As it often happens when we
attempt to expand or to explore our apprehension of certain principle elements
of the tenets of our faith, we need to pause and define some words that will
help us navigate the living reality that is our Catholic Faith. Among the
concepts that need to be clarified is what is meant when we use the word
Mystery.
One of the most beautiful and exciting and
multilayered terms that Christians use to celebrate and think about their faith
is the word mystery. So it is important to understand how the term has been used
and is still used inside the faith. We cannot let this understanding be
determined by and limited by what the term may mean in contemporary language and
usage. There it tends to mean something difficult, if not impossible, to
understand. Or it can refer to a genre of story with parts that do not fit
together easily and which must somehow be resolved with the use of human logic.
These elements are only in a sense vaguely related to the meanings that
Christians use when the word Mystery is employed in the faith context.1 There
is little about the truths of our beliefs that are seated in human logic. Christ
came to change hearts not to win debates.
If we use a phrase like "the mystery of the
Eucharist" this does not mean that which cannot be understood about the
Eucharist. It means that the Eucharist is a precise invisible concrete actuality
in which a divine reality is hidden. If we use the word in the singular,
"mystery of the Eucharist" it refers to the rite as a whole. But the Eucharist
was and is also called "the mysteries" and here the reference is to the various
dimensions working together. The gestures, the words, the bread and wine, the
members of the assembly in their various roles-all of these are mysteries. In
them is hidden the Lord of Glory. This is why at the very beginning of the Mass,
the bishop or priest urges the assembly, "To prepare ourselves to celebrate the
sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins." Or in the very center of the
intensity of the Eucharistic prayer, he exclaims, "The Mystery of Faith!" and
all the people proclaim what is hidden in the consecrated bread and wine;
namely, that Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.2
Now that we have dimensions for mystery we can
develop our intimacy with the reality of Purgatory. Pope John Paul II in his
writing titled Heaven, Hell and Purgatory sets for us the next concept that will
aid us as we journey towards fulfillment of the goal of human life. He pointed
out that the essential characteristic of heaven, hell or purgatory is that they
are states of being of a spirit (angel/demon) or human soul, rather than
places,
as commonly perceived and represented in human language.3 This language of
place (and time) is, according to the Pope, inadequate to describe the realities
involved, since it is tied to the temporal order in which this world and we
exist. Thus for us to embrace the grace intended for us we have to let God be
God and let our approach to God operate in mystery. In other words God and the
fullness of the things of God some of these are too big to fit into human words,
human ideas and human minds.
Now that we have established some concept
definitions we can begin to address the goal of this article. We seek to
invite those persons who are challenged by the system of beliefs about
heaven, hell and purgatory to consider reviewing what these tenets actually
are. It may clarify our understanding of what is included in the profession
made in the Catholic Faith. In other words what do we know about Purgatory
and what proof do we have? This question and others like it can fail us
because they depend too much on employing human logic and human sentiment to
verify the workings of a precise invisible concrete actuality in which a
divine reality is hidden. The tools that best open us for reception of the
divine embrace which enlightens us about the Mystery of the Trinity are
prayer, praise, worship, adoration, sacrament and service. For it is from
these skills and moments properly employed that faith, hope and trust are
infused into our hearts and we can act in profound loving ways. Let us now
note what we can traverse in our attempt to capture an essence of the gift
of Purgatory.
Let us review what is understood about the
nature of sin and the punishment of sin. To understand this doctrine and
practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double
consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes
us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the "eternal
punishment" of sin. On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an
unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on
earth or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees
one from what is called the "temporal punishment" of sin. These two
punishments must not be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God
from without, but as following from the very nature of sin. A conversion
which proceeds from a fervent charity can attain the complete purification
of the sinner in such a way that no punishment would remain. The Christian
must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should
strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various
practices of penance.4
We begin with this quote:
Heaven is the fullness
of communion with God. Heaven "is neither an abstraction nor a physical
place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy
Trinity. It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen
Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit."5 Heaven and all the
states of being experienced in the
last things are opened to us through the
Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. Clearly we humans cannot by our own will
and efforts enter into every feature of this great gift. It is obvious much
of the truth of Christ is gradually revealed to us and to the whole Church.
