Posted on 11/02/2011 9:26:44 AM PDT by DogwoodSouth
Well, I'm not a theological expert, so I can't explain exactly how praying for anyone (dead or not) works. I just know that we are commanded to pray for one another. Scripture commands us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and specifically demands that we intercede "for one another" (James 5:16) and that we pray "for all" (1 Timothy 2:1). There are no qualifiers in these instructions; nothing that would act as though death has separated the Body of Christ or made prayers ineffective. In addition to this, we know that praying for the souls of the dead was a Jewish practice that Christians continued. 2 Maccabees 12:46 reads: "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from sins."
Interestingly, the Apostle Paul seems to refer to praying for the dead (in this case, his friend Onesiphorus) in his second letter to Timothy. Specifically, he wrote (important part highlighted): "May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord's mercy on that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well." At the very least, reasonable people could conclude that at the time Paul wrote this, Onesiphorus had died and left behind a family (i.e. "house"), and that Paul was praying in the highlighted words that Onesiphorus would be granted God's mercy on the Day of Judgement.
(Excerpt) Read more at southernfriedcatholicism.com ...
You confuse we who are in time, with those in Purgatory who are not in time.
The Church does not teach that Purgatory is in time, nor that it is a “place.”
Studying what the Church teaches instead of what comic books say about the Church would be helpful.
How long a person must suffer in purgatory is not clear, for not only must the Catholic pay for his sins but his soul must be "cleansed after death by cleansing pains." - That would be the RCC Comic Book Council of Florence, 6 July, 1439, session 6.
The amount of time required to perform this soul scrubbing varies from one person to the next:
"Some venial sins cling more persistently than others, according as the affections are more inclined to them, and more firmly fixed in them. And since that which clings more persistently is more slowly cleansed, it follows that some are tormented in Purgatory longer than others, for as much as their affections were steeped in venial sins." -Summa Theologica- That would be The RCC Comic Book Hero Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, App. 1,Q 2, Art.6.
Catholics still living can help a deceased loved one in purgatory by saying prayers, giving alms, and performing good works. The Comic Book CCC [958,1032,1475]. The Catholic then offers up these meritorious acts for the poor soul in purgatory. The most effective means of helping the dead, says the Church, is the sacrifice of the Mass [1055,1689]. Parishioners can ask a priest to say a Mass for the benefit of a person believed to be in purgatory. Normally a small gift of money accompanies the request. "The Gospel According to Rome", James G. McCarthey.
The "TWINKLING OF AN EYE"? lol! Purgatory has more cycles than my Kenmore washing machine. Soak, pretreat,stain cycle, maximum extraction,extra rinse, and heavy soil. It's more like "CLINKING OF COINS" that "changes" an RC, not the "twinkling of an eye."
You only prove that those unwilling to learn are unwilling to learn. Nothing you cited proves the point you think it did.
“Cleansed after death by cleansing pain” does not say Purgation is in time or a place.
Aquinas struggles to describe the ineffable with earthly language. There is plenty of theological talk about the “time” in Purgatory, or talk of it as a place. I wouldn’t mistake any of that for infallible teaching.
“Catholics still living can help a deceased loved one in purgatory by saying prayers, giving alms, and performing good works. “
Yes. And that does not prove what you set out to prove.
Totally not QED.
Don’t feel too bad, though. It is hard to debate something when you don’t understand what it is.
Oh, I don’t feel bad. It’s hard to debate something that is false, fluid, and flimsy. There is no understanding to be had. Just blind faith. In an institution. Good luck with all that, and may “purgatory” be the least of your problems.
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