Every Christian believes that in heaven, no sin is allowed; those who share in the glory of Christ’s eternal light will have no darkness in them whatsoever. And yet, here on earth, even the most righteous among us struggle with conforming our wills to God’s. Most Christian theologies have some understanding of a cleansing that takes place between death and heaven for the righteous; Catholics call that process purgatory. However, the Catholic understanding of that purgative state was among one of the most controversial points of the Continental Reformation. That being said, here’s our question for our community and readership this week:
What’s the best way the Catholic understanding of Purgatory was explained to you so that it made sense in light of scripture and tradition?
What was the best analogy or explanation for purgatory that you heard from a friend, read in a book or article, or came to understand through your own exploration? Please share in the comments, and look for our community response article at the end of the week!
Someone once said to me that when you die you come face to face with Jesus. At that moment you see the intense love that He has for you. When you experience that intense love, you are overwhelmed by thinking about all the ways that you failed Him. You think about all of the times that you had failed to love, like He loved you. Thinking of these things causes you pain because of what you had done and had failed to do. All you want is to make things right. You keep going over these hurts until you finally are freed from them by accepting God’s mercy. That is purgatory.
Something I am still seeking to understand . I am a convert and this concept was not even discussed in nondenominational circles. However, I always felt that the Lord didn’t really want the transition from this world to the next to be a huge change: we are to be transformed and conformed to His image as much as possible in this life. Since we fall short, I think of Purgatory as tailor made to each individual like people getting their G.E.D. since they never graduated. A character perfecting program which may include instruction, some type of works, and tools I have no concept of as a human being. So, do I think it’s okay to be slack now and make it up later? No. Why would I want to waste one moment away from the company of the Lord and all the saints?
A friend of mine explained it this way… The people in purgatory want to be there. It’s like if you imagine someone you really admire came to your front door early in the morning and you answered the door in your pajamas with your hair disheveled, not having brushed your teeth yet etc. You would ask the person to wait a minute while you got yourself cleaned up, then you would go to them when you were ready. Purgatory is where we will finish getting ourselves ready to meet Jesus if we don’t finish in this life.