A Remedy for All That Ails You

"Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise, your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."

If you ever wanted a reason to believe in Purgatory, the words of Jesus in this passage taken from Matthew Chapter Five is a fairly decent one on which to base your belief.  There are others but this say of Jesus ends with hope.  He does not stop after the words "you will not be released."  He continues with "until you have paid the last penny."   So Jesus is telling us that there is some mechanism in place to forgive wrongs after death.  That would be Purgatory, the place where you prepare yourself for final entry into heaven.  

There is no reason for you to go to Purgatory, none at all. It is a painful place for your soul to live in but it is a place full of hope because you are assured that one day you will be escorted from Purgatory and brought to live in eternal bliss in heaven.  In that respect, it is a joyful place because while you live in pain, you live with the knowledge that you have lost the ability to offend God any further and that brings joy to your soul. 

People plan today for their retirement a period of time, perhaps for some twenty years or so, where they have to do no work nor answer to no boss.  People rarely plan to stay out of Purgatory.  It is easy to do but does take some effort on your part, cooperating with the graces that God sends to you.  Here, in a simple list, is one sure fire way to avoid having to go to Purgatory.  

1. Perform an examination of conscience
2. Make a good confession of all of your sins.
3. Promise to avoid the things you have confessed in the future. 
4. Say the act of contrition and accept the forgiveness of God and His Church. 
5. Say the penance that the priest has assigned. 
6. Do good works and sacrifices for others because God is good. 
7. Live your life as a committed Christian, a lover of the pure, the innocent.
8. Pray daily for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. 
9. If you sin, return to step 1 and begin again. 

Purgatory is a real place with real people in it.  You, in fact, may know some of them. There are untold millions of Protestants there with little support from those that they left behind because of the fact that the reality of Purgatory is not believed by them. Your prayer is worth more to them than diamonds are to a diamond merchant! Our prayers and sacrifices when applied to the Poor Souls in Purgatory help shorten the time that they will be there. I have to tell you that they will not forget their friends, those that prayed and sacrificed for them.  

God is a God of love and mercy.  That is why Purgatory exists.  It is not there for punishment or because God likes to see His children in pain.  It is there because the souls that live there are not yet ready for the bliss of heaven. They have minor sins that were never forgiven or perhaps are still attached to some sinful thoughts, such as anger.  Heaven is a place where happiness reigns and there is no evil or sin.  When you come out of Purgatory, you are cleansed and ready for heaven.  God bless you on this day.