HOW TO AVOID PURGATORY
(A reflection on 33 Days to Merciful Love)
Is it really that difficult to enter the Kingdom of God? People have become either too desperate or too laidback in our journey to heaven. And some people just lose hope in life altogether especially when faced with seemingly impossible challenges that come our way. Some even despair in things that are beyond our control. Sadly, in these kinds of situations, people may see no way out and contemplate suicide. But what is it that people really want from their lives? Here is a quote to ponder on from Ven. Fulton J. Sheen:
“Suicide is not so much the desire that one wants to be annihilated, but rather that one wants to be at ease, which is just another way of saying one wants to have a different life.”
So, what people really want is a different life. Some form of change to take the suffering away. But this seems rather contrary to our Christian belief that to get to heaven, we must suffer for us to be perfect. We must undergo a lot of purification. Knowing our imperfections and weaknesses, we might be discouraged to become a great saint. There is no way! But as St. Therese of Lisieux simply puts is “God cannot inspire unrealizable desires.” You see, there are two things that get you to heaven, (1) Divine Justice and (2) Divine Mercy. Divine Justice is when we seek to be great and have merits of suffering in order for us to get to heaven. Divine Mercy, on the other hand, is when we remain little so we can console the Heart of Jesus. Think of our journey to heaven as a stairway. Divine Justice requires us to be strong and great in order for us to reach the top. Divine Mercy requires us to be like a little child who God himself can take in His arms and carry up to reach heaven.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather take the clearly easier path to heaven, which is Divine Mercy. Maybe this is the change you need in your life right now. Maybe your way to heaven is the Little Way through the Divine Mercy. But how do we do it? Here are only three things you can practice:
1. Recognize the darkness
From the time of Adam, our number one enemy is DISTRUST. We did not trust that God is a good. We didn’t trust that he had great plans for us and this led us to the Fall. We are weak and broken human beings who are vulnerable to mistakes and sin. We actually need to put up with ourselves and recognize that some of our struggles will be with us until we die. We need to become merciful to ourselves and to others for our brokenness and TRUST that God can write straight with crooked lines. We recognize our littleness, but we do not despair and we continue to strive even until the very end.
2. Keep trying
Despite of our little darkness, we are called to keep on trying. And sometimes I think it’s a beautiful thing, to continue to learn and search for the source of truth, goodness and beauty. All these in their complete and perfect state is not found in this world, but in God alone. There is more to this world after all. And we must pursue these transcendentals because that is how we are made, in the image and likeness of the perfectly true, good and beautiful. Our child-like hearts will always continue to ache for the love of our Father.
3. Keep trusting
As we continue to grow in holiness, we realize that our brokenness can get the best of us and can even paralyze us from trying to grow in holiness. We lose trust in God who can make us into great saints and revert to our sinfulness. With this, it is important to note that the Lord never tires of forgiving as long as we keep on going back to Him. God’s merciful love is incomparable to human love and mercy. As Jesus puts it, “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy.”
At the end of the day, could we really skip purgatory and become great saints? The answer is a resounding YES. It is not impossible for us to become great saints if we remain as little souls trusting this life and the next to our Father. Trust that God will make you into a saint even if you won’t see it, even if you struggle all your life against vice and sin, even if you have to wait until the very end. This is blind of hope of the Divine Mercy is our only treasure we will ever need in life. So, what are you waiting for? Live life to the fullest and live life in His Merciful Love.
#CultureofLife #Prolife #ProLifeGen #MercifulLove