Saturday, November 2, 2019
Remembrance of All di Faithful Wey Don Die (All Souls Day)
Dis passage wey follow come from Chapter 8 of My Catholic Faith!:
As we dey celebrate di Remembrance of All Souls, make we reflect on wetin our Church dey teach about Purgatory:
Di Church Wey Dey Suffer: Purgatory na one teaching of our Church wey people often no dey understand well. Wetin be Purgatory? Na di place we must go so dem go punish us for our sins? Na di way God dey pay us back for di wrong we don do? Na God anger dey cause am? None of dis questions really explain wetin Purgatory be. Purgatory no be any other thing but di love of our God wey dey burn and purify our lives!
When person die inside God grace, e most likely never turn to God 100% and become perfect for every way. Even di greatest saints most times go still get some things for their lives wey never perfect. Purgatory no be any other thing but dat final purification wey dey remove all di ways we still hold on to sin for our lives. To use example, imagine say you get one cup of water wey pure 100%, pure H2O. Dis cup go represent Heaven. Now imagine say you wan add water to dat cup, but di only water wey you get na water wey pure 99%. Dis one go represent di holy person wey die but still hold on to sin small. If you add dat water to your cup, di water for di cup go now get at least some things wey no pure as dem mix together. Di problem be say Heaven (di original cup of 100% H2O) no fit contain anything wey no pure. For dis example, Heaven no fit get even di smallest way of holding on to sin inside am. So, if dem go add dis new water (di water wey pure 99%) to di cup, dem must first purify am to remove even dat last 1% wey no pure (di ways person still hold on to sin). Di best thing na to complete dis purification while we still dey for Earth. Na dis be di process of becoming holy. But if we die when we still hold on to sin for any way, then wetin we simply dey talk be say di process of entering di final and full vision of God for Heaven go purify us from any way we still hold on to sin. God fit don forgive everything already, but we fit never let go of those things wey E don forgive. Purgatory na di process, after death, wey dey burn away di last ways we still hold on to sin, so we fit enter Heaven 100% free from everything wey concern sin. For example, if we still get bad habit of disrespecting people or using mouth to mock dem, even those tendencies and habits must clear away through purification.
How dis one dey happen? We no know. We only know say e dey happen. But we also know say na God love wey no get end dey free us from dis ways we still hold on to sin. E dey pain? Most likely. But e dey pain for di same way wey e dey pain to let go of anything wey we hold on to for wrong way. To stop bad habit no easy. Even di process dey pain. But di true freedom wey come at di end worth any pain we fit don pass through. So, yes, Purgatory dey pain. But na one kind sweet pain wey we need, and di final result na say di person go dey 100% united with God.
Now, since we dey talk about di Communion of Saints, we also wan make sure say we understand say those wey dey pass through dis final purification still dey in communion with God, with di members of di Church for Earth, and with those for Heaven. For example, God dey call us to pray for those wey dey for Purgatory. Our prayers dey work. God dey use those prayers, wey be acts of our love, as instruments of His grace wey dey purify. E dey allow us and invite us to take part for their final purification through our prayers and sacrifices. Dis one dey form bond wey unite us with dem. And no doubt, di saints for Heaven dey especially offer prayers for those wey dey pass through dis final purification, as dem dey wait to share full communion with dem for Heaven. Na glorious thing to think about, and e dey bring joy to see how God don arrange dis whole process for di final purpose of di holy communion wey E dey call us to share!
Lord, I dey pray for those souls wey dey pass through their final purification for Purgatory. Abeg, pour Your mercy on dem so dem fit dey free from every way wey dem still hold on to sin and, through dis, dey ready to see You face to face. Jesus, na You I trust.
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