In this process the Church, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has
spoken to make canon of Scripture and Tradition. We firmly believe that God
is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence
are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases,
when we see God "face to face", will we fully know the ways by which - even
through the dramas of evil and sin - God has guided his creation to that
definitive Sabbath rest for which he created heaven and earth.6 Our goal
in the end is to see God face to face. This is spoken of as the Beatific
Vision which is experienced by those in heaven and which imparts supreme
happiness, joy and blessedness. This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity
- this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary,
the angels and all the blessed - is called "heaven." Heaven is the ultimate
end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme,
definitive happiness.7
God is the infinitely good and merciful Father.
But man, called to respond to him freely, can unfortunately choose to reject
his love and forgiveness once and for all, thus separating himself for ever
from joyful communion with him. It is precisely this tragic situation that
Christian doctrine explains when it speaks of eternal damnation or hell.
This situation is characterized by being eternally denied the Beatific
Vision. Hell is the state of those who definitively reject the Father's
mercy, even at the last moment of their life.
What then is Purgatory? Who should go? What then is the plight of those in
Purgatory? Purgatory is the state of those who die in God's friendship;
assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification
to enter into the happiness of heaven. They enter the state of Purgatory to
be cleansed, for "nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]" (Rev. 21:27). Anyone
who has not been completely freed of sin and/or its effects is, to some
extent, "unclean." Through repentance one may have gained the grace needed
to be worthy of heaven, which is to say, they have been forgiven and their
soul is spiritually alive. But that's not sufficient for gaining entrance
into heaven. One needs to be cleansed completely. Those who, after death,
exist in a state of purification are already in the love of Christ who
removes from them the remnants of their imperfection. The state of
purification is not a prolongation of the earthly condition. That would be
almost as if after death one were given another possibility to change one's
destiny. Purgatory is the final phase of Christ's applying to us the
purifying redemption that he accomplished for us by his death on the cross.
Those, in fact, who find themselves in the state
of purification are united both with the blessed who already enjoy the
fullness of eternal life, and with us on this earth on our way towards the
Father's house. Just as in their earthly life believers are united in the
one Mystical Body, so after death those who live in a state of purification
experience the same ecclesial solidarity which works through prayer, prayers
for suffrage and love for their other brothers and sisters in the faith.
Purification is lived in the essential bond created between those who live
in this world and those who enjoy eternal beatitude.8
The Church has only two official teachings
concerning purgatory: it exists, and our prayers help the souls in
purgatory. The constant faith of the Church affirms the belief in purgatory.
From the earliest of times, the Fathers of the Church taught the existence
of purgatory: Tertullian (Rome, 160 - 220?), Origen (Alexandria, 185 -
254?), Cyprian (Carthage, 200 - 258), Ambrose (Tier, 340 - 397), Augustine
(Numidia, 354 - 430), Basil (Caesarea, 329 - 379), Gregory of Nazianzus (in
Cappadocia, 329 - 389), John Chrysostom (Antioch, 349 - 407), Gregory the
Great (Rome, 540 - 604), and many others. The teaching Magisterium of the
Church also affirms the belief in purgatory: Council of Lyons II (1274),
Council of Florence, Council of Trent (1545-1563) "We constantly hold that
purgatory exists, and that the souls of the faithful there detained are
helped by the prayers of the faithful."9 While it is true that the word
Purgatory does not appear in Bible keep in mind that there are other
important Christian beliefs terms such as Trinity and Incarnation which do
not appear in the Bible.
Purgatory is a great gift and sign of God's
mercy on those who have honestly sought to know God and to do His will in
this life and yet die in some degree of bondage to sin or to the effects of
sin. Purgatory is the state of purification for those who die in God's favor
yet need the effects of sin removed. This cleaning is not to be considered
as punishment. Purgatory is present in the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
- Driscoll, Jeremy OSB. What Happens at Mass. Chicago. Liturgy Training Publication, 2005
- Ibid.
- Pope John Paul II. Heaven Hell and Purgatory, Wednesday General Audiences July & August 1999.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2heavn.htm
- Catechism of the Catholic Church. #1472-73.
- Op. Cit. Pope John Paul II
- Op. Cit. CCC. #314
- Op. Cit. CCC. #1024
- Op. Cit. Pope John Paul II.
- Purgatory. Catholic Apologetics.
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap090400.htm
