2. Called to Join God the Saints

2. Called to Join God & the Saints

God did not create men and women only to abandon us. He has sought to heal the damage done by sin so that we might again live in a relationship of love with him. He reveals his face to us through Jesus Christ and calls us to membership in his holy people. We are invited to know and to love him, and in return he will give us eternal life.

God, Creation & the Fall.
The tremendous message of Jesus is that God is his Father. Despite our unworthiness, he offers him to us as our Father. Even though God might sometimes seem absent in our lives, he is present all the same. It may be that we make it difficult for God to make his presence known, by neglecting his Scriptures, prayer, and the worship of the Church. It is also possible that we are looking for the divine in all the wrong places. I suspect this is often the case in the busy and ambitious lives people live today. The Deist philosophers thought of God as a remote Creator, setting things on their course and then leaving them to their own devices. Many of our non-sectarian contemporaries with a scientific bent reduce God to a cosmic watchmaker. This is not the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. He called a people to himself and made covenants with them. He delivered them from political oppression and slavery. He gave them both the Prophets and his Law. Finally, he gave them his Son. Ours is a God who never forgets us. This abiding reality is most forcibly expressed in the saving mission of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is sent into the world as one of us. He comes to rescue us from the sin and death which was of our own making. God the Creator offers us the opportunity of a re-creation and of a new life in Christ.
God is the Father of us all. He calls us into union with him. He is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, and the maker of all things, keeping them in existence. Created things reflect the glory of God, their Creator. As the source of all goodness, God willed certain things into existence so that they might enjoy his benefits and participate in his goodness. His infinite power brought all things out of nothingness into being and he keeps them in being. Otherwise, and it is against the divine economy, they would sink once more into nothingness. Above all creatures, he is self-existing; indeed, he is existence, itself. He is an infinitely perfect Spirit. All perfections find their eminent degree in him. All the goodness, beauty, truth, and power we appreciate in created things are but the merest shadows of the perfections found in their source, almighty God.
Signs of God's existence can be found in the created world around us. Nature is thoroughly intermeshed with order and design. Reason can help us discern these fingerprints of God upon our world. Sometimes the hypothetical case is told of an astronaut landing on the moon and finding a watch. He would logically conclude that an intelligent being had manufactured it and somehow it was placed there. It would be ridiculous for him to assert that the watch was simply the result of random and chaotic processes. Nothing comes from nothing. This principle holds for both mechanical and for biological constructs. Are not the simplest one-celled organisms, not to mention ourselves, far more complicated than such a time-telling gadget? Sure. We find the "laws of nature" all around us and inside of us. It is the proposition of Christians and certain theistic philosophers that only a living, sentient entity could have designed the cosmos. This is God. In comparison to God, we can make things but we cannot create them from nothing.
As people of faith, we also know God exists because he has told us. He speaks to the human race through revelation. Because of the limitations of human knowledge, many of the ways we know and speak about God are through analogies and stories. God identifies himself with Truth and with Love. He is all-good. He is mercy itself and ever forgiving. His is all-knowing. He is just. He is without limit. He is perfect and therefore, unchangeable. He id omnipotent (all-powerful) and present everywhere. He has no need of anything or anyone outside of himself. He creates freely, to give glory to himself, to share his life with his creatures, and to have them return thanks and praise to him. His identity is also Triune: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three Persons of the Trinity are not "persons" in the sense of contemporary usage dealing with psychology. Rather, it implies a sort of divine dynamism wherein there are three mysterious interlocked equal cores of God's identity. Caution must be applied to any description of it since the Trinity is ultimately beyond our full comprehension. Human language may crudely allow one to fall into the error of modalism wherein God in his employment is dissected into three gods. Properly understood, the classic definition is that he is one God in three divine Persons. The Scriptures never use the word "Trinity," but the doctrine resonates there clearly in the New Testament. Jesus calls upon God as Father. Jesus does the things that only God can do, like forgiving sins and making atonement. The Holy Spirit is experienced by the early Church as also God, giving life to the community just as he breathed life back into the crucified Christ. The Lord gives the command to go out to all nations and to baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Baptism into the name of a creature would be meaningless, thus all three Persons constitute the one God of faith.
