A QUESTION ABOUT PURGATORY

Question:
Can you explain a little bit about Purgatory? What it is, how long it takes, etc?

Answer:
Sure,No problem.

First of all, Purgatory is a place or process of purification. It is not a place where you atone for sins. It is a place where you are cleansed of the"consequences" of a sin that has already been forgiven. This is a very biblical idea. Remember David? He committed adultery and murder. Did God forgive him? Yes. But what happened? If you remember his son died because of his (David's) sin. Another example is Moses. He doubted God. Did God forgive him? Of Course, but he was never allowed to enter the promised land.

Guilt for our sins is forgiven by God, we cannot atone for eternal consequences of our sins here or in Purgatory, but, we can make repparation or "repair" our relationship with God in a temporal or earthly sense. We can restore fellowship with God. This too is a very biblical idea. There are countless old and new testament references to fasting and praying as a means of restoring fellowship with God. These things do not save us in an eternal sense or atone for our sins in an eternal sense, but they do in a temporal or earthly sense.

Purgatory is where we are cleansed or purified fromthe temporal consequences of sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.

Also, despite much superstition throughout the centuries of Catholicism, the church has never officially defined how long this takes. It may be instantaneous, but one thing is for sure. There is sin on earth and there is no sin in heaven. The idea of being cleansed before entering the throne room of heaven is something that simply makes sense and as catholics we are not disregarding the blood of Christ, or his sacrifice, we are depending on it to cleanse us!

Furthermore, only imperfect souls in a state of grace go to purgatory. It is not a second chance. You cannot stop in purgatory on your way to hell and then somehow, sneak into heaven.

Purgatory is also not an eternal place. It will cease to exist once Jesus comes back.
Finally, it is important to mention that prayers for the dead are nothing new. The jews did (and still do)pray for their dead. In fact, in virtually all cultures there are ceremonies and "prayers" offered for the dead. Just recently we set up a table for day of the dead at the church. I have to admit that there was something reassuring about putting the pictures of my grandfather on that table as a sign that I am trusting his soul to Jesus! It saddens me that for some reason in America we just don't seem to care much about our deceased and many people, even catholics, look down on these kinds of practices.

Anyway, the point is, that the jews did and still do pray for their dead, Jesus was a jew. Jesus prayed for the dead and took part in these rituals as a practicing Jew. Even a cursory glance at the writings of the 1st and 2nd century church fathers shows that this tradition was carried on by the Christians and continues to be carried on to this day in Holy Mother Church.

If you would like some Bible verses that imply theteaching of purgatory or more of an answer than this,please let me know. Also, www.catholic.com hasEXCELLENT resources on this.

Love and Peace with you
Pete