The thread seems to have taken a turn towards the subject of indulgences, particularly of plenary indulgences. While I have nothing against gaining indulgences, I cannot help feeling that being too concerned about obtaining them has almost a mercenary element about it. Nobody by nature is fond of suffering, but to try to escape suffering altogether, or to try at least to reduce it as much as possible, may not be too healthy an attitude to have.
Perhaps part of the problem hinges on just what Purgatory is. If we look upon Purgatory strictly as a punishment, then of course our aim would be to avoid this punishment as much as possible. But if we see Purgatory as purgation, as its name implies, that is, as a time of purification, then perhaps we would not see it as something that ought to be avoided at all costs, but as something that is necessary, and to be embraced.
The good news though, as the quote from St John of the Cross that JoySong posted shows, is that we can, if we are willing, undergo our Purgatory here, rather than waiting till after our deaths. I may be wrong, but I don’t think that obtaining numerous plenary indulgences so as to avoid the suffering involved in purgation, is the answer to the problem of Purgatory. We must be
ready to enter fully into Heaven. If we carry a lot of worldly baggage with us at our deaths, we would actually not
want to enter Heaven yet because we will not be
ready for it–we would prefer to be cleaned up first. But the purgation itself can include an immense amount of joy!
Bear in mind the parable of the wedding guest that tried to sneak in improperly dressed. Remember too what Jesus said to Peter when Peter objected to having Jesus wash his feet at the Last Supper: “If I do not wash your feet, you will have no part of me” to which Peter replied, of course, “Then not my feet only, Lord, but my hands and head as well,” or something to that effect–in other words, “All of me, then, Lord, not just my feet.” And what is this washing but Purgatory? Something to be rejoiced at, I would think, not avoided.
Code:
O hope of every contrite heart, O joy of all the meek;
To those who fall, how kind thou art! How good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? Ah, this no tongue nor pen can show;
The love of Jesus, what it is None but His loved ones know.
--- St. Bernard of Clairvaux: "Jesus the Very Thought of Thee."
The excellence of this is that we can see the entire context of scripture rather than the few verses chosen for a reading at Mass. If we don’t attend Mass or follow the readings for some reason the next day, much is lost in the way of context. I have gained so much from selecting an entire epistle for my half-hour.