The story of creation is based on the oral and then the written traditions of the first people called by God. Not strictly a scientific account, it remains, nonetheless, inspired by God. Men and women are loved by God as the sole creatures on earth who can respond back to his overtures with their own conscious communication and self-offering. We are called to adore and praise God, to give him thanks, to petition him in need, to repent and join ourselves to his Son's sacrifice of propitiation, and to serve him faithfully. Men and women share the same human nature, complementing each other with two sexes. Although one might speculate upon the origin of the species by something such as evolution and natural selection, the Church insists that the human soul is created directly by God and is infused into the person.
The human being in philosophical terms might be described as a spiritual/corporeal composite. What that means in layman's terms is that we have both a body and a spiritual soul. Because of this spiritual soul, men and women have dominion over the other earthly creatures and are a more perfect image of God than anything else created on earth. Unlike the souls or substantial forms of animals, the human soul has a definite life of its own, although a body without a soul would be a lifeless corpse. But the soul, even parted from the body, will live forever. After all, it has no parts which could possibly break down or terminate operating. It would cease only if God destroyed it. Divine economy would preclude such an annihilation. Although human souls separate from their bodies at death, they are not angels. God has created us as men and women; he has revealed that at the world's end and Judgment Day, our soul's and bodies will be reunited. Human persons are much more than disembodied ghosts; in glory, God will make us whole again.
Our first parents were to pass on to their descendants the divine life given them. But first, they had to demonstrate their fidelity to God. However, they listened to the temptation of the evil one and deliberately turned their wills against their Creator. By so doing, they forfeited the divine life. There greatest gift had been sanctifying grace, bringing them God's friendship. This gift of grace was stripped away and would only be restored by Christ. What was the exact nature of the first sin? The Scriptures present it as the temptation to be like gods. Having eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve succumb to their pride-- refusing to recognize their total dependence upon God. Thus, they committed what has come down to us as "original sin". The consequences of their rebellion were tragic. They forfeited their special harmony between body and soul. No longer were their powers oriented to God. Disharmony and chaos flooded into the picture. They became subject to sickness, suffering, and death.
We came into the world already suffering from original sin, and so often ratified it with actual or personal sin. But, God refused to abandon us to our folly. In response to our disobedience, God did not restore the lesser gifts; nevertheless, he did promise a Messiah. We know him to be our Savior, Jesus. He was God's Son, coming as one of us, and able to redeem and to restore us to divine favor and life.
Jesus & the Spirit: Re-Creation.
Our thanks and glory to God are in response to his gift of creation and the act of re-creation wrought by his Son through the power of the Holy Spirit. A sin offering had to be made and only one who was sinless could offer it. It is the teaching of the Church that the Lord's human origin was the work of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Jesus' conception, unlike our own, is the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit and is untouched by original sin. Nothing sinful can be directly created by the Holy Spirit. Further, the fact that Jesus is God would make the presence of sin an inner contradiction.
Jesus is viewed in the incarnation as the eternal Son of God born in the flesh of Mary. This revelation of Christ's identity is derived from a comprehensive look at the details of the Gospels. It took the first three centuries of crucial pondering in the Church's existence to reach a precise formula on this teaching: Jesus is one divine Person, existing fully in two natures, divine and human.
