A question on purgatory?

[godsent]

In the apologist section of the forum fr serpa wrote:

Dear a,

Certainly the blood of Jesus was enough to forgive our sins. Only His divine blood could make up for the dishonor our sins are to an infinitely good God. Purgatory rightly understood does not in the least imply that the blood of Jesus was insufficient.

This is an example I have used many, many times. If I am visiting my mother and I take a pitcher of orange juice from the refrigerator and it slips out of my hands and makes a mess on the floor, I will immediately apologize to my mother and she will immediately forgive me. So at this point I am forgiven—period. But there remains the matter of the mess on the floor. I made it. It’s up to me to clean it up. This is what purgatory does. Because I have cleaned up the mess does not in any way suggest that I forgave myself. My mother’s forgiveness is not something she is likely to take back. I have it for the rest of my life. But I still owe her a clean floor. It’s the temporal debt I owe here: the debt I owe her in time and place. For more see:

I understand this concept and i understand what he is saying,but my objection is that whos to say whether jesus didn’t erase all sins and any stain of sin,along with baptism,it all seems more than enough to wipe away ALL sin.

The mess on the floor in fr’s post,whos to say jesus didn’t wipe that mess up as well as removing the other parts of sin?

 

[DeFide]

godsent:

I understand this concept and i understand what he is saying,but my objection is that whos to say whether jesus didn’t erase all sins and any stain of sin,along with baptism,it all seems more than enough to wipe away ALL sin.

The mess on the floor in fr’s post,whos to say jesus didn’t wipe that mess up as well as removing the other parts of sin?

The Church says so and the Bible affirms as much. Now while God could do any possible thing, it appears that he chooses Purgatory to clean us from our attachement to sin and other temporal consequences. It also appears that such loss causes suffering as the impurities are ripped away:

1 Corinthians 3

According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
11 for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the work of each will come to light, for the Day 7 will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire (itself) will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. 15 But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, 8 but only as through fire.

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

godsent:

In the apologist section of the forum fr serpa wrote:

Dear a,

Certainly the blood of Jesus was enough to forgive our sins. Only His divine blood could make up for the dishonor our sins are to an infinitely good God. Purgatory rightly understood does not in the least imply that the blood of Jesus was insufficient.

This is an example I have used many, many times. If I am visiting my mother and I take a pitcher of orange juice from the refrigerator and it slips out of my hands and makes a mess on the floor, I will immediately apologize to my mother and she will immediately forgive me. So at this point I am forgiven—period. But there remains the matter of the mess on the floor. I made it. It’s up to me to clean it up. This is what purgatory does. Because I have cleaned up the mess does not in any way suggest that I forgave myself. My mother’s forgiveness is not something she is likely to take back. I have it for the rest of my life. But I still owe her a clean floor. It’s the temporal debt I owe here: the debt I owe her in time and place. For more see:

I understand this concept and i understand what he is saying,but my objection is that whos to say whether jesus didn’t erase all sins and any stain of sin,along with baptism,it all seems more than enough to wipe away ALL sin.

The mess on the floor in fr’s post,whos to say jesus didn’t wipe that mess up as well as removing the other parts of sin?

His point is that in order to face God and enter into Eternal Glory, ALL you must desire is God. When we sin, it leaves a stain on our soul, and even though Jesus Christ has forgiven us, we may still be tempted to sin again. Sin destroys our relationship with God on many levels, the purgatorial process being that process which restores us and prepares us to enter into Eternal Life with God.

 

[Todd_Easton]

godsent:

I understand this concept and i understand what he is saying,but my objection is that whos to say whether jesus didn’t erase all sins and any stain of sin,along with baptism,it all seems more than enough to wipe away ALL sin.

The mess on the floor in fr’s post,whos to say jesus didn’t wipe that mess up as well as removing the other parts of sin?

Baptism does wipe away the eternal and temporal consequences of ALL sin, Original Sin and all personal sins committed prior to Baptism. Baptism is a full participation in the salvific sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross; in Baptism a person is born again, given a clean slate. However, as Scripture says, there is only “one Baptism” and so sins committed after Baptism and their consequences must be dealt with differently. For sins committed after Baptism, Jesus gave us the Sacrament of Confession but Confession is only a partial participation in the savlific sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross; although the eternal consequences of sins committed after Baptism are wiped away in Confession, the temporal consequences of those sins remain. The temporal consequences of those post-baptismal sins are wiped away through penance in this life, such as when one receives a plenary (full) indulgence, or in Purgatory after death. Thus, Purgatory is where the temporal consequences of venial sins and absolved mortal sins committed after Baptism are wiped away after death, a final participation in the salvific sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.