Hi, Gary —

I'm glad your wrote us!

Temptations and habits like the ones you have, can be hard to overcome. Nevertheless, the sacramental life of the Church can be a big help.

We don't convert people on this site, but we give them information to help them decide whether joining the Church would be an advantage to them.

We strongly believe it would be.

• Why?

Because Jesus founded the Catholic Church, and only this Church on St. Peter and his successors. (Matthew 16:13-19; 1 Timothy 3:15)

If you wish to go deeper, consider buying a cheap copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to learn everything we believe as Catholics.

The good news: By living the sacramental life of the Church and having a healthy prayer life, these things can be overcome.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Gary,

Thanks for writing us! Clearly the work of grace is already going on in your life as the Lord calls you to Himself.

The key to salvation is given to us in the book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 38:

38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

(Acts 2:38)

Now repentance means a wholescale turning away from sin and what displeases God, and an embrace of Christ as Lord and Savior. It is also a continuous thing, not a one-time thing, so we must not only repent of what we have done now, but avoid it and other sins in the future.

The Lord offers us the grace to do this. ("Grace" is the divine life of God, which is a pure gift that transforms us to be like God and enables us to do things, chiefly things that please God, though without grace we wouldn't even be able to exist.) All we need to do is ask Him. We may receive it in stages, it may entail some struggle and certainly cooperation on our parts, but the Lord is faithful. Our job is to receive and cooperate with (or correspond with) God's grace, and persevere to the end in deliberately avoiding [all, but at least serious] sin.

We, as Catholics, believe that, as testified in the Scriptures, Christ has left us what we call sacraments as sure means of receiving grace. In Baptism, we receive the grace of being regenerated — born again — and made into friends of God, objectively pleasing in his sight, as all our sins are washed away. In the Eucharist, we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), partake of the tree of life, and become one flesh, one blood with God. We believe that in the Eucharist we receive the very flesh and blood of Christ our God in a sacramental way, the true source of all grace.

We also believe that we have the right interpretation of the divine Scriptures so that:

• we can discern what is good and pleasing to God
• how to behave
• what is good to do, and
• what is harmful, in our spiritual lives, to do.

This is because we can trace our beliefs (and ministers) back to the Apostles, whom we believe received the truth from Christ. As you say, we've been around for a long time — since the days of Christ.

If you look at Christianity, you can divide it into two segments:

1. The Protestant churches, and
2. the Apostolic churches
   (This is somewhat oversimplifying but bear with me.)

The former are rooted in the protests (hence Protestant) of Martin Luther, and constitute most of the non-Catholic Christians in the western world.

The latter are comprised by the Catholic Church, a couple of small churches that are in schism with the Catholic Church, and an array of Eastern Churches, such as:

• the Eastern Orthodox
• the Oriental Orthodox
• the Armenian Apostolic, and
• the Assyrian Church of the East.

The Eastern Churches are rooted in communities that were established, in many cases, by the Apostles, or at least very, very early, all over the world: India, Alexandria, Armenia, Iraq, etc. yet despite their diversity, their far-flung locations, their long separation, all the Apostolic churches testify to a very similar faith, in sharp contrast to the Protestant churches, which immediately started to splinter into radically different forms.

So look at it this way: The oldest churches, sprawled over the world since a time when communication was quite limited, harmoniously testify to a very similar faith, whereas the Protestant churches, often within the same country, testify to wildly contradictory and remarkably different creeds.

It is not my job to convert, but you had mentioned in your question this factor of the age of the Catholic Church, and I agree that it is a relevant one.

You also asked about Purgatory. Purgatory is what we call the purification (which may be a place, or may merely be a state, which may last for a period of time, or may be perceived instantaneously) of those who have died in God's friendship (that is, those who know and have chosen God) but who need cleansing from their attachment to sin or other temporal effects of sin. (Revelation 21:27) Every sin has two components:

1. An eternal component — one's relationship with God — and
2. a temporal one, the damage that was done.

For example, if your son puts a baseball through the neighbor's window, there are two components that need to be addressed:

1. Repairing the relationship with the neighbor, and
2. repairing the damage that was done to the window.

The first is like the eternal punishment, the second like the temporal punishment. When King David committed adultery, the Lord forgave his sin, but still David's child had to die as a consequence. Purgatory is, in effect, where the just are perfected and made entirely holy before entering Heaven. It is entirely different from the sufferings of Hell.

So, to sum up, you must be a follower of God, in at least some way, to qualify for Purgatory. Purgatory is the antechamber of Heaven; no one unworthy of Heaven goes to Purgatory; it is not a second chance. This may be good news for you: We believe that when you are baptized, all the effects of sin are remitted, so you get a totally clean slate when you are baptized. However, we have a generous definition of Baptism, so if you were baptized in virtually any Christian church as an infant or later, you will have to work through those effects of sin.

Also try doing a search on our site for Purgatory.

So I encourage you to establish a relationship with the Lord and pray for the:

• gift of repentance from sin
• gift of faith, and
• grace of God.

I encourage you to look into Baptism. In the Catholic Church, this starts with a program called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

Your local Catholic priest can speak to you about the process. There is no obligation to be baptized or join if you go. You can just learn.

Hope this helps!