Also joined into the Godhead with the divine Son and God the Father is the Holy Spirit. This mystery is formally defined as that of the Blessed Trinity. God the Father exists of himself from all eternity. God the Son is eternally begotten of the Father. Using an analogy from human consciousness, the Father perfectly knows himself. While we have many fragmented and imperfect ideas, God has only one idea and it encapsulates the identity of God and all that is. We speak or write our ideas for others to share. God's one idea is called the Word and it is written upon human flesh, Jesus. God's knowing perfectly mirrors who he is and thus the second Person of the Blessed Trinity must by definition be divine. The Father and the Son share an infinite love which brings both life and eternal life to believers. This procession of "Love Personified" also perfectly reflects God's identity and constitutes the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. We call him the Holy Spirit. This divine love is poured into our hearts. He is the Helper (Paraclete) whom Christ promises to send to assist the Church, to sanctify her, and to preserve her from error. Distinctions between the Persons can only be made according to the various relations and generations. They are joined into a perfect unity. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son with whom he is equal. The mystery of the Trinity is not easy to understand, and every analogy, including this one, becomes erroneous if taken too seriously or too far. It is ultimately beyond the full grasp of finite mortals. However, we know it is true from the testimony of Scripture and the teaching Church.
The Holy Spirit is particularly manifested at Christ's baptism and at Pentecost. Pentecost, of course, is the feast commemorating the reception of the Holy Spirit by the Infant Church. The Holy Spirit does a number of things for the Church:
1. He stays with the Church to sanctify her (to make her holy).
2. He dwells in the Church and in the hearts of believers as in a holy temple.
3. He moves and sustains the prayer of the faithful, enlightening them to their spiritual adoption as sons and daughters of a loving God.
4. He guides the Church in all truth (often invoked for this purpose).
5. He imparts charismatic gifts.
6. He labors for the perfect union of the Church to her spouse through spiritual renewal.
7. He has an ongoing spiritual and historical affinity to Mary, Mother of the Church, and Mother to Christ, the head of the Church.
There are also things attributed to the Holy Spirit in regards to Christians as individuals:
1. We are "born again" in baptism of water and the Holy Spirit.
2. Akin to a personal Pentecost, the faithful receive Confirmation: "May the Holy Spirit descend upon you and the power of the Most High preserve you from sin" (Rite of Confirmation).
3. He aids us in making a good Confession (to know, to detest, and to renounce our sins out of a love of God above all else and to resolve to reform our lives).
4. Invoking the Spirit, he will open our hearts and minds to his inspired Word.
5. He will give us understanding and reverence for the value of the Mass and the importance of receiving Holy Communion.
6. Because of the Holy Spirit, minds are enlightened, wills strengthened (especially against habitual faults), and vocations are more clearly discerned.
7. Basic to our discipleship, the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to live the life of faith, hope, and charity. The latter is especially important in that we are called to love God and neighbor.
THE BLESSED TRINITY DWELLS WITHIN US BECAUSE WE POSSESS THE DIVINE LIFE. WE SHOULD TRY TO REALIZE THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
Christ Risen: Lord & Redeemer.
The preeminent truth is that God so loved us that he sent his only Son to earth to save us. Without Advent and Christmas, there can be no Lent and Easter. These commemorations are closer together than we might immediately realize. Now that Christ is one of us, he saves us by suffering and dying on the Cross. Of his own free will, he offers himself as our victim to his heavenly Father to obtain pardon for all mankind. Faithful to his Father and to his mission, he embraces the Paschal Mystery so that we can be freed from original sin, obtain pardon for all personal sins, and reach heaven.
What the prophets had foretold about the messiah was fulfilled in Jesus our Savior. He and his mission were authenticated by miracles. He cured the deaf, the lame, and the blind. He multiplied fish and bread and turned water into wine. He raised people from the dead. The crowning miracle and the most crucial validation of all, was his resurrection. As foretold, three days after his death by crucifixion, he rose alive by his own power from the grave.
We are redeemed by and through the person of Jesus. He indicates by his example and teachings how we are to be disciples. He founded the Church as a particular sacramental vehicle for extending this gift of salvation-- bestowing through Word and sacrament, his presence and sacrificial action.
Detouring for a moment into speculation, it has been suggested that the Lord might have come among us through the incarnation even if men and women had not sinned. Our faith indicates that Jesus was a divine Person, the pre-existent Word, the self-expression or Idea of God-- the plan of creation to whom we are to conform and with whom we are to become one. As such, he is the center of creation. However, men and women also constitute the axis of the created order by fact of their image and likeness to God and their stewardship over creation. The two centers, the Son of God and humanity, were not to remain in tension. The contradiction of two centers was to be resolved and they become one in the incarnation. However, since we had sinned, he now not only came to join himself to the created order but to rescue it from its own folly.
