We Continue, after long hiatus

Life Interferes - Yet We Press On

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By Mark Connolly

First I would like to say I got severely sidetracked by working on the newspaper aspect of the publishing empire that is The Global Exclaimer, of which this is the official blog. As may have been noted by some, the Glob Blog is currently focused on Religious Discussion which many of my readers find less than riveting. Which is too bad. Religion has gotten an undeserved black eye since, oh, the 60's and as I view the wreckage of our current society I can't help but wonder about causes and effects.

Anyway, here we go - As a reminder, I am debating via this blog with Martin Luther regarding his 95 Theses. We last were at his thesis point 11. However, I find I have more to say on this topic, and so here goes:

11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory
is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops
slept.

Again, there seems to be a rather large disconnect between his understanding of the role and function of Purgatory and mine. He presents here Purgatory as a penance, which has been (deliberately?) reserved to after death. The wild card here is that I do not know the historical facts regarding Indulgences, which is where this appears to be heading. Jumping ahead of the argument, if some priests and bishops were in fact not giving full absolution in the confessional, but instead telling people, "Nope, you have to burn this one off in Purgatory", then turning around and selling 'get out of Purgatory free' cards, well, I'd be angry about that also.

Having said that, the Church teaching that I've seen regarding Purgatory and Penance, is that they are linked in some manner, though Purgatory is NOT Penance, and vice versa.

To understand the issue here, we need to take a side trip into the issue of Sin. I take the following from the Catechism of The Catholic Church:

1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law."¹²¹

1850 Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight."¹²² Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like gods,"¹²³ knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus "love of oneself even to contempt of God."¹²⁴ In this proud self- exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation.¹²⁵

The Church teaches a double consequence of 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.⁸⁴

1473 The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the "old man" and to put on the "new man."⁸⁵

There is a concept called 'formation' wherein a person learns to be the kind of person that God wants them to be. Necessarily, this entails action. We have to stop doing "this" and start doing "that" as befits our attempts to imitate Christ.

The temporal punishment of sin is the vehicle by which we go through this formation. We are forgiven for our sins, but we still need to grow in faith and Christian charity. Otherwise we are empty Christians.

Hence this approach to Penance:

1459 Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice requires as much. But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his relationships with God and neighbor. Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused.⁶² Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must "make satisfaction for" or "expiate" his sins. This satisfaction is also called "penance."

1460 The penance the confessor imposes must take into account the penitent's personal situation and must seek his spiritual good. It must correspond as far as possible with the gravity and nature of the sins committed. It can consist of prayer, an offering, works of mercy, service of neighbor, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices, and above all the patient acceptance of the cross we must bear. Such penances help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our sins once for all. They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, "provided we suffer with him."⁶³

The satisfaction that we make for our sins, however, is not so much ours as though it were not done through Jesus Christ. We who can do nothing ourselves, as if just by ourselves, can do all things with the cooperation of "him who strengthens" us. Thus man has nothing of which to boast, but all our boasting is in Christ . . . in whom we make satisfaction by bringing forth "fruits that befit repentance." These fruits have their efficacy from him, by him they are offered to the Father, and through him they are accepted by the Father.⁶⁴

I'm not sure I've clearly made my point, since this is all rather involved, but basically, Purgatory, when necessary, finishes the purification process that a person's Imperfect Penance may not have accomplished. But Purgatory is not Penance.

Note, that all people in Purgatory are going to Heaven. This is why we have the designation between "eternal" punishment and "temporal" punishment. I stress this point because some see Penance as a form of working your way into Heaven which it is not. Penance follows Absolution. Your sins are forgiven. Penance then is like Push-ups. You do it to make you stronger and more able to resist Sin going forward. It is a cooperation with a grace sacramentally bestowed by God through His Church.

It is clear that there is extant no Official Church Teaching regarding reserving a "canonical penalty" to a "penalty of purgatory", so I have to assume Luther is railing against the actions of some rogue bishops. We shall see where Thesis 12 takes us.

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