Brother Adam Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 One thing that has been on my mind is purgatory and the idea of mortal and venial sin. I've always thought of purgatory as a "process" and something that may very well seem to take "no time at all". There doesn't seem to be any judgement as far as how "long" purgatory may take. Many Catholics though seems to be of the thought that purgatory takes nearly fooorever. And that we will be tormented nearly endlessly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 I hear you, Bro. Adam... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 I am not sure if our concept of time would even apply in Purgatory. an aeon of suffering could happen instantaneously. Or a day could take a year. I like to think that we would experience the time as we know it, simply because that gives me some incentive to do better. I don't want to spend a million years in purgatory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeTeamFamily Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 id rather spend a million years in purgatory than one minute in hell for me, purgatory is almost like a striving point for me, because i know that i will get to heaven eventually....my earthly pilgrimage is merely a beginning of the purification that will go on in purgatory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloysius Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 it takes however long you need to be purified. someone that dies in a state of grace with a soul that has been mostly healed from any past sins gets less time in purgatory someone that dies in a state of grace with a soul that is still damaged by past sins (though they may be repented of and forgiven, they still left damage) will have more time in purgatory time heals all wounds, and in purgatory you're still to an extent affected by time so that your soul will be healed from any damage you caused to it on earth. you COULD go strait to heaven, PRAY for that! and continue to do good things that are good for your soul and offering up your sufferings that are good for your soul so that you won't need as much time in purgatory. may we all be so graced that we may skip purgatory altoghether Pax Amorque Christi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiat_Voluntas_Tua Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 God is outside of Time and Space... toledo_jesus said: "I am not sure if our concept of time would even apply in Purgatory. an aeon of suffering could happen instantaneously. Or a day could take a year. I like to think that we would experience the time as we know it, simply because that gives me some incentive to do better. I don't want to spend a million years in purgatory. " Right on man...Time will most likely be of a different concept...however, we will be in Purgatory as long as need be... Anything that will purify my soul so that I may see God as He is, is worth the pain, and time. -UIOGD- Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Adam Posted September 3, 2004 Author Share Posted September 3, 2004 And that is just it, there shouldn't be a striving for purgatory then. Purgatory is not a place. It is a process between judgement and heaven. And thus I struggle with praying for those in purgatory or giving our own merit to repair sin that has been forgiven, even if a stain still remains. The longest "time" in purgatory could be macroseconds to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloysius Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 not really, because some souls will be in there till the end of time. purgatory is affected by some aspects of time and some aspects of eternity. the eternal fate of the soul is sealed (heaven) but it is being changed, healed from sins committed on earth, so it parallells the passage of time in order to heal the soul. praying for and offering up sufferings for the souls in purgatory is a pius practice affirmed to be meritous by the Church's Teaching on indulgences. The Church's treasury of indulgence is dispensed upon souls to heal their damages. This is the way God wants it, God wants to give us the oppurtunity to help fellow brethren within the Body of Christ, thus in the Church Suffering as well. There is right now, and there will be till the end of time, three sections of the Church. There is the Church Triumphant in Heaven, the Church Suffering in Purgatory, and the Church Militant on earth. The Church Militant on earth can help out the Church Suffering in heaven. I contend that purgatory definitely parallells our timeline and thus we can help the Church Suffering by our prayer and suffering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Adam Posted September 3, 2004 Author Share Posted September 3, 2004 Don't get me wrong, but how do we know there will be souls in purgatory until the end of the age? I'm not saying the Church is wrong, but I still need to know how, directly or indirectly we see this in scripture, or just how I can understand this better. I think my impression of purgatory in the whole economy of salvation may be skewed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloysius Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 I don't know where I got the idea, but somewhere I got the idea that the longest you could be in purgatory was to the end of time. Here, our Lord speaks parabolically to illustrate the spiritual reality of purgatory: "Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing. " [i]The Words of Our Lord Jesus Christ from The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew Chapter 5, Verses 25 and 26[/i] that might help out, it is a time to pay back for that damage you caused to your soul. Also take into account [i]Proverb Chapter 17 Verse 3[/i] "As silver is tried by fire, and gold in the furnace: so the Lord trieth the hearts." gold is tried in the furnace by a goldsmith, he holds to gold in there just long enough to melt away the impurities. so too would we be in purgatory just long enough to melt away our impurities. Anyway, perhaps i'll look into where i heard purgatory for some till the end of time. maybe it's just a pius old expression (though don't count out pius old expressions, they tend to contain wisdom) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 As for being in purgatory until the end of time, when the Blessed Mother appeared to Lucia and Blesseds Jacinta and Franciso at Fatima, one of the children asked about the fate of 2 girls in the village who had died recently. Our Lady said that one was already in heaven and that the other would be in purgatory until the end of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader_4 Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Adam i am not sure if this helps you any as you probably know soo much already about the topic. But the Church actually knows little about purgatory not to say it doesnt exist but like how it only knows a little about Jesus...its a mystery to some extent. How it works etc...we do not exactly know how. But why we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 I think it's important to remember that purgatory is somewhat a mystery. If you stick to reading the official church teaching on the matter, it may make more sense. I'm pretty sure that people get caught up in other people's explanations and habits regarding purgatory, and it only tends to confuse them or detract them from the [b]actual[/b] teaching. I've always thought of it as a mystery, and some things are left better just as that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader_4 Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Not saying its not real...or anything in a sense Christs Passion is real..but we can never no matter how hard we try fully understand it. Purgatory, Heaven, Hell, Sanctity...etc. are all like that many opinnons and theories but really little we know in the big scheme of things on any of these issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorphRC Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 [quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 3 2004, 02:06 PM'] One thing that has been on my mind is purgatory and the idea of mortal and venial sin. I've always thought of purgatory as a "process" and something that may very well seem to take "no time at all". There doesn't seem to be any judgement as far as how "long" purgatory may take. Many Catholics though seems to be of the thought that purgatory takes nearly fooorever. And that we will be tormented nearly endlessly. [/quote] I never thought of it this way. To be honest, never really bothered thinking about it much, but I dont think it goes on forever, obviously cant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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