God is infinitely Perfect. Being perfect Love, perfect Humility, perfect Kindness, etc. If God is perfectly generous, would it not take just one prayer asking Him to free the souls from purgatory for Him to be generous enough to do so?? How could He not be that generous?
Because he is also perfectly just.
And he knows what each of us needs in our journey to complete purification and entry into Heaven.
I don’t think purgatory contradicts the idea of perfect generosity. The souls in purgatory are saved. They are destined to worship God for all eternity.
Could you explain Perfect Justice? Doesn’t Perfect Forgiveness trump justice?
I would encourage you to read the Catechism section on this topic.
These are not in competition with each other.
going back to the question in the title of this thread.
How generous is God?
…
God gave his only son.for the sake of mankind…
thats me,you,for the people on this forum,the whole of mankind.
I did just read everything paragraph in reference to Justice in the Catechism to refresh my memory. It seems to refer to paying a debt & treating each other as equals. Back to God’s Generousity & Forgiveness. Is it not true that after one goes to confession, Jesus Himself has forgiven one’s sins? And is it not rude of us then for example, to continue to judge ourselves as we are undermining God’s power to forgive? In reference to His generousity then: would it not also be rude to go against God granting just “one prayer” to free all souls from purgatory? And is He not generous enough to do so?
Because God made You
Shalom
God bless
What does that mean?? Are you saying God isn’t perfectly generous because He made me?
you have not replied to my post,but yet answered all the others,why is this??
Wasn’t purposely avoiding you, sorry if you felt left out :o I totally agree with you that God has more than shown us His generosity through Christ’s passion, taking up the cross of all our sins, & dying for us all; including those who refuse his love through the free will that God gave them. However, my question is more about imagination. If I can imagine a God that is generous enough to free all current souls from purgatory from one single prayer by just one single sinner’s prayer. If I can imagine that much generosity, as a human/a creation. How much more generous is He who created my & your imaginations?? I believe we underestimate greatly the mercy, generosity, & love of God Almighty. What are your thoughts doormouse73?
my question is more about imagination.
i could answer the question…
lead us not into temptation.
but deliver us from evil.
Que Sera Sera…
No that is how much God loves you.
God bless You
Huh?
God has a perfect will, and He only wills what is best. God is also unchanging. My brother, who still believes in God, does not believe in prayer because he recognizes only an imperfect entity could change His mind. He’s left the Church over this. Many atheists consider the contradiction in the idea that prayer is effective to be an argument against God’s existance. For if God has a perfect will, why would He ever do anything other than He intended. How could He possibly be swayed by our petitions when our will and understanding of life is so imperfect.
Both my brother and the atheists have a valid point. It is a contradiction to believe in an entity that has a perfect will to have His will changed. The only logical response to why prayer is a part of our faith, then, is answered in the fact that WE change.
While the bible does sometimes depict God as changing His mind, this is only by appearance.
The power of prayer lies not in our ability to change God’s will to our own, but the power of prayer to change us. When people asked Jesus to heal them or their loved ones, he always said “It is your faith that has saved you.” Perhaps there is a bit of withholding of grace until the moment we pray as well. Perhaps its a matter of the puzzle pieces. Our act of prayer changes us and adds one puzzle peice and then God responds by adding the other that wouldn’t be as effective without our puzzle peice. I’m not sure, but that would still make sense in allowing Him to have a perfect will.
But its important to understand that God’s will is perfect. Ours is not. Its “Thy will be done”, not “Thy will be done.” The Our Father, the Psalms and prayers given to us by the Church are often great guides in how to pray. In distress the Psalms guide us to bring all our insecurities to God, to make our complaint and then to declare our hope and trust in God and then to praise Him with great confidence.
Our own personal impulse to prayer is to beg God without much faith or confidence. “Please, please, please, please” we say. We might make the same request over and over in multiple words as if the freqency of our words will change His will. But Christ warned us about vain repetition. Its not “Please, please, please please, do this. I’m desperate. If you don’t, most horrible things will happen.” Its “Lord I am struggling and hurting. I set all my worries and concerns before you. I place before you my love for this person I am asking to be healed. Please pour down your grace. Look kindly upon us. I know you are good. I know you can do this if it is Your will. I trust You no matter what happens, because I know your will is perfect. Praise be to You in your goodness.” etc. etc. Its: Our concerns, being honest with our struggles, and then our leap of faith in trust by praising him. The praise is not bribery. Its not buttering God up. It has to be sincere, not manipulation. It has to be faith.
Your trust is thus not conditioned on any change, but simply dispositions you to offer your sufferings concerns and fidelty to God. A prayer is an offering more than a petition. It is an act of surrender and trust.
Pick up a copy of CS Lewis’ book “The Great Divorce.” Its written like a work of fiction which makes it entertaining. I will warn you though, he makes reference to historical figures and if you don’t know who they are, you may have to look up some names on wiki.
Another avenue is a book by Dr. Peter Kreeft “Everything you wanted to know about Heaven but never dreamed of asking.” He pretty much covers Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory in that book.
Thank you twoangels, that was an enlightening explanation. It was very well explained & I will ask all the angels & saints to pray for your brother & everyone else too 
It was helpful to realize that the prayers help to change me into a soul (hopefully) more like Christ. thank you for the help 