The Hope of Purgatory

 

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POPE Benedict XIV once said, “if there was no purgatory, then we would have to invent it, for who would dare say of himself that he was able to stand directly before God.”^[1]Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, from God and the World: Believing and Living in Our Time – A Conversation With Peter Seewald, Ignatius Press I couldn’t agree more. 

But many Protestants claim that Catholics did, in fact, invent Purgatory.^[2]“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.” —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1031 They say there is only Heaven and Hell, and that Purgatory is a teaching that gives people the false hope for a “second chance” after their death.^[3]The Apostle’s Creed makes it clear that there are other elements in eternity that are neither Heaven nor Hell. The Creed says that, “on the third day [Jesus] rose from the dead.” According to Tradition, the place Jesus descended was Sheol or Hades, the “abode of the dead” where the souls of the righteous awaited salvation. He did not descend to the place of the damned, that part of Sheol where the wicked are eternally consigned. We see these two parts of Sheol divided by an impassible “chasm” in Christ’s parable about Lazarus [cf. Lk 16:19-31] 

None of those claims, however, are found in either Catholic teaching or the Scriptures… 

 

The Necessity of Purity

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states simply:

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. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect… —CCC, n. 1030-1031

All of that single paragraph is supported in Sacred Scripture, as you’ll see. However, some “bible-believing” Christians say that, once you are baptized, all your sins are covered by the Blood of Jesus and that, upon death, this covering is all that the Father sees. Therefore, they claim, such a soul enters immediately into Heaven, no matter how well they’ve lived after becoming a Christian. The problem is that Scripture actually contradicts their assertion. 

Jesus said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ^[4]Matt 5:48 But who among us can say he is perfect? Speaking to Christians, St. John wrote, 

If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)

So, if we are not perfect, can we still enter Heaven immediately upon death? According to the author of Hebrews, the answer is no. Rather, he says we are to…

Strive… for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

Here emerges a biblical distinction between salvation and holiness, between being saved and being sanctified. While the terms can be interchangeable in a proper context, they help us to distinguish what the Apostles are getting at, namely, that in order to see God,^[5]ie. the beatific vision we must first become like Him. 

Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope based on Him makes himself pure, as He is pure. (1 John 3:2-3) 

John is clearly teaching that this hope is realized in purity. What is purity? It is when we fulfill in totality the commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” ^[6]Mark 12:30 The problem is that most Christians die in a state of attachment to some form of sin, which is to say, a state of not totally loving God or neighbor. It could be hidden desires to listen to gossip or satiate the eyes. It could be an attachment to material things and comfort, or inordinate desires for things that, in and of themselves, aren’t necessarily sinful (such as marital sex, food, or recreation). But Jesus is clear: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” ^[7]Matthew 6:24 Even the smallest attachment is still a sin, what Catholics call “venial” sin. In truth, “we all fall short in many respects,” ^[8]James 3:2 wrote St. James. Jesus said that “on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak.” ^[9]Matthew 12:36 

Are you breaking a sweat yet?

Now, as St. John teaches, we are still God’s children even with these faults. But we are still required to conform ourselves to the perfection of the Father, to that purity, without which we cannot see Him. The Bible is clear: “Nothing unclean will enter [the city of God].” ^[10]Rev 21:27

So, where does this leave a Christian who has the stain of venial sin on their soul at the moment of their death? The Catholic Church states in this hopeful passage:

Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul’s progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits temporal punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin. However venial sin does not break the covenant with God. With God’s grace it is humanly reparable. “Venial sin does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness.” —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1863

But know that venial sin still has to be removed — to be purged. This is the role of Purgatory. This purgation is what is referred to as a “temporal punishment” demanded by justice. 

 

The Mercy of God’s Justice

We see this justice of God at work in the Old Testament when King David committed adultery. God forgave him… but David still merited punishment (cf. 2 Sam 2:13-14). Pope Benedict explains God’s judgment and the balance between justice and grace. 

If it were merely grace, making all earthly things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the question about justice — the crucial question that we ask of history and of God. If it were merely justice, in the end it could bring only fear to us all. —POPE BENEDICT XVI Spe Salvi, n. 47

God’s mercy is such that He is willing to forgive even the most heinous sin, but His justice is such that even the smallest sin must be accounted for. As St. Faustina describes from a vision:

Suddenly I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it. I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God. I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for. What a moment! Who can describe it? To stand before the Thrice-Holy-God! —St. Faustina; Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n.36

Now, none of this is to say that some souls cannot enter directly into Heaven upon their death. 

