聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia. If
听听听听听听听听听听听 End of the world reflections force us to think about judgement and the resulting reward or punishment. Of course most of us fall short of perfection so the debate about purgatory arises.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Many Catholics struggle with the concept of purgatory and do not explain it well to fellow Christians. It becomes easier to understand if we accept the love of Jesus. On the cross Jesus said to Dismas, 鈥淭oday you will be with me in paradise.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 The love of Jesus forgave the mob putting him to death: 鈥淔ather, forgive them.鈥� Jesus died as the lamb offered to take away our sins. 鈥淐ome now, let us reason together,鈥� says the Lord. 鈥�Though your sins听补谤别听like scarlet, they聽shall be聽as white as snow.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 What is the burning truth about purgatory? There are references to fire in the bible; Sheol in the Old Testament and Hades in the New Testament. These are distinct from hell or Gehenna in that they are a temporary place.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭he kind of suffering associated with purgatory鈥� is not suffering inflicted upon us from the outside as a punishment for sin, but the intrinsic pain that we all feel when we are asked to surrender our ego-centered self so that the God-centered loving self may take its place. It is part of the process by which we are called to die and rise with Christ鈥� Catechism of the Catholic Church, Chapter 29).
听听听听听听听听听听听 After our death we will be drawn into the consuming fire of God鈥檚 love which will purify us like fire purifies gold. We will finally be exposed to God鈥檚 loving judgement. I trust in the love Jesus illustrates in the parable of the banquet in Luke 14:23 where the host sends his servants into the highways and byways to compel all to come into the banquet so the table will be full.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Our excuses today for not joining in Christ鈥檚 banquet make about as much sense as the ones in Luke 14: 鈥淚 have bought some land; I have a couple of oxen I want to try out; I just got married鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 We have freedom to reject such love, but in that final meeting I am optimistic that the good life we tried to live will dispose us to accept fully what our Redeemer has done for us. That final meeting is not to be feared. Hopefully we have met Jesus long before that time and have stopped absenting ourselves from his invitation to the banquet he even now wants to share with us.
听听听听听听听听听听听 I have seven sure ways to get to heaven; seven essential rules that if followed will guarantee our eternal salvation. Number 1: Love God and love your neighbour. I forget the rest.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Of course this life is a struggle and we are often in the unsure darkness. How do we trust in God and walk in faith? John of the Cross.
听听听听听听听听听听听 John of the Cross.
(Thanks also to some thoughts from Curtis Martin鈥檚 The Burning Truth About Purgatory.)
