Why
I am thanking God for Purgatory
Imagining
what purgatory will be like shows us our hope for justice. And forces us to
acknowledge our faults.
“Our souls demand Purgatory, don’t they? Would it not break the
heart if God said to us, ‘It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your
rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will
upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy’?
Should we not reply, ‘With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I’d
rather be cleaned first.’ ‘It may hurt, you know’ – ‘Even so, sir.’ “
—C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcom: Chiefly on Prayer, pp 108-109
—C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcom: Chiefly on Prayer, pp 108-109
An unexpected benefit of my conversion to the
Catholic faith was the realization that I didn’t have to go to Hell, even
though I was not worthy to enter Heaven. I had known before catechesis that
Confession was supposed to wipe away one’s sins, but I didn’t think that 65
years of wrong-doing could actually be erased.
As I learned more about Catholic teaching, I
found out that Purgatory was prefigured in the Old Testament: 2 Maccabees
12:44-45, Malachi 3:3, Isaiah 4:4, Micah 7:9, Psalm 66:12. I also learned that
despite medieval descriptions, Purgatory was not a less painful version of
Hell, where we were punished for our sins, but a regime in which we would be
cleansed and made suitable to enter heaven. As the Catechism has it:
“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly
purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they
undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy
of heaven.”
—CCC 1030
—CCC 1030
So, what will my Purgatory be like? Rather than
taking an exhaustive list of my sins, venial and mortal, and giving a purgative
cure for each (this isn’t a confessional), let me examine just one: impatience/
irritation. Now, what should Purgatory accomplish with me on that front? Rather
than a behavioral remedy, such as administering an electric shock so we avoid
committing the sin, it should change our soul, so in our innermost being we
abhor the sin and refrain from it.
Here’s how that change in soul might be
accomplished for this specific example — at least in my imaginings. I’ve often
dealt with online or telephone help desks—problems with a computer, credit or
cell phone charges, etc. Quite often the people who man these help desks are
contract workers in other countries—their command of English is adequate, but
their accents make them hard to understand (for this old guy with hearing
problems). So I blow up, I get nasty, I don’t call them names, but I do
everything I can to make them feel little and inadequate.
What better way of making me understand how bad
my behavior is than to put myself in their place, to be the recipient of
insult, snide remarks about competence, an angry voice? I will be the help desk
person, and those seeking help will be speaking Latin (which I know a little
of), or German (ditto), or French (also).
Of course, this is just me recognizing a fault
and imagining what I might find a suitable purgation, but God’s ways are not
ours, nor our thoughts his (so don’t take this scenario to the bank or use it
for your RCIA homework). But yes, a chastisement should be our due, and if it
is one that makes us experience the effect of our sins, so that we truly repent
and abhor them, I will feel it a just punishment.
It may take a while, though, as in my case,
there are many such faults.
No comments:
Post a Comment