Apologetics Session 4: Purgatory, Indulgences and the Communion of Saints

Some objections we Catholics often hear are:
Challenge 1) "Catholics think they can earn forgiveness in purgatory, and they even try to "sell" it with indulgences! Indulgences are totally a creation of men." (But - we Catholics teach that purgatory is not only for the forgiveness of certain sins: purgatory deals with our love for sin. Indulgences are beautiful spiritual treasures, which, we must with shame admit, were at one time wrongly "sold" by some in the Church.)
Challenge 2) "Prayer to saints, prayer to the dead or for the dead - all this is contrary to God's Word." (But we Catholics teach and insist that the love and communion of the saints does not end with what we call "death.")

We are called to holiness. Humanity needs purgatory, because we are called to real, authentic holiness! We are all called in Christ to be perfect, to be holy, as Scripture asserts:

[Mt 5:48] You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
[Eph 1:4] … he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
[Eph 5:27] … that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
[1 Pet 1:15] … but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct;
[16] since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

Suppose a Christian dies not perfect - somewhat less than "holy and without blemish"? A Christian could have all mortal sins forgiven (so that he is not deserving of hell) yet he could be far from ready for heaven. Forgiveness releases a person from the guilt of sin, but even though forgiven, he can still have a desire for sin - even a love for sin. Because of the blemishes of unholy attachments and even love for that which is sin, a person may not be spiritually ready for the beatific vision of the all-holy God. Such a person needs purification, even after forgiveness. Thank God for purgatory!

Purgatory.
The Catechism explains it this way:

CCC 1472 … every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the "temporal punishment" of sin.

This "temporal punishment" is a punishment, in that it does cause suffering, and it is a consequence of sin in the world. Because of sin, there is suffering in this world: there is injustice, there is sickness, there are natural disasters, there is death. The sufferings in this world, if received with faith and in charity, can purify us of love for sin and of any love for the things of creation that exceed our love for the Creator who made it all. Purification from "unhealthy attachment to creatures" must be gained, either now, to our merit, or passively in purgatory without merit.

If we accept the unavoidable sufferings of this life with faith and charity, then purgatory may be unnecessary! Let us not "waste" suffering! But if we do not receive the sufferings of this world as we should, to our merit, so as to be rightly purified, there still remains a purgatory after death to accomplish this.
Scripture teaches us of a purification waiting after death, for anyone whose works are not fully worthy of a Christian:

[1 Cor 3:11] For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
[12] Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw -
[13] each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
[14] If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
[15] If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

We can see that this purifying "fire" cannot be the fire of hell, which is for eternity, but is for some period that will still lead to salvation. This is, then, what we call "purgatory."

Jesus teaches, concerning the judgment to come, that we should better settle now than later:

[Mt 5:25] Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison;
[26] truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.

The penalty for our deficiencies in the Christian life is exact: the "last penny" will be required. We are to be "perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect," as Jesus taught. (Mt 5:48) Purification that is not completed on earth must be finished later, in purgatory.

Indulgences
Indulgences will be difficult to understand for anyone who does not have the Catholic sense of the mission of the Church, and the Communion of Saints. Many non-Catholics think that an indulgence is a remission of sin that the Church can sell! It is not. The Catechism explains:

1471 What is an indulgence?
"An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."(Paul VI)
"An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin." (Paul VI) "The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead." < CIC, can. 994>

Our sin, with its inappropriate loves and desires, has consequence, then, and suffering results. Purification of this inappropriate desire, through the "temporal punishment of sin," can be satisfied by faithfully enduring the sufferings of this world, by selfless good works and by other expressions of charity. Scripture says that

[1 Pet 4:7] The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers.
[8] Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

The Spiritual Treasure of the Church
Indeed our love - in good works and in faithful endurance - can cover a multitude of sins, not only our own. This is the treasury of the Church: the merits of the charity first of all of Christ Himself, and secondly of the multitude of saints in Him throughout the ages.
In Christ we are bound together; there is one Body and He is the head.

[1Cor.12:12] For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
[13] For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

[1Cor.12:26] If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

The One Body is not broken by death! The unity in love of Christians, because of Christ, is stronger than death.
Prayer on behalf of the dead has always been part of Catholic faith. We find this confidence reflected in the pre-Christian Jewish faith expressed in the Book of Maccabees:

[2 Macc 12:40] Then under the tunic of every one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was why these men had fallen.
[41] So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous Judge, who reveals the things that are hidden;
[42] and they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out.

Prayer on behalf of the dead was part of Christian faith until the Reformation, when it was rejected and the Books of Maccabees were excluded from the Protestant Bible. Evidence of Catholic belief in prayer for the dead can be traced at least to the early 200's, in early Church writings.

Prayer with and to the Saints
Also in Catholic tradition is the confidence we have in praying in communion with the whole family of God: the saints among us on earth, and the saints who have gone before us in death to be with the Lord. Our fellowship in Christ, our love for one another, does not end in death: "all live to Him." (Lk 20:38) Thus the whole family of God is to pray with and for one another.
The Catechism gives several Scripture references on this issue of prayer of intercession:

2635 Since Abraham, intercession - asking on behalf of another - has been characteristic of a heart attuned to God's mercy. In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints. In intercession, he who prays looks "not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others," even to the point of praying for those who do him harm.<Phil 2:4; cf. Acts 7:60; Lk 23:28, 34>
2636 The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely.<Cf. Acts 12:5; 20:36; 21:5; 2 Cor 9:14> Thus the Apostle Paul gives them a share in his ministry of preaching the Gospel<Cf. Eph 6:18-20; Col 4:3-4; 1 Thess 5:25> but also intercedes for them.<Cf. 2 Thess 1:11; Col 1:3; Phil 1:3-4>

Love that intercedes for the good of others does not end at death. Thus the saints pray for us, as we pray with them for all the Church. God wants us to love!