Sin, Absolution, and Purgatory?

Articles that seem to fit together with a glimpse of misunderstanding when all of them are mentioned at the same time. In the past I wrote at least seven articles with some allusion to purgatory in several others. My belief as a Catholic and my ministry as a deacon stand together in passing on to unbelievers that this is a necessary step, if you want to call it that, before being considered totally exonerated from any stain of previous sins.

For this writing we must consider several discussions of just what forgiveness means in the realm of God’s mercy.

A question from one person, the day after Easter, asked; “When sin is forgiven what must I do to repay this forgiveness? Nothing of course is the theological answer. What does absolution remove from us in confession? Here we must adhere that if we are truly serious about confessing our sin(s) and promise to avoid these attractions our soul is cleared from this sin.

Purgatory can neither forgive sin nor become the penance to absolve it. We are told that everyone here is in the State of Grace. Then the question arises, why are they there?

Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (eg., 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. 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.” (CCC 1459).

We somehow have come to believe that either none of us is truly forgiven if when we die our soul immediately enters into an entity of a second confessional, or this has become a fallacy that no church can really ascertain to its validity. Both thoughts are non-existent. Once we receive absolution and go through a penance given us, we are in a Theological truth of being in the state of grace.

A reason so many other denominations do not accept this truth is it belongs to the Roman Catholic faith and too many just cannot or will not accept our faith and the Traditions that are a crucial part of our belief. What about the Catholic members of our Church who also struggle with this? Well, according to some priests who also struggle with the Transubstantiation, we are just mere human beings who need more grace to accept and share what we are part of. That does not eliminate the grace already given to us through faith. We all are still learning to believe.

It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church: (CCC 980). Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers “A laborious kind of baptism.” This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for those who have not yet been reborn, (from the Council of Trent).

Therefore, the doctrine of Purgatory is not just a thought of several clerics, it is real theologically and comforting to know that it does not forgive us for sin, it relieves what is missing to correct what we should have completed after confession.

Ralph B. Hathaway