Purgatory, a place for purification.
God our Father has promised us eternal glory. But heaven is a holy place; a soul stained by guilt cannot enter.
If someone dies in a state of grace, the ETERNAL PUNISHMENT (hell) has been removed. But still has TEMPORAL PUNISHMENT due to forgiven mortal sins, and venial sins not-atoned for. Thus, God made purgatory, showing a love which St. Josemaría compared to the love of “a mother who takes her little child and puts him in the bath, soaps him all over, washes him and dresses him, so that the baby ends up looking like a perfect angel!"
We should meditate on this as a sign of God's love. Purgatory does exist; it is a state where suffering and joy mysteriously intermingle.
There is suffering, because the soul keenly desires to enjoy God but is deprived of heaven for a time. This is called the punishment of privation.
There is also punishment of the senses, which consists of a flame more agonizing than anything one can suffer in this life. Yet there is joy too, at the knowledge that the battle is won and the soul is destined to rejoice in God for ever.
For the souls in purgatory, each moment of torment brings them a step closer to the full possession of God. Purgatory is not a temporary hell, but the waiting-room for heaven.
God purifies us during our life on earth, when we are docile to him. Suffering freely accepted and sought for love of God; pain and penance: these are instruments of atonement: they are our purgatory on earth. “You are afraid of penance?... Of penance, which helps you to obtain life everlasting? And yet, in order to preserve this poor present life, don't you see how men will submit to all the cruel torture of a surgical operation?" The sufferings which our Lord allows or sends us are our purgatory already in motion.
There is much that we need to purify in ourselves. There are venial sins; there are omissions in love; and there is the inclination to sin. Furthermore, every sin, even after it has been forgiven, leaves a debt outstanding in the soul, which must be paid either in this life or in the next. So, better, pay now.
The thought of the glory that awaits us can move us to greater self-denial when our body feels reluctant. The means? “I will tell you which are man's treasures on earth so that you will appreciate them: hunger, thirst, heat, cold, pain, dishonor, poverty, loneliness, betrayal, slander, prison..."
The whole of our life is a time for purification. We beg our Blessed Lady, Refuge of sinners, that the thought of purgatory may make us more generous every day in making up for our faults.
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