Yes there is
purgatory, somewhere in this one Kingdom of God (‘…though he himself will be
saved; he will be saved as someone might expect to be saved from a fire’ 1
Cor.3:15) because there is a sin unto death (mortal sin) with its reward as a
place of eternal punishment/torture [Hell-fire] and there is a sin not unto
death {venial sin} with its reward as a place of temporary punishment/torture
[Purgatory] hence Christ retorted ‘the servant who knows what his master wants,
but has got nothing ready and done nothing in accord with those wishes, will be
given a great many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know but has acted
in such a way that he deserves a beating will be given fewer strokes. When
someone is given a great deal, a great deal will be demanded of that person;
when someone is entrusted with a great deal of that person even more will be
expected’ (Lk.12:47-48) and his beloved apostle St. John re-affirms this
statement thus “if anyone sees his brother commit a sin that is not a deadly
sin, he has only to pray and God will give life to this brother – provided that
it is not a deadly sin. There is sin that leads to death and I am not saying
you must pray about that. Every kind of wickedness is sin, but not all sin
leads to death” {1Jn.5:16-17}
The words of
St. John the apostle is a clear indication that one should not make purgatory a
target as well as a directive to flee from any form of sin/unrighteousness [“Sirach
21:2] just as many people excuse grave and heinous sins they commit with these clauses
‘God is merciful’, “after committing this sin, we shall go to confession”, ‘after
all there is purgatory for the weak’, “Grace is made manifest in weakness,
later I shall repent”. If you are in this category of creature remember
purgatory and hell-fire has the same punishment/torture just the time-frame
(Lk.12:47-48) or the hope of seeing God some time for the purgatorians while
those in hell-fire will live with life worms/maggots and anguish eternally {“and
on their way out they will see the corpses of those who rebelled against me;
for their worm will never die nor their fire be put out and they will be held
in horror by all humanity” Isaiah 66:24} also ‘if it is hard for the upright to
be saved, what will happen to the wicked and to sinners’ (1Pet.4:18), “…you
were a God of forgiveness to them, but punished them for their sins” {Ps.99:8},
‘if, after we have been given knowledge of the truth, we should deliberately
commit any sins, then there is no longer any sacrifice for them. There is left
only the dreadful prospect of judgment and of the fiery wrath that is to devour
your enemies’ [Heb.10:26-27] and “there is no favoritism with God” (Rom.2:11)
As you commit
sin with the hope of going to purgatory, remember you are presuming the mercy
of God which is a grave sin against the Holy Spirit and is rarely forgiven as
well as bearing in mind that currently some people are in the pit of hell-fire who
gave the same reason we are giving today for wallowing in sin while presuming
purgatory/extinguishing the fire of hell with their
populace(number)/outsmarting God [‘don’t delude yourself: God is not to be
fooled; whatever someone sows, that is what he will reap’ Gal.6:7] now wishing
they had the second-chance you and I are wasting that they may reprimand us {“so
he said, Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father’s house since I
have five brothers. To give them warning so that they do not come to this place
of torment too” Lk.16:27-28} while looking for excuses to insult the spirit of
grace inside us {‘this is how an adulteress behaves: she eats, then wipes her
mouth and says, I have done nothing wrong’ Prov.30:20, “and you may be sure
that anyone who tramples on the Son of God and who treats the blood of the
covenant which sanctified him as if it were not holy and who insults the Spirit
of grace, will be condemned to a far severer punishment” Heb.10:30} and the
time [‘so stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is
coming’ Mtt.24:42] as well as the place (“and there will be no one to say, look
it is here! Look, it is there! For look, the kingdom of God is among you” Lk.17:21)
rapture will take place.
If there is
anything you can do to save your soul and that of others from hell like
consistency in prayers, decency in dressing, evangelism, fasting and prayers,
daily attendance of Holy Mass, Weekly attendance of confession/whenever your conscience
is not at peace, mortification of the senses, worthy reception of holy
communion, making honest and sincere effort to obey the ten commandments, being
selective of relationships/videos/pictures/books/discussions e.t.c one reads or
is involved in, midnight prayers, reading the Bible, listening to preachers
with the aim of drawing closer to the call of consistent righteousness with God
e.t.c do it now because next second might be too late {‘his master will come on
a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut
him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be
weeping and grinding of teeth’ Mtt.24:50-51} and leave the discernment for
which is venial sin that deserves purgatory and mortal sin that deserves
hell-fire for the Supreme judge [“…you have come to God himself, the supreme
Judge…” Heb.12:23] bearing in mind that our ways and thoughts are different
from His (‘for my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways
declares the Lord’ Isaiah 55:8) as well as that all unrighteousness is
wickedness [1Jn.5:17] and must be accompanied with a punishment whether
committed knowingly or unknowingly {“be sure of it, the wicked will not go
unpunished, but the race of the upright will come to no harm” Prov.11:21} then
‘we have been given possession of an unshakeable kingdom. Let us therefore be
grateful and use our gratitude to worship God in the way that pleases him, in
reverence and fear. For our God is a consuming fire’ (Heb.12:28-29) and some
people who misused their time/talent/Grace/wealth/Opportunity/span on earth are
currently blazing in hell-fire while wishing for a second chance which will
never be given to them {“so he cried out, Father Abraham, pity me and send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his anger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in
agony in these flames…but that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has
been fixed, to prevent those who want to
cross from our side to yours or from your side to ours” LK.16:24-26}.
“…Look
anxiously to the ordering of your lives while your stay on earth lasts”
(1Pet.1:17), ‘think of our Lord’s patience as your opportunity to be saved…’ {2
Pet.3:15}
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