Eric

Hi, Gary —

You said:
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions.

• Purgatory sounds OK to me if it's not like Hell, but how do I know if I'm following God, as you put it, in at least some way to qualify for Purgatory?

You also mentioned that I must deliberately avoid at least serious sin.

• Is this up to me to decide which sins are serious and which ones are not?

Yes; you look at what the Catholic Church teaches as a guide. The faith was once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 3). "The Church is called the pillar and foundation of the truth"
(1 Timothy 3:15). Jesus said to the Apostles (on whom the Church is based),

16 He who listens to you, listens to me; he who rejects you, rejects me, and he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me.  (Luke 10:16)

Jesus promised of the Church,

13 But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth;

(John 16:13)

and

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

(John 14:26).

Finally, it is written,

15 Hold fast to the traditions which you received, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

(2 Thessalonians 2:15).

So it's important to listen to the Church, our Mother (Galatians 4:26). So we know that premarital sex is wrong, that masturbation is wrong, that contraception is wrong, because of the constant testimony of our Church.

You said:
I have spent the majority of my life trying to please myself with many vices.

• Do I have to give them all up to qualify for Purgatory, and if not, which one's can I still do?

Well, not to side-step your question, but God wants all of us, every part. This is not to say that we are obliged, strictly speaking, to become monks, but what it means is that we must surrender our wills entirely to God and be willing to give up everything, even if God isn't demanding that we do.

26 'If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.'

(Luke 14:26)

It's not a matter of what's the minimum I can get away with and still squeak into Purgatory it is, I am Yours, Lord, totally and completely; I will do whatever You ask and I surrender utterly everything to You. Once you establish that kind of relationship with the Lord, and entrust yourself to Him unconditionally, (not I will follow you if I can continue to do X), can you sit down and sort out what is moral and what is not.

First determine if the Catholic Church is a truth-telling thing; if it is, accept Her. Don't figure out if she is true by comparing what she teaches to what you think is true, otherwise you are making yourself the source of truth (which you aren't).

In any case, what She teaches is in the Catechism Mike referred to.

You said:
I know many Catholics and they don't seem to live any differently than I do. We have partied together, cursed together, etc., and most don't even go to Church; at least on a regular basis.

• Are you saying that they qualify for Purgatory in spite of their actions because they were baptized?
• Also, I'm not sure if you meant that I would have to be baptized in a Catholic church or not. As far as this grace from God goes, if it transforms us to be like God, then why do most Catholics not stand out as being God-like?

Ha, that is an excellent and very perceptive question!

Membership in the Catholic Church or even reception of the sacraments doesn't guarantee one's salvation. The vast majority of Catholics are admittedly an embarrassment and scandal to the faith. We have this principle, though, that people receive the grace of God from the sacraments to the extent they are properly disposed.

If you go through the motions every week, don't pay attention in Mass, go out of compulsion, and receive the Eucharist out of habit because the guy next to you is going up and gee, this is what we've always done, you're not going to benefit much from Mass.

If you go with a conscious awareness that you are participating in the Heavenly liturgy, with myriads of angels and saints in festal gathering, out of a fervent love for God and a deep desire to thank him (Eucharist means thanksgiving) and offer yourself as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), with a realization that the sacrifice of Calvary is being present and given to us to eat so our sins may be forgiven and we may be divinized, knowing that we are eating from the Tree of Life and having our lips cleansed with a coal from the altar in Heaven like Isaiah 6:6, cognizant that this is the new Manna from Heaven (John 6:31,49), the bread of angels and the cup of salvation (Psalm 116:13), aware that what you receive is the most holy object that has ever been present on the face of this Earth which will enter your body and be suffused throughout all your members, and you open your heart as wide as you can with all your strength to receive God's flood of graces, the result will be much different.

There is a saying, judge a medicine by those who take it, not by those who don't take it. Forget about Catholics who don't go to church. Don't even pay much attention to those who do receive but aren't properly disposed. Look at those who truly live the life of faith. Look at the saints.

In the Catholic saints, you will see incredible examples of people overflowing with holiness such as you've never seen before.

• Look at St. Teresa of Calcutta.
• Look at St. Damien the Leper.
• Look at St. Pio, who could read people's hearts, knowing what sins they committed before they confessed them.
• Look at St. Joseph of Cupertino who levitated in ecstasy.
• Look at people such as St. Pio, St. Bernadette, St. Charbel, and many others whose bodies died many years ago but remain perfectly incorrupt.
• Look at the deep humility of people like St. Pier-Giorgio Frassati and the deep devotion and zeal of St. Benedict Labre.
  
  So many examples of people of heroic virtue.

My suggestion is you try to find people in your life whose lives were in fact changed by grace.
I know my life has been changed.

You said:
As I said, the ones I have known (my peers) don't exhibit any different behavior than I do. This grace doesn't seem to do anything to them.

• Why then should I expect this grace to change my behaviors?

Perhaps I'd better get a Bible and make myself read what it says about these things. I can check out your website on Purgatory, and then read about it in the bible.

• Can you direct me to the appropriate sections?

Here are a few postings:

• What is Purgatory, why does it only apply to Catholics, and what is the Scriptural basis for this?
  
• Questions with answers about Purgatory and Indulgences.

Eric