Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Purgatory?

All Souls day was Sunday. The homily was about the "Souls in purgatory" and in my Men's Bible study group today, purgatory was also mentioned. I thought I would take a moment and blog about the subject. Since I am no expert (far from it) I will point to other sources.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a "purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030). It notes that "this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC 1031).

The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven. Read More...(Catholic.com)

Also, I found a great Podcast on the topic of purgatory. Many questions you may have can be answered by downloading this podcast. (55 min. program, but still really good, so give yourself some time to listen to this...right click on the link to download and "save target as" to your hard drive)


Hope this helps those who may wonder.

3 comments:

JIMATWORK said...

How can you attend a Bible Study meeting in the morning but call in sick to work later that same day? (TODAY NOV. 4TH) Nice BLOG but you got caught. Might want to make up a good excuse before you come back to work. GOD BLESS

Bossman Craig said...

I am extremely disturbed by your post, stating that you attended a meeting this morning but you are not able to come to work this evening. We will cover for you as usual and Paolo is typing up that 12L as we speak. Take care and God Bless.

Anonymous said...

Purgatory! Here's what I will add.

Purgatory has been described as silversmithing. A silversmith has to purify the silver until it is sufficiently purified for use by the silversmith. Upon being asked at what point the silver is sufficiently purified, the silversmith replies:

"When I can see myself in it."

Just like God needs to be able to see Himself in us before we are ready to meet Him in Heaven. I think that's a really special and human way to look at it. God bless Jim!