The reality of purgatory

Dear parishioners,

During the month of November, as we pray for the souls of the faithful departed, we reflect on the reality of purgatory. While the topic of purgatory is much too large to cover fully in one bulletin article, it’s worth taking some time to ponder one particular aspect of it—the concept of temporal punishment due to sin. One of the best ways to conceptualize this is by way of analogy.

Imagine a 7-year-old child who has been told a thousand times not to play ball in the house. Naturally, the 7-year-old does so anyway and ends up breaking a window in the process. The 7- year-old does not have the financial means nor the “know how” necessary to replace a broken window, so the parents take the burden upon themselves to restore the window. However, the 7- year-old gets put on dish duty for a month in punishment for the wrong done. Doing the dishes for a month in no way repairs a broken window, however in the realm of justice it’s something the child is doing to make amends in some way for the wrong done. We instinctively recognize the relationship between crime and punishment—when wrong is done, something has to be done to make up for it.

The same is true when it comes to sin. Our sins cause damage to our soul and relationship with God which we cannot repair on our own. Jesus’ death on the cross is what paid the debt we couldn’t pay for ourselves. However, the Lord calls us to make amends for the wrong we’ve done. This is what we call temporal punishment due to sin—the “debt” of punishment due to us for the wrong we’ve done. And we satisfy this debt of punishment by prayer and penance. When we do penance for our sins, we are making amends in some way for the wrong we’ve done. God is a God of both mercy and justice, so he requires us to take part in making up for the wrong we’ve done.

Though there’s nothing we could do apart from His sacrifice that would make up for our sins, by uniting our prayers and penances to the sacrifice of Christ, the Lord allows us to share with him in the work of redemption. This is the reason why a penance is assigned to a person after confession. Though the guilt of our sins is forgiven as soon as the priest prays the prayer of absolution, some of the debt of temporal punishment remains, so he sends us on our way with some kind of prayer or spiritual work to do in reparation for our sins. Throughout life we continue to struggle with sin, and so we keep racking up temporal punishment for our sins committed.

For this reason, it’s important to be taking forms of penance upon ourselves throughout our daily lives. If we die without having satisfied our debt of temporal punishment, we finish satisfying that debt in purgatory. The souls in purgatory can no longer offer prayers and penances for their sins, so as we pray for the souls in purgatory and offer penances on their behalf, we are doing a work of mercy for them—we’re helping them to finish satisfying the debt of temporal punishment due to their sins. Hopefully we are praying for the souls in purgatory yearround, but every year, in the month of November, the Church brings this to the front of our consciousness as a reminder to keep praying for the souls of all the faithful departed.

What are some ways we can offer prayers and penances to address our own debt of temporal punishment due to sin and that of the souls in purgatory? Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Pray: rosaries, Eucharistic adoration, praying with Scripture, having Masses offered, and any other form of prayer. Fasting: from food, technology, and the comforts and conveniences of life (try taking a cold shower!). Almsgiving: donating to charities or the church. It’s important that we are in the state of grace as we do these things. These acts have no merit if we are not in the state of grace.

There is much more that could be said—and this maybe stirs up more questions than answers for some people, but if you want to talk more about it, I’m always up for a good theological conversation.

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

Fr. Patrick