November Musing

Prayer for the souls in purgatory is…a way of erasing any distance, even death. In prayer we stand in God’s presence in the company of someone we love, even if that person has gone before us into death. We must not make purgatory into a flaming concentration camp on the brink of hell—or even a ‘hell’ for a short time. It is blasphemous to think of it as a place where a petty God exacts the last pound –or ounce—of flesh…St. Catherine of Genoa…wrote that the “fire” of purgatory is God’s love burning the soul so that, at last, the soul is wholly aflame. It is the pain of wanting to be made totally worthy of One who is seen as infinitely lovable, the pain of desire for union that is now absolutely assured, but not yet fully tasted.
Fr. Leonard Foley, OFM