Dear Rev. Know-It-All,

I am afraid to live and afraid to die after reading your answer to “Just Curious” regarding indulgences.

Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer.  Does He only become my redeemer after I have taken charge of my own redemption by prayer, penance, good works and almsgiving? 

Can we know how much of the above is enough?  If the punishment for sin is only temporal where does purgatory come into the equation?

I guess for me, I will either be in eternal purgatory or hell because whatever I do will never be enough.

More and More Confused,

Pearl E. Gates 

Dear Pearl,

Calm down.

Jesus said, “I will, in no wise, turn away anyone who comes to me.”  (John 6:37)

On the other hand, you have to remember that St. Paul said, “Work out your salvation in fear and trembling.”  (Phil 2:12)  The verb he uses is “katergazomai” which has at its center the word “ergon” or “work.”  It means to accomplish, produce, or work out.

You sound like you are the victim of a piece of Calvinist theology, the total depravity of human nature.

We Catholics believe that humanity, though marred by the sin of Adam and Eve, is still made in the image of God and that God’s plan is to restore that image.  Calvin and Luther rejected free will and this rejection of free will is a big part of the problem.

Some churches teach that we can do nothing.  All our efforts are useless.  Jesus said that “Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)  With Him we can do plenty.

The  redemption is a process of cooperating with grace.  In other words, we say yes to God when He asks us to take another step forward.  If we fail in what He asks, He is quick to forgive.  He will always pick us up and help us to walk, but, all the same,  He always allows us to say no.

His goal is not just to save us, but to redeem us.  He wants to make us like Himself.  In order for that to happen, I have to let go of a lot of things that I’m holding on to, like selfishness and anger.  When He says, “Let Me take this from you.” I can cooperate or resist. 

God loves us.  You can’t enter into a relationship with a robot.  You can only love and be loved by someone who is free  to say yes or no.  God knows this and will not force you to love Him at any step of the way.

Think of the whole business as growing in love.  You're right.  When you are really in love, you can never do enough, but being in love itself is more than enough.  When you are in love, you let everything go for the sake of your beloved, and face it, the only person worth total love is the Lord.

So, relax.  Let God love you and do your best to love Him in return.  He'll take care of the rest.

Rev. Know-It-All
 

PS - Please read both the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraphs 1030-1032 and the 31st chapter of the Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis.  It contains the most beautiful and simple description of Purgatory I have ever read. 
 
 

Editorial Note:
this question refers to the Q&A
Are indulgences like brownie points in heaven?
published on November 5, 2006