The Church Was At Peace

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him,

not believing that he was a disciple.Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus.

The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers.

You know that I fancy myself as a fairly decent wordsmith. But in this reading from Acts of the Apostles, I have to give credit to the author for his skillful use of the language so as to give me pause as to given the facts that he relates how he could state that the church was at peace.  I mean Saul (aka Paul) arrives and they do not know if they should trust him or not.  Then they get reports that he is on the home team and so they finally accept him.  Saul is on fire.  He cannot keep the news about Jesus quiet.  I can imagine how his friends in the temple felt about all of this. Then he decides to go and debate the Greeks, the Hellenists, and those jolly gentlemen respond by trying to kill him and Saul has to go on the lam, going to back to Tarsus.  This sounds to me like it would make a good television show, lots of action, but peace?  Strange usage of the word, "peace" for my money.  But, then again, the people that made up the Church were cooperating with one another, and it was growing and being built up and was following The Way of the Lord in unity and many souls were being added to their numbers. 

I think what I take-away from this reading is the picture of unity that is given to us. I normally do not pin my reflections on one word but in this case, I think that I can do so safely. I notice that although they are mentioning several locations, they use the word, "church" not "churches."  This implies that they were of one mind and one spirit under one leader.  I think that this is why they can say the Church was at peace.  When we are of one mind and spirit and following the Lord in obedience, there is no room for discord in our hearts. I can imagine how it must have been, people trying their best to live out the life that leads to life.  I can imagine how their terribly gray and dismal world took on a glimmer and luster as joy filled their hearts.  The joy of following the Lord is a reward in itself and that reward is peace of heart, mind, and soul. 

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ON PURGATORY  you will be glad you did! 

I want to write just a little about Purgatory today.  I know that there are those that do not believe that there is such a place, that when you die you go to heaven or hell and that there is no third choice open to us.  I could agree with that.  The ultimate destiny of man is to be in heaven with God unless the soul chooses otherwise.  Some of us, I think most of us, when we die are not properly disposed to live in a place where there is no discord, no evil, no sadness of any kind.  We are not quite ready to see the mighty majesty of God for ourselves for we, like the wedding guest who is not dressed for the wedding, are not ready to sit at the banquet table of the Lord.  We have attachments to sin.  We still never forgave so and so for stealing that pencil in second grade.  We never reconciled with so and so for what we did to them.  We are still angry at this one or that one.  There remains on our soul these blemishes, spots, and stains that have to be removed before we ourselves will feel ready to enter heaven.  It is, for this reason, we will choose Purgatory.  Think of it as the vestibule for heaven.  

The time to do all of the reconciling and detaching from sin is while we are on earth.  We can eliminate the need for a stop in Purgatory if we consciously work at getting rid of the baggage we are carrying in our souls.  On earth, we do this through prayer and sacrifice and actively forgiving the ills done to us. Once we arrive in Purgatory, we have to begin to rely on others for we cannot pray ourselves out of Purgatory.  Others, our loved ones, and even complete strangers, on the other hand, can have a positive impact on our time there, shortening through their offering of prayers and sacrifices.  

I think of all of the people in my life that have passed on to the next life.  I wonder if they are enjoying the bliss of heaven or if they are still working things out in Purgatory.  I dearly miss those who have gone before and I am making no assumptions as to where they are.  It may make me feel better to think that Mom is in heaven but my comfort does her no good if she is not. That goes for my father, grandfather, grandmother, and aunts, and uncles who have left this world.  We do not know the effect that sin has on our souls, what expiation is needed for even the least serious venial sin.  

I also think of the millions of souls who are there who come from the Protestant tradition.  Truth is the truth no matter if it is believed or not and they are subject to the same things that we who know that Purgatory exists are.  The main difference is that they definitely, being of the Protestant tradition where, "once saved, always saved" is taught and believed, in their mind, the effect of evil actions on their soul are of no consequence because once you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you have heaven as your eternal destiny no matter what actions you take in life, good or evil.  So, when they die, if they die without mortal sin on their souls, they too will choose Purgatory.  Their fellow believers will all believe that they went immediately to heaven and so will not be praying that they are delivered from Purgatory.  A Protestant in Purgatory has no one at all to pray for them!   

In charity and in love it is our duty to pray for the dead, to mitigate their sufferings and shorten the time they have to spend in Purgatory.   

Purgatory is a painful place.  The pain comes from the fire of God's love and your longing to be with Him in heaven.  Purgatory is also a joyful place because all of the people there know that at one point in the future this suffering will end and they will be with God in heaven.  The souls in Purgatory pray unceasingly. The sad part is that they cannot pray themselves out of Purgatory.  The time for making up for temporal punishment for sins is while we are on earth through our prayers and sacrifices.  So the Poor Souls, some who have been there for centuries as we reckon time, need our help, our prayers, and our sacrifices to help them escape Purgatory and enter heaven earlier than they might if depending on themselves. Purgatory is a joyful place.  If you were to offer a poor soul the chance to come back to earth, he or she would reject that choice because of the great happiness they feel at being assured that they cannot offend God anymore and that soon they will be with Him face to face. That joy is greater than any joy we can experience on earth. 

How can we help them?  Well, we can offer our own prayers and sacrifices and we can offer them our mass attendance and the grace from every time we take the Holy Eucharist. The Mass and the Eucharist are the most efficient ways.  From the website "Our Catholic Prayers"  

In purgatory, the souls of many of those who have died in God’s grace undergo purification so that they may enter heaven. The Prayer of St. Gertrude, below, is one of the most famous of the prayers for souls in purgatory. St. Gertrude the Great was a Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in the 13th century. According to tradition, our Lord promised her that 1000 souls would be released from purgatory each time it is said devoutly.

 

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen