Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
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God’s Truth From The Catechism Of The Catholic Church – cont.
For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.
602
1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has "opened" heaven to us. The life of the
blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by
Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and
remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated
into Christ.
1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all
understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast,
wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: "no eye has seen, nor
ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."
603
1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his
mystery to man's immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this
contemplation of God in his heavenly glory "the beatific vision":
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing
the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of
immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God's friends.
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1029 In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God's will in relation to other men
and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him "they shall reign for ever and ever."
605
III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY
1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of
their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness
necessary to enter the joy of heaven.
1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely
different from the punishment of the damned.
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The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on
Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by
reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:
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As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying
fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned
neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses
can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.
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1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in
Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be
delivered from their sin."
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From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead
and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified,
they may attain the beatific vision of God.
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The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences,
and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:
Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why
would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to
help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.
611
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