I'm understanding Purgatory, but need clarification please

  • Thread starter Thread starter jreilly
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jreilly

Guest
Good morning,

I was recently reading some of the work of St. Therese of Lisieux regarding purgatory. I am beginning to understand her philosophy on such. My question now lies in when does a soul go to hell? Am I correct in thinking that those in purgatory tried to live good, holy lives but fell short and still required cleansing; but those destined to hell refused church doctrine and lives that sought to follow Christ? OK, thanks. I guess I’d better get back to work 🙂

Judy
 
jreilly said:
Good morning,

I was recently reading some of the work of St. Therese of Lisieux regarding purgatory. I am beginning to understand her philosophy on such. My question now lies in when does a soul go to hell? Am I correct in thinking that those in purgatory tried to live good, holy lives but fell short and still required cleansing; but those destined to hell refused church doctrine and lives that sought to follow Christ? OK, thanks. I guess I’d better get back to work 🙂

Judy
Click to expand...
Souls have a personal judgement immediately after death. Heaven hell, or purgatory will be determined then. You are correct in saying that those who choose to reject Christ then will, of their own choosing, go to hell. Those blessed without sins, or punishment due for sins, will go directly to heaven. Those who accept Christ, but whose souls are stained with venial sin, will be in purgatory until such time as they are cleansed. God is merciful, but God is just.
 
Purgatory is a part of heaven. If you aren’t condemned to Hell, you have the hope of seeing the beatific vision after purification. The problem is that many accounts of purgatory sound a lot like hell. The main difference;you know that you are moving closer to God. Many Saints and Scholars have written about the topic of the Judgment that happens directly after death. St Alphonsus said something along the lines (it was in his book of sermons for every sunday of the year) of the judgement being a self judgment. In other words, on that day, we stand before God himself and we have knowledge of the Truth of our our soul and we place ourselves where we need to be - Hell (if we have rejected the Gospel of Christ’s love), Heaven, (if we are pure and blameless), & Purgatory (if we haven’t rejected the Gospel but we are not free from the punishment due for our sins). St. Alphonsus says of the damned, (paraphrased here) - They will be compelled to stand before God but their judgement will be unbearable, they will hardly be able to stand it. In other words, they will have to answer to Our Lord for their wickedness and will not be able to avoid that moment but they will not be able to bear the truth of the destruction their wickedness caused. What a great pain of soul that would be!
It is so important to live in a state of grace with frequent confession. If one has lived a sinful life as I have, they would do good to pray for the grace to make reparation for their sins while they are still on earth rather than waiting for purgatory. The Justice of God will not allow us to be completely free from the punishment due for our sins but the Mercy of God is so great that he is willing to restore us to baptismal grace at our free decision for repentance and faith in the Sacrament of Confession as Christ’s forgiveness.

Thanks, Nick
weightofthewood.blogspot.com
 
not sure I answered the question.

Basically, Hell is merited (for Catholics) when one is not in baptismal grace (a state of grace). This happens when we commit a mortal sin and have not received forgiveness. Mortal sin - Grave Matter (think 10 commandments), you know its wrong, you do it anyways.

We can never know for sure (we are not God and cannot judge the hearts of men at the moment before they die) if a person has been forgiven by God. As Catholics we have the Sacrament of Confession as the normal means of forgiveness and we know that forgiveness is received in a good confession. We also know that God is not bound to forgive only in the Sacrament. We should limit our judgement to ourselves in this matter and pray for all those around us that they would seek forgiveness with God.

Thanks, Nick
weightofthewood.blogspot.com
 
Everyone in Purgatory will (eventually) go to heaven. Heaven and hell are eternal, but purgatory is temporary.

Everyone who is condemned to hell goes there straightaway. Nobody in hell ever sees purgatory.
 
jreilly said:
Good morning,

I was recently reading some of the work of St. Therese of Lisieux regarding purgatory. I am beginning to understand her philosophy on such. My question now lies in when does a soul go to hell? Am I correct in thinking that those in purgatory tried to live good, holy lives but fell short and still required cleansing; but those destined to hell refused church doctrine and lives that sought to follow Christ? OK, thanks. I guess I’d better get back to work 🙂

Judy
Click to expand...
I rambled on and on about What is Purgatory last month on my blog, so I must share. 😉
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top