C
CentralFLJames
Guest
This is a very good topic and most Catholics do not understand the church’s teaching on this. Anyone in doubt should go back and re read the referenced catechism. Make no mistake about it Purgatory is very real. God’s justice as well as his mercy requires it.
The very sobering truth is a great many more souls probably go to hell than most people want to even think about. It’s profoundly fearful for most of us to even imagine - especially if we have lost a loved one and just don’t know if they made a good act of contrition at their last rights. That said there are no doubt enormous numbers of souls who go to purgatory too and hope remains! And this is where I think some of you need to change your perspective. Some here are mistaken to think that we don’t need to worry about purgatory since if we are in a state of grace we go straight to heaven. Not true! It is almost impossible to be in a pure state of grace unless one has the piety of a saint! We commit many daily venial sins through habits and behaviors that we often are not even aware of. Some mystics claim God will make all our unforgiven/unconfessed sins made plain to us in our last moments and it can be horrifying to imagine all that he sees that we never consider. This is why we should pray daily (e.g. morning and evening Act of Contrition or Miserere etc.) for forgiveness and to have the final opportunity to perform a perfect act of contrition before death. We should be anxious to routinely go to confession. But we should not be only centered on our own salvation! We also have an obligation to help more than just ourselves! We Catholics are baptised priest, prophet and kings. We have a Christian obligation to pray for and minister to those in this earth and especially to those poor souls who are in purgatory. The souls in purgatory may have no one else remaining on earth that even thinks of them or knows them to help them perfect themselves and satisfy the debt that God’s justice requires for forgiven sins. It can take hundreds and hundreds of our human life years to help some of these individuals pay that debt back to God. This is why the Church gives us abundantly rich spiritual gifts of the indulgences that can transcend time. These are approved by the Catholic Church. We should especially use these during All Souls and All Saints Day and the associated novenas and other special days. If we pray for somone already in paradise then God will apply our prayers to another family member, friend or some soul who can most benefit from our charitable act of mercy. Note that a FULL plenary indulgence is available to us Catholics on the special days and for certain indulgences! That means we can help a loved one’s should go straight to heaven and God at the instant we satisfy the indulgence (generally requiring that we be in a high state of grace after confession, receive communion and invoke the prayers or conditions of the particular indulgence). This is a profoundly eternal and special gift and power we Catholics have and we should use it often. In fact it is OUR DUTY to our loved ones and the minions of poor souls in purgatory to help them while we still have life. This is perhaps the most accessible and easy acts of charity that any Catholic can do. Reference: THE RACCOLTA of approved indulgences for more info. On the other side of the grace are the full heavenly body of saints and angels and loved heavenly Christian family who also pray for us here on earth. God has an amazing plan to get us home to him - but we have to exercise the gifts we have, cooperate and be dutiful and receptive to his saving grace and gifts.
A going away comment - God does not want us to come to him out of a fear of going to Hell or his Justice. He’d rather you come to him through love of Jesus and by the Divine Mercy. But since his Justice requires that he give Satan permission to take any soul that is is in a moral state of sin at the time of bodily death he would rather you come to him out of fear than not come at all.
And finally, I have to disagree with the well studied protestant who thought that the soul itself can die from mortal sin while the body is still alive. The Church teaches that no sin is so grave that it can not be forgiven by the divine mercy and power of Jesus. That means the soul can be cleansed or redeemed from any mortal sin up to the moment of death. After that, unless there is a hidden justice or mercy that is not yet revealed to the Church a soul goes to hell and is beyond the opportunity for redemption (not that is is not within God’s power to resurrect it - but he won’t since its lost the capacity for good and out of self pride, just like Satan, can no longer even conceive to ask for mercy ever again).
James
The very sobering truth is a great many more souls probably go to hell than most people want to even think about. It’s profoundly fearful for most of us to even imagine - especially if we have lost a loved one and just don’t know if they made a good act of contrition at their last rights. That said there are no doubt enormous numbers of souls who go to purgatory too and hope remains! And this is where I think some of you need to change your perspective. Some here are mistaken to think that we don’t need to worry about purgatory since if we are in a state of grace we go straight to heaven. Not true! It is almost impossible to be in a pure state of grace unless one has the piety of a saint! We commit many daily venial sins through habits and behaviors that we often are not even aware of. Some mystics claim God will make all our unforgiven/unconfessed sins made plain to us in our last moments and it can be horrifying to imagine all that he sees that we never consider. This is why we should pray daily (e.g. morning and evening Act of Contrition or Miserere etc.) for forgiveness and to have the final opportunity to perform a perfect act of contrition before death. We should be anxious to routinely go to confession. But we should not be only centered on our own salvation! We also have an obligation to help more than just ourselves! We Catholics are baptised priest, prophet and kings. We have a Christian obligation to pray for and minister to those in this earth and especially to those poor souls who are in purgatory. The souls in purgatory may have no one else remaining on earth that even thinks of them or knows them to help them perfect themselves and satisfy the debt that God’s justice requires for forgiven sins. It can take hundreds and hundreds of our human life years to help some of these individuals pay that debt back to God. This is why the Church gives us abundantly rich spiritual gifts of the indulgences that can transcend time. These are approved by the Catholic Church. We should especially use these during All Souls and All Saints Day and the associated novenas and other special days. If we pray for somone already in paradise then God will apply our prayers to another family member, friend or some soul who can most benefit from our charitable act of mercy. Note that a FULL plenary indulgence is available to us Catholics on the special days and for certain indulgences! That means we can help a loved one’s should go straight to heaven and God at the instant we satisfy the indulgence (generally requiring that we be in a high state of grace after confession, receive communion and invoke the prayers or conditions of the particular indulgence). This is a profoundly eternal and special gift and power we Catholics have and we should use it often. In fact it is OUR DUTY to our loved ones and the minions of poor souls in purgatory to help them while we still have life. This is perhaps the most accessible and easy acts of charity that any Catholic can do. Reference: THE RACCOLTA of approved indulgences for more info. On the other side of the grace are the full heavenly body of saints and angels and loved heavenly Christian family who also pray for us here on earth. God has an amazing plan to get us home to him - but we have to exercise the gifts we have, cooperate and be dutiful and receptive to his saving grace and gifts.
A going away comment - God does not want us to come to him out of a fear of going to Hell or his Justice. He’d rather you come to him through love of Jesus and by the Divine Mercy. But since his Justice requires that he give Satan permission to take any soul that is is in a moral state of sin at the time of bodily death he would rather you come to him out of fear than not come at all.
And finally, I have to disagree with the well studied protestant who thought that the soul itself can die from mortal sin while the body is still alive. The Church teaches that no sin is so grave that it can not be forgiven by the divine mercy and power of Jesus. That means the soul can be cleansed or redeemed from any mortal sin up to the moment of death. After that, unless there is a hidden justice or mercy that is not yet revealed to the Church a soul goes to hell and is beyond the opportunity for redemption (not that is is not within God’s power to resurrect it - but he won’t since its lost the capacity for good and out of self pride, just like Satan, can no longer even conceive to ask for mercy ever again).
James