Purgatory

[stargirl3:16]

I have a major question about purgatory. Some of my friends don't understand it, and i don't really understand it either. What is it all about?

[dUSt]

Here's an answer to your question from author Matthew Pinto, who can be read weekly on the phatmass home page:

Purgatory is the state of purification that some souls must undergo before receiving the Beatific Vision, the vision of God. Purgatory is an infallible dogma of the Faith (CCC 1030).

Purgatory is for people who are destined for heaven, but who have venial sins on their souls or the effects of forgiven mortal sins, which must be cleansed (Mt. 5:26, CCC 1031). Because “nothing unclean shall enter” into heaven (Rev. 21:27), God has established a place of final purification, purgatory.

Purgatory is not a “second chance.” If one dies in mortal sin, he goes directly to hell (CCC 1874). If one dies in a state of grace and has completely formed his will and love of God to a state of perfection, he will go straight to heaven.

At our personal judgments after death (Heb. 9:27, 2 Cor. 5:10), we will know our past life as never before. If we get saved but are still attached to the vestiges (remnants) of sin, we will not only see the justice and logic of purgatory, but will actually want to go there. As C. S. Lewis once wrote, “Our souls demand purgatory, don’t they?” No questions will arise; no justification will be offered. We will adore and humble ourselves before Jesus when we first meet Him, but then want to leave His presence because it would be an insult to Him for us to stay (Lk. 5:8).

When we sin, we love ourselves more than God and His laws. This is disordered love. This sin is like the impurities found in newly mined gold. To make the gold perfect, we need to put it through fire. The fire “sweats out” the impurities. This is analogous to the purification process in purgatory (1 Cor. 3:12–13).

There’s a common objection directed at the Church by Protestants that the doctrine of purgatory “takes away from the work of Jesus on the cross at Calvary” and is therefore unbiblical. This is not true. Purgatory is an application of the cross. Jesus’ death is so powerful that it can actually purify us in the afterlife. The souls in purgatory are purged of their sin by their sharing in the sufferings of Christ.

And here's what the Catholic Catechism teaches about purgatory:

III. The Final Purification, or Purgatory

1030 - All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are inDouche 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. 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:

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.

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." 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. 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.

Hope this helps! God bless.

[cappie]

Hope this helps:

The Church’s teaching: The Church's official teaching on purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification called purgatory, where the souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). In Lumen Gentium (50-52), purgatory is seen in the broader context of salvation and heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Purgatory as the “final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (1031). Some Modern theologians suggest that purgatory may be an "instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual. According to this view, the refining fire of purgatory is only a relic of medieval imagery. It may, in fact, be a form of a ‘blazing enlightenment’ which penetrates and perfects our very being. God can anticipate and apply the merits of our present and future prayers for the dead, in favour of the souls we pray for, at the time of their purification. Purgatory is thus the fringe of heaven, a state where heaven's eternal light has a refining effect on the “holy souls” (not “poor souls”), who are held in the arms of Divine Mercy.