…continued :
It’s fairly common for us to get stuck contemplating the “world to come” in terms of “this world” instead ; terms of time ( and even space) because our earthly existence is pervaded by , or expressed in these dimensions of time and space.
It would help your wife if she didn’t hold too linear a view of the concept of Purgatory. She would appear to be limiting her concept of Purgatory too much by comparing it only to the prisons we have here on earth… reducing it to a question of simply how long the sentence will be. Father Hardon’s definition indicates that the aforementioned is an erroneous view to hold :
“The sufferings in Purgatory are not the same for all, but proportioned to each person’s degree of sinfulness.”
And he tells us (and hopefully also exhorts us) much with these words :
“Moreover, these sufferings can be lessened in duration and intensity through the prayers and good works of the faithful on earth.”
If she wanted to try and expand her thinking, perhaps your wife could start by considering a simple analogy of a glass of water. God’s justice demand’s that the glass be filled to a certain point. If we needed a shorter duration of time to fill the glass, then we would need to
intensify the flow … more water pressure ;
duration and
intensity of the suffering. It wouldn’t hurt to point out that if we were striving to do our utmost as conscientious Catholics, many more souls would be freed from Purgatory “sooner” , which would render the scenario she suggests even more unlikely
)) - regardless of the error of thinking that time ,as we know it, will continue after the final judgement .
On one of St. Faustina’s visits to Purgatory, she asked the holy souls what their greatest torment was, and
“They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God.”
(* I’m not too crazy about proposing this next part because it might be construed as limiting God’s ability to do all things, but it does serve as an argument ample of disproving your wife’s theory.Everyone please be advised this is a very imperfect example .)
To put it all into perspective :
We know that a soul who has reached Purgatory has the promise of going to Heaven . So what if a soul who had, (for lack of a better word) “extensive” Purgatory ahead of them were to pass away just prior to the final judgement ? The reasons I present here are not to say God would do it that way ; only to prove or show that it is “
doable”.
In one instant God could purify that soul (remember the holy souls’ greatest torment is their longing for God) by plunging it into a darkness where it would feel totally abandoned by God - the greatest of their greatest torments.
One rightfully asks, “How could that be… that a soul could feel that way - totally abandoned by God yet not lose sight of its promise of Heaven . Is such a thing even possible ?”
I believe the answer can be found in [Matt 27:46] : “My God. my God…Why have you forsaken me?”
Neither should we ever underestimate God’s unfathomable Mercy - the same God who ordained that His Church should, on His behalf, impart indulgences to us - sinners whom He loves so much.