Jesus' Paschal Mystery (his Passion, Death, and Resurrection) establishes a new relation of grace between God and humanity. This is the Good News. We are redeemed by Christ, literally "bought back" from the devil. During ancient days, a slave could often buy back his freedom. The biblical notion is deeper still. It denotes vindication. The one redeemed by God's salvific action is not only freed from sin but discovers himself and his life justified and righteous in God's sight.
Jesus is well aware that his death will be redemptive. At the Last Supper, he deliberately introduces a new ritual by which his disciples will remember him-- making him and his sacrificial action present. "The Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it, and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me'" (1 Cor. 11:23-27, written around 57 AD). [Notice the early composition. Pushing it back further, St. Paul says that he is merely offering what was handed down to him. These words are the ones by which the Pauline communities celebrate the Eucharist.]
The terms used at the Last Supper illustrate Jesus' consciousness of the sacrificial nature of what he was about to do. His body is "given" and his blood is "shed". These are ritualistic Jewish terms describing sacrifice, clearly connecting the meal to the Passover context. Jesus is the Lamb of a new Passover, delivering a new Israel from God's wrath. The ritual communicates what Jesus' death accomplishes, whenever it is celebrated.
As a generic definition, a sacrifice is an act of dedicating something to the deity. It can be dedicated in several ways: by destroying it and/or by offering it and then partaking of it in sacred communion. A person, in sacrifice, can dedicate his whole life and/or certain actions to the service of God.
The sacrifice of Christ consists in his life-long obedient love to the will of the Father. As both the eternal Son of God and as the messiah, Jesus is the beloved of God-- the representative and mediator for a repentant humanity. (Everything Jesus did consequently takes upon itself a universal significance and wins the pleasure of God on our behalf.)
The resurrection of Jesus can never be thought of as entirely separate from his sacrificial death. The resurrection is the Father's response to Christ's faithful love, vindicating from the world's wrongful charges and condemnation. His conquest of the grave is the Father's seal of approval upon the person, the words, and the work of Jesus. Jesus was obedient to his Father and to his mission, even when it seemed that all he had accomplished was for nought and he suffered a criminal's death. The deceased Jesus is really and truly restored to life as the first fruits of a new order of grace. Obedient love, particularly against the mystery of evil, is realized as power which death cannot destroy.
The primary resurrection theme of the Gospel is the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the master of his own body; his disciples almost immediately grasp the transformation wrought by the resurrection. He is the same and yet he is also different. He is tangible and real, proving as much by offering his wounds for touching and eating a fish along the shore. He is different in that people do not usually materialize into lock rooms. He is no longer limited by space and time. This latter note is of utmost importance, especially regarding the sacraments. Jesus is now stands over human history. He commissions his apostles to act, not simply in the name of Yahweh, but in his own name. Jesus becomes the name that saves. The end-times begin.
"IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED, OUR PREACHING IS VOID AND YOUR FAITH IS EMPTY TOO" (1 Cor. 15:14). THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST IS A REAL FORCE AT WORK IN THE WORLD. BECAUSE OF IT, OUR FAITH TRULY ACCOMPLISHES THE FRUITS HE INTENDS. GRACE HAS TAKEN ITS FINAL AND CONCRETE FORM IN THE RISEN CHRIST.
Blessed Virgin Mary.
How does one begin to speak about Mary's union with her Son? She shares with other women two qualities which are usually mutually exclusive, maidenhood (virginity) and motherhood. The mystery of her perpetual virginity and her exception motherhood (as the work of the Holy Spirit) give a heightened transcendence to her relationship with Christ. Because her Son is unique, the God-Man come among us, her identity and union with him also takes upon itself an extraordinary character. She is the Mother of God. The Mother of the Redeemer, Jesus gives us as the Mother of the Redeemed. The Second Vatican Council concludes the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church by calling Mary the Model and Prototype of the Church who "occupies in the holy Church the place which is highest after Christ and yet very close to us" (Lumen Gentium, 54). Separated from a comprehensive appreciation of this bond between the Mother and Son, the Church would be hindered in understanding her own union with the Lord. It is for this reason that an absence of Marian piety and affection can be quite serious. She continues to give us her Son and to beckon us to his service.
