Question:

What Would Be a Reason for Me to Get Into Purgatory?

How about we begin with the painful truth. The best way to go into the full splendor and magnificence of the Beatific Vision, thus seeing God face to face and being in perfect communion with Him, is to be forgiven of every sin AND to be purified of every attachment to sin This is a great invitation and a demanding attempt!

Purgation of all wrongdoing and all connection to sin isn’t an alternative. Only when we are perfect inside and out will we be prepared to go into what holy people have called “Divine Union” or “Mystical Marriage.”  Think of it along these lines: If you are attached to sin in your life, even the littlest flaw, that connection can’t go into the presence of God. God is all blessed and unadulterated love. God needs you to be in association with Him, yet He won’t acknowledge your wicked connections.

The first step is forgiveness.  But that’s the simple part. God, in His mercy, will forgive us of our trespasses if we are sorry and ask for forgiveness.  But the second step is to then become totally detached from all remnants of sin. For instance, if you have a habit of being critical of others in your speech and you confess this, then you can be assured you are forgiven of all past sins of being critical.  But forgiveness does not mean you have been sanctified of the “attachment” you have to that sin. In this case, an attachment to the sin if being critical is the disordered tendency to be critical. An attachment is not the same with temptation. An attachment is more of a habit you voluntarily formed.

Purgation is the way toward bringing an end to each wicked propensity you have and isolating from every single constant sin and even flaws with the goal that you can be connected to God and His blessed will alone. Be that as it may, how on Earth do you do this? At last, you don’t do it independent from anyone else. Rather, you enable God to come into your spirit and purge it of every wicked propensity and connections. And that will hurt!  But it will be a purifying hurt and will be freeing.

Purgatory refers to the sanctification process of all attachments we still have when we die.  Ideally, we would go through the process of purification here on Earth, before death, so as to enjoy Divine Union here and now and not only in Heaven.  But when we do not complete the process here on Earth, Purgatory will complete this process after death.

If that sounds gloomy, it’s not.  It’s beautiful when understood and embraced.