"If I make it to Purgatory"

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louisak

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Today while I was chatting with a friend after Mass, she said that the heat in her house had not been working for the last several days. We have been going through a cold spell during that period, so joked “That’s some time off Purgatory for you!” She smiled and said “If I make it to Purgatory”. I smiled back and made some comment like “What kind of faith do you have”? I don’t recall her exact words but it made me think she was serious, i.e. that she has doubt about her salvation.

Now you have to understand this is a woman who lives an exemplary life. She and her husband are both practicing Catholics, they have five or six kids; I see her at daily Mass often, and they have a rich prayer life at home. She and her husband are also kind and hospitable. It distressed me to hear her speaking that way. Of course we cannot be complacent about our salvation, but we need to have confidence in God’s promises and in the efficacy of the sacraments and prayers that the Church offers us.

I would like to give her something to read that discusses the topics of the universal call to holiness, the efficacy of the sacraments, indulgences, and so forth. In other words, to help her understand that we should not only have confidence that God will provide for our salvation if we rely on these means that the Church provides, but that it should even be our goal to attain sanctity and avoid Purgatory altogether.

Is anyone aware of a pamphlet or short book that addresses this? I don’t know how much leisure time she has, and I don’t want to give her a large book to read.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Doubting salvation seems to spring from a despairing misinterpretation of the idea the assurance of salvation, which we don’t have in the absolute sense, simply because we can’t prophecy our own future decisions, not because God has surprises waiting for us or that we won’t be good enough. This despairing attitude is something that accompanied the Jansenist heresy.

A book that I think addresses this subject well - among others - is St Alphonsus Liguori’s “12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation” which includes a section on Hope and what that entails. It is an older book though so she might prefer something more contemporary, although I think Liguori’s writing is more effective than most saints in preserving its freshness.

If she was raised in a highly conservative Catholic family, she might have this attitude embedded into her from childhood. It won’t be easy to remove so that she can move on and go deeper than that.
 
I think she was making a joke and you didn’t get it.
She was trying to be humble with wit.
Gove her a break eh?
 
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