Mary's trust and faith in God makes her the first disciple to her Son. Salvation history comes to fruition in her. God's dealings with humanity were taking a most personal and intimate turn with this young girl who accepted her role as "the handmaid of the Lord." Before she was to give birth to Jesus in the flesh, she had already received him into her heart and soul. "At the message of the angel, the Virgin Mary received the Word of God in her heart and in her body, and gave life to the world. Hence, she is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and Mother of the Redeemer" (Lumen Gentium, 53).
Although Mary has been given the title, Mother of God, she was conceived in the normal course to Saints Ann and Joachim. Because of the role she would play as the Mother of the Lord, she was preserved from any trace of original sin. This state of grace which she received from the moment of conception in the womb was never blemished by personal sin. This teaching is called her Immaculate Conception. Despite the faulty argumentation of certain critics outside the Church, Mary needed Christ as her Redeemer just like the rest of us. The only difference was that we were washed from our sins forward in time by faith and baptism while she was preserved from sin backward in time by a singular divine intervention. In both cases, the shadow of the cross brings salvation. Jesus died for us all. The one who was the source of all holiness had to come through a pure vessel. This blessed Mary and protected the dignity of Christ as the Son of God.
Before, during, and after the birth of Jesus her Son, Mary remained a virgin. When her life was accomplished, she was assumed body and soul into heaven. This teaching is called her Assumption. It reminds us that the new life earned by Christ was not a one-time event. One of our number has followed Jesus and has been transformed in body and spirit. We will also share in the bodily resurrection and restoration.
In baptism and faith, we are invited to live the life of Christ. Jesus looked down from his cross and gave Mary to John as his Mother. John represents us on Calvary. Mary sees her Son alive in us by grace, both as individuals and as a community of faith. Mary is the Mother of the Church. The council called her "a preeminent and altogether singular member of the Church, and as the Church's model . . . in faith and charity. Taught by the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Church honors her with filial affection and piety as a most beloved Mother" (Lumen Gentium, 53).
While on earth, she cooperated with the redemptive work of her Son. "She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ. She presented him to the Father in the Temple, and was united with him in suffering as he died on the Cross. . . . for this reason she is a Mother to us in the order of grace" (Lumen Gentium, 61). Crowned as the Queen of the Saints, she ceaselessly intercedes for her children. She wants us to mature and to come home. This role is never in competition with her Son as they are of one heart and mind regarding our salvation. Indeed, this is a good definition of sainthood-- to think as God thinks and to love as God loves. "By her maternal charity, Mary cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led to their blessed home" (Lumen Gentium, 62).
According to John, Mary was with the Lord at Bethlehem and Calvary, at the beginning and at the end of his mortal life in this world. He was her Lord and yet he was also her own flesh-and-blood, She saw him die for her new children. Now, like any good mother, she waits and makes preparations for us in our true home which is heaven. She is our "sign of sure hope and solace" (Lumen Gentium, 68). Catholics render honor and reverence to Mary because she was the Mother of Christ and because she was the perfect disciple of her Son. Many critics fail to understand this, no matter what amount of explanation is given. Making the matter blunt, why do we love and speak to Mary with devotion? It is because we imitate Jesus. Did he not obey the fourth commandment? Did he not love and respect his Mother? As a child did he listen to her closely? Sure he did. All we are doing is the same.
The Council of Ephesus (431 AD) clarified that Mary was truly the Mother of God (Theotokos, God-bearer in Greek) according to the flesh. Mothers bear persons, not just bodies. The Person whom Mary bore was truly the eternal Son of God, one in divinity with the Father.
