Are we in Purgatory already?

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joshrp

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Hi,

I was thinking about purgatory and wondering if we are sort of already in it. It seems like this life is a kind of purgatory in advance. We must purge ourselves of our sins in this life, and if we don’t get to finish, then the process continues for us after we die. Is this an accurate statement?

Joshua
 
No, absolutely not. Purgatory is a cleansing that prepares the soul for Heaven. A person goes through Purgatory only after they die and have been judge to go to Heaven. What you do in this life affects IF you are going to Heaven and, if so, how long you will be in Purgatory. I assume that I will need a lot more time in Purgatory than someone like Mother Treasa.

Ran
 
Ranp said:
No, absolutely not. Purgatory is a cleansing that prepares the soul for Heaven. A person goes through Purgatory only after they die and have been judge to go to Heaven. What you do in this life affects IF you are going to Heaven and, if so, how long you will be in Purgatory. I assume that I will need a lot more time in Purgatory than someone like Mother Treasa.

Ran
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Ok, cool. That makes sense. Just another crazy idea that I had to get cleared up. Thank God for Catholic Answers Forums!
 
Ranp said:
No, absolutely not. Purgatory is a cleansing that prepares the soul for Heaven. A person goes through Purgatory only after they die and have been judge to go to Heaven. What you do in this life affects IF you are going to Heaven and, if so, how long you will be in Purgatory. I assume that I will need a lot more time in Purgatory than someone like Mother Treasa.

Ran
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👍 I agree!

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You can only go to Purgatory while breathing, if you are in Colorado :):):)🙂
 
joshrp said:
Ok, cool. That makes sense. Just another crazy idea that I had to get cleared up. Thank God for Catholic Answers Forums!
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I don’t think it is a crazy idea but a good question. 🙂

I believe that how you live right now on earth can affect the amount of time or circumstances (if any) that you have in purgatory. So in that sense, we could view some suffering that we have on earth as hopefully “purgatorial” and so perhaps lessen our sufferings in purgatory.
 
Bearontherun said:
I don’t think it is a crazy idea but a good question. 🙂

I believe that how you live right now on earth can affect the amount of time or circumstances (if any) that you have in purgatory. So in that sense, we could view some suffering that we have on earth as hopefully “purgatorial” and so perhaps lessen our sufferings in purgatory.
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Well, it is called Purgatory because it is a “purgation” of sins.
 
Bearontherun said:
Absolutely. So “redemptive suffering” is the kind that could be called purgatorial here on earth.
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There are a lot of terms to know, and it is very useful to know the distinctions between them. I’m really beginning to enjoy these forums lately. Thank you all for being here.
 
My understanding is the same as bearontherun’s. I’m pretty sure I heard it on EWTN radio once too, but I can’t remember who said it. Basically, we can cooperate with God to remove the temporal punishment for sins we’ve committed here on earth, and anything that remains will be purged in Purgatory. So Purgatory will be a continuation of the purgation of venial sins and their temporal punishment, but it is by a different process and our souls are in a different state. God bless.
 
joshrp said:
Haha, is that a city in Colorado? What is it like there?
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It is indeed a town in Colorado; but I haven’t been there yet.

Amazing, non, that Dante got it right about a mountainous Purgatory before Colorado was even discovered???:)🙂
 
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