Dear Catholic Exchange:
The Protestants say we pray those in purgatory out of purgatory. We have reviewed Documents of Liturgy, the Catechism (CCC) and several Catholic Dictionaries. How is our assistance used, is it for comfort and consolation or do we believe that we can really shorten their time there even though time, as we know it, is not relevant in the next world.
How do you answer that challenge?
Mr. and Mrs. Mackey
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mackey,
Peace in Christ!
I have included some information below that should be of help in answering your question. It explains the nature of atonement and penance and how we can offer our prayers and sacrifices for those in Purgatory because of our being “one Body” in Christ. Please also note the section that explains atoning for temporal consequences of wrongdoing as this directly addresses your question about whether we can “shorten” the time of those in Purgatory.
When Jesus died for our sins, his death was primarily for the forgiveness of sins. Only Christ can forgive sins; nothing we can do on our own can merit forgiveness. However, even when sins are forgiven, there remains the business of atoning for the temporal consequences of one's wrongdoing. (For example, a convicted murder may be forgiven by God, but he must still do his time in prison.) God wants us to participate in our spiritual atonement and perfection, witness his great Sermon on the Mount beginning in Matthew 5. This atonement can be accomplished not only through our personal penance but also through the prayers and sacrifices of others who are united with us in the Body of Christ. The greatest prayer is the Sacrifice of the Mass, and so we offer funeral Masses for the deceased souls in Purgatory to help atone for their sins.
This is connected to why Catholics do penance and why Catholics say “offer it up.” Penance is first and foremost the virtue or disposition of heart by which each one of us responds to God's grace through repentance of sin and conversion. Penance is more commonly known as enduring punishment or making sacrifices to atone either for our own sins or those of other Christians. As St. Paul teaches, when something happens to one member of the Body, all are affected and concerned (1 Cor. 12:26). “Offering it up” occurs when, realizing we can't avoid a trial or hardship, we consciously decide not to respond negatively to God and others about the problem. Rather, we offer up the trial, uniting our associated sufferings with those of Christ crucified for the betterment of our souls and those of other Christians. St. Paul speaks of this spiritual process in his Second Letter to the Corinthians:
For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort” (2 Cor. 1:5-7).
In short, prayers and offering help atone for the temporal consequences of sins committed by those now in Purgatory.
In the paragraphs below we outline the nature of intercessory prayer: how God allows us to be his “co-workers” in the redemption of man.
What we must keep in mind in discussing this question is the absolute gratuity of God's grace and his initiative in approaching man. Whereas other religions are “man's search for God,” Christianity truly is “God's search for man.” Also, St. Paul reminds us that since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith (Rom. 3:23b-24).” So the key thing to remember is that God's grace is the necessary condition for the human response and that without God's grace, man can make no progress in his own salvation.
The first distinction that should be made is that of “objective” redemption, “that Christ died for all men without exception” (Catechism, no. 605), and “subjective” redemption, the extent to which Christ's redeeming act is appropriated by the individual. This is why, though Christ died for all men, not all men are necessarily saved.
The Catechism explains that the prayer of intercession is a participation in Christ's own intercession for us to the Father:
Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father on behalf of all men, especially sinners. He is “able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Heb. 7:25).” The Holy Spirit “himself intercedes for us…and intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Rom 8:26-27). (no. 2634)
St. Paul also reminds us that we are God's co-workers (1 Cor. 3:9) and that God invites us to participate with him in his plan of salvation. The Catechism gives Moses as an example of man's cooperation in God's work: “God reveals himself in order to save [his people], though he does not do this alone or despite them: He calls Moses to be his messenger, an associate in his compassion, his work of salvation (no. 2575).”
To sum up what we have said above, God wants man to participate with him in the Redemption of all mankind. But, though man does not participate in objective redemption (i.e., Christ meriting the graces of redemption on the Cross) he can participate in subjective redemption (how the graces won by Christ are appropriated by the individual). Man's very ability to intercede for another comes by his participation in the Mystical Body of Christ (Catechism, no. 787-796).
United in the Faith,
Joshua Bitting
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)
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