MARY'S ROLE FOR CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS CANNOT BE REDUCED TO HER PHYSICAL MATERNITY. SHE CONTINUES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SALVATION OF THE ADOPTIVE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD. HER PRESENCE AT THE BEGINNING AND AT THE END OF HIS PUBLIC LIFE REVEALS HER COMPLETE DEDICATION TO THE WORK OF HER SON. HER SON HONORS HER IN RETURN. LUKE SETS HER IN THE LONG LINE OF GREAT WOMEN IN ISRAEL WHO WERE INTEGRAL TO SALVATION HISTORY. MARY IS VIEWED AS THE GREATEST WOMAN OF ALL, BELIEVING IN GOD'S SAVING PROMISE. MARY'S FAITH EARNS FOR HER A UNIQUE PLACE IN THE RECORD OF SALVATION.
Saints & Angels.
It may be of interest to note that in other cultures and religions, there are also instances of veneration for the dead. Several Oriental faiths practice ancestor worship and the ancients had various superstitions regarding ghosts and/or immortals who were particularly blessed by the gods and given a place alongside them. Many Japanese have a custom whereby no one is really dead as long as his name is remembered. As quaint as many of these practices may seem, all fall short of the ancient teaching regarding the saints. The gift of salvation and immortality is universally offered and the person himself is promised restoration, not merely remembrance. The community of the saints stand forth telling us that the Easter message of Christ is not a one time event, but rather one which touches everyone who faithfully follows God's call to faith, hope, and love. Translated sometimes as charity, this love is dynamic and in action, it overflows into Christian service. The saints are not elevated as minor gods. Rather, they are men and women no different from ourselves in the order of nature. If there is any difference, then it is in the order of grace whereby every stain and tendency to sin has been purged away. They are with God. They are filled with God-- his grace-- his presence. They are where we hope to go. They are what we pray to become.
Several years ago, a young girl was asked in church, "Who are the saints?" She looked up at the massive stained-glass windows and pointing to the figures portrayed there, responded, "The saints are those who let the light shine through." In her innocence, her simple answer may have surpassed all the great tomes on the subject. She was precisely right. Like glass, they do allow the light to shine through. Saints reflect Christ, who is the Light of the World. They brighten our way with heavenly light, warmth, and witness-- so that we might not stumble in the darkness. They do not stand in the way of Jesus or blot out his special role as Mediator to the Father. If they did, they would be the very opposite of what they have become. Only in sin is the Light of Christ blurred. We see in the saints other paths to walk in the one way of Christ. We see in them examples of holiness. We see in them the priest, lay, and religious consecrated to Christ. We see in them the laity answering an extraordinary call in the ordinary chores of existence. They are a part of us, members of the same Church, brothers and sisters in Christ. They live a life beyond life. They continue to love and to pray for those they cared for while in the world. They are men and women whose stories touch our own, reminding us that we can be saints, too.
Many films and television programs have portrayed angels as the beloved dead. Actually, while it is possible that saintly human souls will be commissioned to join the messengers of God, angels as such are ontologically different creatures from ourselves. They may have taken human form or some variation thereof, but they have never possessed real flesh. They are pure spirits and can be catalogued as persons, but they have never been human. In this sense, all the enthusiasts of aliens from outer space might find the angels a fitting subject for study-- if they want to explore something real. They have both intellect and will, as well as certain angelic powers. Along with the saints in the human family, they give eternal glory to God. Their presence among us has always been for guidance and protection. They embody the will of God and his powerful presence among us. As with ourselves, there was a rebellion among these creatures call to love and to serve God before all else. Those who tarried in carrying out the divine will, in not loving well enough, became distorted and inward looking. The greatest among them was himself named "Light-Bearer" and he confused his light for that of Christ's. Pride brought him down and later he would tempt our first parents with his own sin. His name was Lucifer or Satan. Living outside time and with a level of conscious thought more resolute than our own, those who rebelled and who were cast out of heaven. One of the great angels in this spiritual battle against the fallen angels or demons was St. Michael. He is the guardian protector of the holy Church. Unlike our own, the choice of the demons was unalterable. Those angels faithful to God, choosing the one who is the Greatest Good, would always be happy with God: seeing, loving, and adoring him forever. Another important angel from heaven's throng was Gabriel. This angelic messenger brought the news of God's love to a young virgin named Mary. From the beginning, they have been involved with our story of salvation. They have wanted to share their happiness with us. They are still God's messengers, praying for us and guarding us from harm.
