Purgatory?

I am looking for some response from Catholics regarding this information posted on the main page of Purgatory.com:

Jesus taught us that when you die, you will be judged for your sins as well as how you treated, loved and forgave people in your life as well as your relationship with the triune God through the sacraments. For if you are a believer or not, at the moment of death, you are judged and taken to either Paradise (or modernly translated as Heaven) or Gehenna (modernly translated as Hell) for eternity.

As Catholics we believe that there is a third existence which is eternal but its state is not forever which is called Purgatory. For it is believed that those who
enter purgatory are eventually delivered to heaven but first must purify their souls to enter the Kingdon of Heaven. This state of existance is called Purgatory.

For as Jesus taught us, our time on this Earth is very short compared to our existance in the afterlife. Because there is no 'time' in Purgatory, for time is a temporal concept. For those who are in purgatory they must wait knowing that they cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven until mercy is shown on their soul by God. For it has been said that fervent prayer as well as sacrifice at a mass or Liturgy for the specific intention of souls can help propel a soul into heaven.

Many view a funeral of a close ones life as an end. It is just the beginning. We continue to live with that person and their soul for eternity. For that person does not truly die and we as God's creation can help a soul strive for cleansing though prayer, sacrifice and rememberance. For it has been said by the saints who have seen purgatory that when we die, we are greeted first by the souls that we helped and prayed to and those souls help us on our journey to God even after we have died.

For we can truly never know when we die where we will go but what we do have control over is our own soul and the souls of those close to us. Therefore in the time that we have on earth to receive grace and grow our love of Our Lord, we must pray for our own soul, correct our mistakes and seek everlasting love with Our Savior Jesus Christ. And extend that love to all Souls that have left the earth.

This website was created based on the simple idea of 'Redemptive Suffering'. In order to increase our souls, we have to decrease ourselves from the earthly attachments of sin and other temporal distractions that keep us from prayer and sacrifice. At confession we receive such wonderful graces to decrease ourselves for the Glory of God. At confession, with a truly contrite heart, we get a clean slate on our soul. And only through hard work and suffering can we bring ourselves closer to God
in this God-less world.

It is so easy to forget souls that leave this earth over time. Especially as the generations pass. This website was built for the specific purpose of posting names of souls who have passed from this earth and to pray for their souls and have rememberance for them to help them to eventually get to Heaven. This website will also allow anyone access to names of people who they have never met and can pray for their souls as well to help even the 'poorest' soul in purgatory who has no one to pray for them at all. For practicing this suffering for others, lifts our soul closer to God and can help us to move toward heaven as well. For our time on this earth is short but our time in the afterlife is not. We must make atonement for our sins and the sins of others and make investments in our future and the future of others for the Glory of God.

Hrmmm this subject is not something I am particularly knowlegable about this subject. However especially when it comes to what Catholics believe, it is a safer bet to seek out what the Church officially teaches rather than what some website states. The Catechism of the Catholic Church does go into this subject, and it can be found at the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (sorry I can't post links yet until I hit fifty posts). This is for sure what the Catholic Church teaches, whereas I do not know where Purgatory.com comes from.

Peace of Christ

Thanks for the excellent suggestion. Here is what I was able to glean from the Catechism:

"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.

"1498 Through indulgences the faithful can obtain the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin for themselves and also for the souls in Purgatory.




"1475 In the communion of saints, "a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things." In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the punishments for sin.


"1472 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."


I realize these paragraphs are part of a much larger context, but I am limited in size by what I can post here. I think there is an interesting comparison that can be made, if some would like to do so.

What is the specific question about Purgatory?

The question is not about Purgatory per se, but about Purgatory.com. My question is how accurate is the information on their home page in your opinion? Are they representative of Catholic belief or are they a segment within Catholicism?

Thanks.

Sounds about right with some possibilities thrown in there as well such as with our being greeted by the souls we helped, first in Heaven.

But it is true we believe others can assist those in Purgatory since together, both the saved in Heaven and Purgatory, and then us here on earth make up the entire Body of Christ. So those within the Body, are empowered by Christ's Graces where we then re-apply them to others through prayer and Sacrifice. It is no different than what we do when we pray for a loved one here on earth. However, nothing we do is of our own merit except using our God given free will to accept and obey whatever Graces God may send our way.

Thanks for your response.

I don't think the Church has a definite position on whether purgatory is outside of time or not. It is thought that it is possible it is outside time but I don't think we know for sure. Also, we don't really know for sure what is entailed in purgatory other than it is a purification process.

Regarding the "time" element of Purgatory:

"The transforming 'moment' of this encounter (Purgatory) cannot be quantified by the measurements of earthly time. It is, indeed, not eternal but a transition, and yet trying to qualify it as of 'short' or 'long' duration on the basis of temporal measurements derived from physics would be naive and unproductive. The 'temporal measure' of this encounter lies in the unsoundable depths of existence, in a passing-over where we are burned ere we are transformed. To measure such Existenzzeit, such an 'existential time,' in terms of the time of this world would be to ignore the specificity of the human spirit in its simultaneous relationship with, and differentation from, the world."
--Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life, p. 230-231

Thank you for the quote. It is quite helpful. In light of the fact that indulgences do affect one's experience in Purgatory, do you think that they mollify the intensity of burning or somehow reduce the experiential relationship of the individual in terms of time perception or possibly both?