VERT Topic of the Week: Purgatory

[Note: VERT "is an online community & resource for Catholic converts, reverts and those sincerely considering converting to the Eastern Rite or Western Rite of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." Weekly posting topics are suggested; members who wish to participate blog about that topic and link the post at VERT so that all can share. Joining VERT is simplicity itself; I highly recommend it for any "vert".]

What do you know or believe about Purgatory or have you had an experience you'd like to share?

Boy, just one mention of Purgatory and RCIA memories come flooding back. As a convert from evangelical Protestantism, this was one of the bricks over which I stumbled. Not all bricks are equal. Some are mostly sand, requiring only a touch of the truth to crumble. Others are hard-fired and not easily broken, but even these are chipped away bit by bit until there's only dust remaining.

Purgatory was a medium-hard brick for me. Call it a small cinder block.

The reason, of course, is that Protestantism teaches there's no such thing -- and no need for it, because if you're "saved" you're going straight to heaven, your ticket is already punched. I was taught that Purgatory was invented by the Catholic church to make money. (All those donations for Masses, right?) The capper, of course, was the ringing denunciation that Purgatory isn't in the Bible. So there. Sola scriptura. If it ain't there, we don't believe it. (And if it IS there and we don't like it, we explain it away; Jesus couldn't possibly have meant us to actually eat his flesh and drink his blood, it was clearly symbolic, wasn't it?)

I had already understood and accepted the need for sacramental confession and reconciliation, and in fact it made more sense to me than the breezy "once saved, always saved" -- mainly because I knew myself to be inclined to sin, as we all are. Protestantism didn't address the ongoing need for conversion/penance so long as we still breathe, but I knew the need existed; just didn't put it all together until I began seriously exploring Catholicism.

From there, it was a little easier to break the Purgatory brick. Reason alone told me that even if heaven is its ultimate destination, how can any soul enter the presence of God with the slightest attachment to even the least venial sin? Can't happen. So there must be a purgation. And if we are all one body -- the church militant, the church suffering, and the church triumphant -- we pray for one another. Including those who suffer but not without hope.