The
Reality of The Purgatory
as reflected in The Old and New
Testaments
PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to remind the faithful that Purgatory
is not a literary resource, but a reality reflected in the Old and New
Testaments.
INTRODUCTION
Before we can face God, our souls must be pure. Therefore what we
must endure before His Appearance is literally a period of purgation or
- Purgatory.
Purgatory is not a literary resource invented by the mind of man to
intimidate the faithful, no matter what alleged evangelizers may have
wanted to take advantage of fear. The Purgatory is a reality reflected
in the Old and New Testaments. It is a manifestation of God's Justice
but also of His Mercy:
without the purification that souls acquire through Purgatory, we could
never meet God.
DETAILS
The reality of Purgatory is part of the
Faith Deposit of the Catholic Faith as clearly expressed through the
treasury
of Indulgences. (1)
In The New
Testament
This reality has clear foundation within
the New Testament, i.e.
Matthew 5:25-26:
Agree with thine adversary quickly,
whiles thou art in
the
way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge,
and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into
prison. Verily I
say unto thee, Thou shalt by
no means come out thence, till thou
hast
paid the uttermost farthing.
and more clearly expressed:
Luke 12:54-59:
And he said also to the people, When
ye see a cloud rise
out
of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
And
when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it
cometh
to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the
earth;
but how is it that ye do not discern this time? Yea, and why even of
yourselves
judge ye not what is right?
When thou goest with thine adversary
to the magistrate, as
thou
art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him;
lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the
officer,
and the officer cast thee into prison. I tell thee,
thou shalt not
depart
thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.
In The New
Testament
Within the Old Testament there are several examples/teachings of
praying
for the dead as well as the encouragement to offer alms for the benefit
of the dead. Obviously, the only benefit that could be realized
by
the dead through such actions would be a shortening of their stay in
Purgatory;
thus, by clear inference, Judaism (2) has such a place as part
of their
beliefs.
MORE
DETAILS
A Note from miguel de Portugal about Purgatory:
Before, I "believed" in Purgatory as most "Catholics believe". A
"ho-hum"
belief that is more an offense to God than the disbelief of those who
do
not acknowledge Purgatory because it is not part of their particular
faith's
creed. Now, I "know" the reality of Purgatory and encourage one and all
to seek such salutary conviction from God.
Without using the fancy words of those
"book learned" theologians who
are more interested in "making a buck" using God than to fathom the
depths
of His Creation, allow me to tell you about Purgatory:
(a) "Time" in Purgatory is like
"Time" for those in the flesh.
A "minute", is a minute and a "century" is a century. Purgatory does
not
fall in the Eternity
time
frame (3). Only
Heaven and Hell fall in such category.
(b) It is a place where the unpaid debts to Divine Justice are paid in the same coinage
the debt was contracted. Using terms that fallen
humanity
understands well: If your debt to Divine Justice is in U.S. Dollars,
you
must pay for it in U.S. Dollars; if in European Union Euros, it must be
paid in
Euros; if in Japanese Yens, it must be paid in Japanese Yens;
etc.
(c) The expiatory suffering takes the form of: Witnessing the suffering
caused upon others as the result of the offenses committed against God
by the particular soul in Purgatory.
(d) All of the above takes place with a greatness awareness of the
joy that awaits the soul once it enters Heaven. (Understand this
additional
suffering as follows: When you are hungry, it is easier to bear the
hunger
so long no one is talking about delicious food or you are not
witnessing
others feast on a sumptuous meal.) Also, one's awareness of the
Goodness
of God is so enhanced, that the pain of having offended someone Who
loves
you so is very hard to endure.
(e) Divine Justice and the "Sentence" handed down by It can only be
tempered - that is, reduced - through the Mercy
of God (4)
moved by the prayers of those who are still in the flesh,
and, above all, the prayers and intercessions of His
Most Holy Mother (5).
NOTES
Originally published in 2004 as
part of our document "Appearances
Are Deceiving"
Published on October 31st, 2020 as a
standalone document
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