Sunday, October 22, 2017

Sin, Purgatory And Love

This entry was inspired by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan's treatise entitled How To Avoid Purgatory  published by EWTN. [1]

This blogger thought that Purgatory was a necessary step to expiate sins before entering Heaven.  Fr. O'Sullivan said: [2]

The reason why we have to pass through Purgatory after death is that we
have committed sins and have not made satisfaction for them. Every
individual sin must be expiated--in this life or the next! Not even the
slightest shadow of sin or evil can enter the all-holy presence of God.

The graver, the more frequent the sins, the longer will be the period of
expiation and the more intense the pain.

It is not God's fault, nor God's wish, that we go to Purgatory! The fault
is all our own.

We have sinned and have not made satisfaction.

Even after our sin, God, in His infinite goodness, places at our disposal
many easy and efficacious means by which we may considerably lessen our
term of expiation, or even entirely cancel it.

This blogger would like to add that nothing is a necessity with God.  God's infinite capacity to love allows for all sins to be forgiven so that at death, one's soul is able to bypass Purgatory, and would be taken immediately to Heaven by the angels.  Perhaps Archangel Raphael would assist.  This blogger is not sure about Archangel Raphael's involvement but he is sure that the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is behind everything known and unknown and can make all things possible that are impossible for man.

Quoting in part (without hyperlinks) from What You Didn’t Know About the Sacred Heart of Jesus  written by Gretchen Filz, published by Catholiccompany.com  on June 2, 2017: [3]

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has its roots all the way back to the time of the Apostles, and arguably even before this in the Song of Songs penned by Solomon. St. John the Evangelist is the Apostle associated with the Sacred Heart devotion because, one, he was known as the disciple whom Jesus loved; two, he was called the “Apostle of Love” due to the theme of love repeated in his Gospel and epistles; and three, because he had the special privilege of reclining on the chest of Jesus at the Last Supper (the significance of which will be discussed below).

...

St. Gertrude experienced the exquisite and divine beatings of Jesus’ heart and wondered why St. John, who had also reclined on the heart of Jesus at the Last Supper, had never written of his experience.

St. John appeared to her in a vision and replied, “Yes, I heard them, and my soul was penetrated with their sweetness even to its very center” and explained that he did not write of this because, “My mission was to write of the Eternal Word . . . but the language of the blissful pulsations of the Sacred Heart is reserved for latter times, that the time-worn world, grown cold in the love of God, may be warmed up by hearing of such mysteries.”

The beginning of the "latter times" has already started but this "time-worn world" refuses to be warmed up by "such mysteries" but has instead grown colder, unaccepting of the love of God; yet, the love of God continues to be omnipresent.

This blogger believes that the love of God echoes the aggregate love in the hearts of all, and amplifies it infinitely in Heaven.  Therefore, when there was ample of love for those who had departed and there continues to be an ample of love for the beloved departed souls, this love becomes a continuous prayer.  God does not refuse love that is pure and genuine and answers prayers that blossom out of such love.  The ultimate answer to any prayer is an eternity in Heaven without having to suffer in Purgatory.  It also helps when one's soul is as pure as a young child's innocence without hypocrisy or pretense.

Quoting again from Fr. Paul O'Sullivan's treatise entitled How To Avoid Purgatory [4]:

God promises us in the most solemn and deliberate way (and He cannot fail
to do what He promises) that He will give us everything we ask in prayer,
if it is good for us.

Now two conditions, especially, make prayer infallible, namely perseverance
and faith. God cannot refuse such a prayer.

These Catholics we speak of pray expressly [5] every day of their lives that
God will free them from Purgatory. In every single prayer they say, in
every Mass they hear, in every good act they perform, they have the express
intention of asking God first of all and with all their hearts to deliver
them from Purgatory.

How? That is for God to decide.

It is not easy to see how God can possibly refuse such constant, unceasing
prayer. The fact that such prayers are said daily and many times in the
day, for 20, 30, 50 years, shows that they are said with undoubting faith
and magnificent perseverance.


[1] https://www.ewtn.com/library/spirit/avoidprg.txt
[2] Ibid.
[3] https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/what-you-didnt-know-sacred-heart-of-jesus-2/
[4] https://www.ewtn.com/library/spirit/avoidprg.txt
[5] This blogger wishes to expand on Fr. O'Sullivan's position and concludes that prayers need not mention explicitly that one be freed from Purgatory, but that every prayer prayed to God, whether it is prayed by a baptized Catholic or not, includes implicitly a prayer for the avoidance of Purgatory for oneself, for one's loved ones and for all before entering Heaven.  It is always the purity of love that is important, not the strict adherence to express rules and regulations.   In the Gospel of Mark at http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/3, Jesus made it clear that was not sabbath that needed to be observed but the restoration of a man's withered hand was more important than the observance of the rules of sabbath.  It is constant prayer that restores one's soul withered by Sin and its manifestations.  Certainly, one would like for Jesus to restore one's withered soul at death, no matter on which day one's death arrives.

No comments:

Post a Comment