As members of the communion of saints, we who are yet pilgrims on earth long for God. As I wrote in the last issue, our hearts will not be satisfied until we see God “face-to-face” in heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: “Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory ‘the beatific vision.’” (CCC No. 1028)

St. Cyprian remarks: “How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God,…to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends.”

At funerals there may be a bit of “poetic” exaggeration made about the deceased person being already with God in heaven. We really do not know. The Church’s traditional sense is that many who die still need the action of Christ’s mercy to purify them further so as to be able to enter the ranks of those triumphant in heaven.

The newly published U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults summarizes: “Those who die in the state of friendship with God but who are not fully purified and perfected are assured of their eternal salvation. However, they must undergo a purification to obtain the perfection of love and holiness needed to enter heaven, where they have a heart that is totally open to him. This process is called Purgatory.

“It is impossible for us to imagine what Purgatory is. Traditionally, it has been described as a purifying fire. Since the human soul cannot be touched by earthly flames, the image serves to recall that perfect love is achieved by a gradual and painful spiritual detachment from selfishness and self-centeredness. The Church assists those in Purgatory through prayer and especially the Eucharist in their final process of purification.” (p.154)

Especially on Nov. 2, All Souls Day, and during November, we pray for the dead — but also throughout the year. The dead are kept in mind in the Eucharistic prayer of every Mass, since the Sacrifice of Christ in which we participate at Mass, is most efficacious for purification unto sanctification.

The Catechism states: “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.” (CCC No. 1032)

St. Catherine of Genoa spoke of “the Purgatory of God’s burning love.” The pain of purgatory would not be the pain of divine wrath, but the pain of growth and purification, the pain of breaking out of the old, sinful self into the fully redeemed self. The fact is, we become holy, whether in life or in death, by many transformations which inevitably involve pain because they involve growth, conversion, and self-sacrificing love.

The doctrine of Purgatory contains the idea that we are not “frozen” in the imperfect condition in which we die. If we arrive at death’s door, far from the perfection of saints, the love of God reaches out to us still and continues to transform and sanctify us. And those of us who pray for the dead join Christ in pouring out our love for them. Our prayer expresses solidarity with the dead. In and through Christ, the Redeemer, our prayers, good works, and penances assist the dead on their way.

In third century Rome, Hippolytus pictured the world as a sea, in which the Church, like a ship, is tossed about in the storm as it sails toward the Kingdom of God. The passengers on this ship are not only the living, but also the dead — all bound together by the love of Christ. What a beautiful image: the living carry the dead with them.

A new understanding of Purgatory can help us reclaim the deep meaning and value of prayer for the dead. It can also help us realize how awesome is God’s love; how total the Divine Mercy; how committed God is to get us to heaven, to the fullness of life.

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