The Crypt, pt 5
The Net that Catcheth All Sorts of Fish
The Church is aptly compared to a net that catches all sorts of fish. Some, in time, will be rejected, some will be kept for market. Christ, in speaking of the kingdom of Heaven, speaks of the good grain and the weeds growing together until the harvest; an indication that at the Judgment all will be made right. It is the easiest thing to refuse to have a part in the church using the excuse that so many hypocrites can be found in it. I must admit that in this day of apostasy my own heart grows faint, but I shall never give up on that for which Christ died. But the solemnity of the present fact is that the dust of the saintly lies buried side by side with the dust of the reprobate. We are all traveling to some crypt or other, at least our bodies are . . . our souls are heading for Paradise as Christians so fear not dear hearts.
It is helpful to consider our cathedral's crypt, for in it lie memories not only of the blessed and the good but also of those Christians who have deeply hurt us, of many who turned their back upon Jesus altogether. But they all died, this we all have in common; and no, we may not really judge another no matter how displeased we feel with him or her. That is God's work, not ours. Here in the crypt surrounded by the dead past we may learn anew that life here on earth and in paradise itself is Christ's own school for us all. We learn; many never seem to learn, and perhaps that is why some Christians believe so strongly in a Purgatory. Whatever the case, there's nothing like a drive through a cemetery to put things into perspective: that is what Jim McInerney always told me, and he would occasionally drive through Calvary Cemetery before coming back to the office.
I share with you here what I believe life and life after life surely entails for those who would love God:
Here I agree wholeheartedly with the great C. S. Lewis, that probably before we are taken into God's most holy presence our lives must go through some degree of purging, and that we would want it that way if ever we realized what this holiness is. We would not, to use his analogy, want to appear immediately in filthy, muddy rags. This is no denial in the completeness of Christ's work but rather it tells of the efficacy of His shed blood and resurrection beyond all that is time/space. We must not pretend we understand what reality is when it comes to eternal matters but in humility know that, as Christ has said, we shall stay in the prison until the last farthing of our indebtedness (unclean estate) has been paid (purged).
I am now going to quote, as space permits, from the work of the late bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Austin Pardue (a saintly man to be sure). I think he has given the most wonderful account of what this intermediate "purgatorial" estate might well be. As an evangelical, I prefer the more scriptural terminology of paradise, so does the blessed Pardue. [excerpted from He Lives, by the Rt. Rev. Austin Pardue]
"God has so ordered the life of man that each individual has certain
definite courses mapped out for his soul's experience. Sooner or later,
in this earthly life or in Paradise, he must master each assignment.
Our Lord has told us that we are to proceed in the direction of
perfection. These lessons are not primarily a matter of intellectual
obstacles but rather a series of standards of character based on wise
spiritual understanding. Just as our Lord grew in stature and favor
with God and man, so are we charged with a like responsibility for
growth. The education of the soul can be compared to the grade school
pursuits of a child. He has certain courses in specified grades and he
passes to the next grade when he has satisfied the requirements of his
teacher. Sometimes he misses out entirely and must go back and take the
grade over. When he graduates from eighth grade and leaves that
particular school, there are a few tears perhaps but there is far
greater rejoicing because he has graduated. It is a gala occasion
rather than a time to lament. His ambition is realized; he is going to
High School. For a while he will not be so closely associated with some
of the youngsters he knew in the lower grades but they will be coming
along pretty soon; they will be entering High School in a year or two
and our old graduate will meet them and 'show them the ropes.' How
proud will the young freshman be to have his Junior or Senior for a
guide.
The education of the soul is worked out by God on a fixed, though not
legalistic, plan. Where you leave off here on this earth, you begin in
Paradise. If you are a spiritual third-grader here, when you pass over,
so you will be there. Your credits will be known by the very quality of
your inner soul which now is an open book. 'Then shall I know even as
also I am known.' You continue your program of growth without
interruption. So there is plenty of work and interest ahead, as well as
good times, and perhaps problems. Hence, the prayer Book directs us to
pray: 'And we also bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed
this life in thy faith and fear; beseeching thee to grant them continual
growth in thy love and service, and to give us grace to follow. . .'