Death & the Last Things.
It is important to speak about the last things. The Catholic tradition holds that due to our first parents and their original sin, the gates of heaven were literally closed. Humanity broke off its relationship with God. We chose selfishness instead of selfless love. In Christ's unconditional love and self-sacrifice on the cross, the doors to heaven have been reopened. He who is both a man and God has repaired what we could never restore. He loves us even though we murdered him by our sins. Instead of abandoning us, he makes his act of sacrifice the focal reality of the sacraments in the Church whereby we die with Christ so as to rise with him.
For those who had already died, he descended to the dead and offered the gift of salvation to the righteous, especially to those who had foretold his coming. Eastern icons often portrayed Christ pulling Adam and Eve by the hair as he raised them from their fiery torment in the limbo of the fathers. For those who would face mortal death later, he offered the new dispensation, by which in baptism, one was made an adopted child of God and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven.
During the early centuries of the Church, Christianity was persecuted and many faced martyrdom for the faith. It was the tradition of the Church that these heroic men and women went straight to heaven. Their persecutors could take away all their property, their clothes, their family and friends, even their freedom and lives; but, they could not take away their true treasure which was Jesus Christ. Others would not physically forfeit their lives for Jesus, but rather, would devote their lives to God in consecrated vocations. Some would embrace evangelical poverty so that they could be one with the poor whom they served. Others would choose celibacy so that they might more fully give themselves in their love and service of God's people. Still others would elect to find God in their daily fidelity in marriage and in their children, even when the forces against them were frightful. One could not paint a single picture of a saint. That has been their greatest significance. Like many colors splashed on a canvas, together their unity reveals the loving face of Jesus. As I mentioned earlier, like signposts, the assist us on the way of Christ to heaven.
Are we willing to be as heroic as our forebears in faith? If someone were to put a gun to our heads tomorrow and demand that we renounce Christ, what would we do? More important perhaps, in our day-to-day living out of our lives, are we willing to struggle earnestly in combating sin and in growing in holiness? Our failures show us that we are not yet the people we are called to be. Hopefully, we are getting there. However, what would happen if our mortal lives should cease before we have disentangled ourselves from evil? The Church has held that what God has begun, he will finish. If our hearts belong to God, but we still cling to the last shreds of selfishness, God will give us an opportunity to be completely healed, even after death. Purgatory allows the fire of God's love to purge and cleanse us. Our prayers for the dead are like breath or wind against a flame, forcing it to grow and burn hotter. We pray that our faithful deceased may speed on their way to God's kingdom. Those in purgatory are on their way to heaven. The race is almost over, the goal is in sight.
The notion of purgation is not a sign of God's wrath, but of his mercy. Unlike many fundamentalists and classical Lutherans, we believe that justification is not simply imputed, covering our depravity behind Christ; rather, we believe that grace, both as a saving gift and as the presence of Jesus himself takes residence in us and transforms us. We become a new creation, not in a juridical sense, but in fact. Good works can earn merit because they are the actions of Christ living inside of us. Apart from the Lord, nothing has significant value. Thus, if salvation rests with conversion and transformation, more than with a one-time faith profession and a legal technicality, then our salvation demands that we become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Those in love in God want this cleansing; however, the disentanglement from sin and disordered habits tears at the very fabric of our identity. Some experience this final cleansing in this world, if not, it remains for the next.