…there can be people who are utterly pure, completely permeated by God, and thus fully open to their neighbours — people for whom communion with God even now gives direction to their entire being and whose journey towards God only brings to fulfilment what they already are. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Spe Salvi, n. 46

But this is rare, he admits. Most of us won’t reach this state of total love for God and neighbour while on earth. So Benedict explains in St. Paul’s words how we can be both saved but still in need of purification — so long as we have built our lives upon the foundation of Jesus Christ: 

This foundation endures. If we have stood firm on this foundation and built our life upon it, we know that it cannot be taken away from us even in death. Then Paul continues: “Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw — each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 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” (1 Cor 3:12-15). —Ibid., n. 46

Right there, you have the doctrine of Purgatory. This “fire”, says Benedict, may simply be the encounter with Christ’s gaze, or, I like to think, the flames of His Sacred Heart. How long does it last? “The transforming ‘moment’ of this encounter eludes earthly time-reckoning,” says Benedict, “it is the heart’s time, it is the time of ‘passage’ to communion with God in the Body of Christ.”

 

Stairway to Heaven

Here is a simple image to help understand Purgatory. Think of your time on Earth as beginning on the landing at the bottom of a staircase. One has the choice to either take the stairs up, toward Heaven, or the stairs down, which lead to Hell.^[11]cf. Hell is For Real Through baptism, we are placed on the first step of the stairway to Heaven and the promise of eternal life. The only way to continue ascending is to follow Jesus, in the way in which He taught us:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. (Matthew 7:21) If you love Me, you will keep My commandments… I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. (John 14:15, 15:11) 

So long as you remain on this staircase of seeking to love God, your salvation is secure. As said above, even failure to love perfectly “does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness.”^[12]CCC, n. 1863 However, if you have not reached the top of the staircase at the end of your life — that place of total love for God and detachment from sin, what Jesus calls “perfection” — then justice will carry you in the arms of mercy along the remaining steps.

Thus, Purgatory isn’t a second chance; it’s a completion of the good work already begun in you (cf. Phil 1:6) through the free gift of grace (cf. Eph 2:8). Still, it is magnitudes more painful than it would be on earth because it is accomplished in the fullness of the eternal light of He who is Truth.

It is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of His love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become ourselves totally and thus totally of God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love… The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy. —Ibid., n. 47

Contrary to what some Evangelicals claim, you can lose your salvation; you can turn back and end up on the stairway to perdition.

See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but God’s kindness to you, provided you remain in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. (Romans 11:22) For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift… and then have fallen away, to bring them to repentance again, since they are recrucifying the Son of God for themselves and holding Him up to contempt. (Hebrews 6:4-6 ) Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12)

We have to cooperate with grace; the stairway to Heaven is not an escalator but a narrow and demanding climb (Matt 7:13-14) where you must “deny yourself, pick up your cross” (cf. Matt 16:24) and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Thus, Paul tells the Christians in Philippi to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” ^[13]Phil 2:12 and the Corinthians to drive the body and train it for fear it “should be disqualified.” ^[14]1 Corinthians 9:27  “The one who perseveres to the end,” Jesus promises, “will be saved.” ^[15]Matthew 24:13

However, we risk seeing Christ’s demand for perfection as an impossible request from a severe God. On the contrary, the perfection we are called to is actually the ordinary state in which we were originally created, and thus, the state of our ultimate fulfillment. 

Jesus is demanding, because He wishes our genuine happiness. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, World Youth Day Message for 2005, Vatican City, Aug. 27th, 2004 

Everyone in Heaven will be a saint. Everyone will be fulfilled because there will be nothing left undone.  

 

The Last Outpost of Hope

Purgatory is really the last outpost of hope before Heaven. It’s the final frontier of mercy, bought and paid for by Christ’s Blood, to assure that the work of the Cross is brought to completion. As Pope Benedict said:

We don’t want, to be, to use an image from Scripture, “a pot that turned out wrong”, that has to be thrown away; we want to be able to be put right. Purgatory basically means that God can put the pieces back together again. That he can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with Him and can stand there in the fullness of life. — (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), God and the World: Believing and Living in Our Time, Kindle Edition.

Thus, your faults and shortcomings are not a reason to despair but a cause to humble yourself even more, allowing the Spirit to gently purify you here, in God’s mercy, rather than in the fires of Purgatory, in God’s justice.

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. —St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4,39:PL 77,396; cf. CCC, n. 1031

 

So grateful for your prayers and support.
Thank you!

 

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