When life on this earth is understood as a school for the growth and development of the soul under the disciplined limitation of a physical body, it somewhat lessens our confusion because of cruelties which crop out in almost every generation. The world goes along with a certain amount of seeming progress, and then there comes an outbreak of barbarism which exceeds almost anything we have known before. This throws some people into atheism. They are baffled by the shocking knowledge that the world has made so little progress. Disillusionment follows inevitably. That is too bad. The trouble is in the individual's concept of life on this earth. he thinks that this materialistic world existence is an end in itself. Such a belief is doomed to bitter disappointment.
One thing we know is that our children do not learn much by our experience; they learn mostly by their own. They learn the hard way, and so must all of us. You see your son making mistakes which you know are going to hurt him and you tell him so, but he doesn't really believe you until he tries the experiment himself. Later, he probably comes around and says, 'Dad, you were right.' The primary purpose of life in this world is not necessarily to achieve ultimate perfection. It is to give a certain elementary training in the progress of the soul and to prepare that soul for the next school, which, on the cross, our Lord called Paradise."
And I quote from C. S. Lewis' Letters Chiefly to Malcolm: "Mind you, the Reformers had good reasons for throwing doubt on 'the Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory' as that Romish doctrine had then become." Here Lewis gives a for instance, quoting from various Roman Catholic saints, "In Thomas More's Supplication of Souls, Purgatory is simply a temporary Hell. In it the souls are tormented by devils, whose presence is 'more horrible and grievous to us than is the pain itself.' Worse still, (Bishop) Fisher, in his sermon on Psalm VI , says the tortures are so intense that the spirit who suffers them cannot, for pain, 'remember God as he ought to do.' ... It is a place not of purification but purely of retributive punishment."
Then, having done away with these false, pre-Reformation notions of
Purgatory, Lewis touchingly observes, "Our souls demand
Purgatory, don't they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, 'It is
true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime,
but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things,
nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy'? Should we not reply,
'With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I'd rather be
cleaned first.' 'It may hurt, you know' --- 'Even so, sir.'
I assume that the process of purification will normally involve
suffering. ... But I don't think suffering is the purpose of purgation.
I can well believe that people neither much worse nor much better than I
will suffer less than I or more. 'No nonsense about merit.' The
treatment given will be the one required, whether it hurts little or
much.
My favorite image on this matter comes from the dentist's chair. I hope
that when the tooth of life is drawn and I am 'coming round,' a voice
will say, 'Rinse your mouth out with this.' This will be Purgatory.
The rinsing may take longer than I can now imagine. The taste of this
may be more fiery and astringent than my present sensibility could
endure. But More and Fisher shall not persuade me that it will be
disgusting or unhallowed.."
Let us pray:
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Thou hast revealed unto us, O Lord Jesus, in Thy sending upon us of the Holy Ghost from Thine ascended glory, the reality of the Triune God. The Father hath purposed our salvation. Thou hath saved us by Thy Resurrection. The Holy Ghost, true God, The Love of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father, is sent us to guide and instruct Thy people, the Church. Alleluia!
We pray for the world of pagans and atheists who do not know Thee and thus cannot experience the joy of the Trinity toward us mortals on earth and the immortals in the life beyond. We pray for the dear Jewish people that they shall be granted the full glimpse of their God as He is, not solitary, but Trinity in infinite majesty. We pray for the Muslims in their tragic darkness, O Christ open their hearts and their eyes to see that the Lord, He is God, and He is the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We beg of Thee to alleviate the terrible suffering of good Christians under the iron rule of militant Muslims and all other tyrannical regimes. Oh deliver them mightily and convert the souls of the Jews and the Muslims to know Thee as Thou wouldst be known, unto their salvation. Amen.
Continue to The Unconscious Region