies our souls and prepares us to enter Eternal Life with God who is all Holy. Our prayers and good works can also help the Holy Souls currently in Purgatory by 1.) purifying their souls and 2.) preparing them to enter Eternal Life with God, who is all Holy.
Interested in helping the Saved, Holy Souls in Purgatory?
Think of the number of saved Faithful Departed who have passed from this life to the next since 33 A.D.: many with major spiritual injuries. There's a lot! This is why praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory is very important — and they can't wait to be purified for Heaven! (Revelation 21:27) If there are any Catholics (who live in the United States) reading this answer, who have a strong devotion to praying for the Holy Souls, check out my other website at:
I work with another colleague, Brian Bagley on this. Together we are trying to re-kindle this devotion among the lay faithful and Catholic clergy in praying for the Holy Souls and for those interested. We will send out a FREE Purgatory Prayer Program for you to get started.
Hope this helps,
Mike Humphrey
Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Suggestions for this web page and the web site can be sent to Mike Humphrey