We should remember that to enter heaven, we need to be perfect. Take for example the young girl preparing for a fancy dance with the boy she loves. If she found an ugly stain on her gown chosen for the occasion, she would do all she could to clean it. She could not bear the shame of going with him in a ruined gown. She wants to be just right for him. So too, we want to be perfect for God. We would be ashamed to be anything less. The only difference between the analogy and purgatory is that the stain is within us, maybe buried very deep. It will come out, but maybe not always too easily. Purgatory is God's opportunity given to us to be totally cleansed by his love. The closer we draw to him, the more our old self cannot remain with us. Like straw, it is burnt away. As I said before, all this is a sign of God's unfathomable mercy. We could never deserve his presence. Imperfect, we could justly be thrown into the pit. Instead, God offers us an opportunity to be with him still. Realizing that we are bonded together as a family, we cover these lost ones, who are not lost in God, in the balm of our prayers. We hope these prayers convey the healing love of God active in our family of faith. These prayers are different from those offered to the saints who have no need for further purification and rest in the bosom of Abraham. Just as we might ask a friend or family member to pray for us, we may also call upon members of our family of faith in heaven to support us and to pray for and with us. They who are filled with Christ may be able to shed his light into our lives. The balm of love is now called down from heaven, to pour over us and to strengthen us for the trial. We are an Easter people. Our dead are really alive in the Lord. They continue to pray for us, to love us, and to care for us. Christ is the sign that love is stronger than death.
As I reflect upon the end of mortal life, my thoughts also race to its beginning. Many Catholics are baptized as infants. But, child or adult, we do not come to the waters of new life alone. As children we were held in the arms of parents and godparents. Invisibly present were also the saints, rejoicing at the entry of a new member to our number in the family of faith. The profession of faith is made, realizing that this mystery is both personal and corporate. The Church more that those in pilgrimage here below, but also includes those in glory above. During this interim time, prior to Christ's second coming, there is the Church in purgatory, too. We come to God, not simply as individuals, but as an interrelated family. Even the Scriptures remind us that whenever two or more are gathered together, Christ is there. When he instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, he was among his friends, bonded to them in love. At Pentecost, he poured out his Holy Spirit upon each and every one of us, making holiness possible in his community of believers. This same Spirit binds us as brothers and sisters.
It is well worth mentioning that there are many more saints than the ones canonized (selected out) by the Church for special reverence. Saints are examples for us. There may even be holy men and women in our midst right now who seem so perfectly to reflect Christ that we cannot help but see them destined for the sanctity of heaven. They seem to bring a little piece of heaven down to earth. Often, they are people beloved, but hard to understand-- their values being so different from the world-- living images of Christ.
Before concluding this section, I must say a few words about hell. Despite the modern tendency to avoid this topic or to pretend that it does not exist, hell is as real a reality as is the presence of evil in our world. Often, when it is spoken about in religious circles, it is viewed as a place where a vengeful God threatens to send bad people. However, while fear of the loss of heaven and the pains of hell is legitimate, we should keep in mind that hell is a sign of God's justice which is tempered only by his boundless mercy and love. God ultimately gives us what we most desire. If he is our treasure, then our lives and faith will reveal it. Nevertheless, so great is God's love, that he even allows us the possibility of rejecting his love. If this should continue to the point of death, then God would withdraw as much of his presence as possible from us. We would violate the two great commandments and thus hate him and all those who are grafted to him. That little speck of the divine keeping us in existence would constitute the greatest agony of hell. Turning in on ourselves, and away from God, we would be locking ourselves into a tiny cell. Could we imagine being locked up forever with the person we most abhor? Maybe the fiery torment, the pain of the senses, is God's parting gift-- something to distract from the true loss and pain? The crime for which souls are convicted and sent to hell is simple: the damned hate God. There is no community in hell. The damned close off themselves from God and from us. The Church teaches that there is a hell. This is a dark mystery. God desires the salvation of all. We were made for him and like puzzles are incomplete without him. Ours is a frightful freedom and yet to misuse it means eternal captivity. We can strive ourselves, and encourage others, to say yes to God-- to love him with all our hearts, minds, and souls. We can pray that, lacking much company, Satan is lonely.

Return to Table of Contents