The Largeness of Purgatory

Converts to the church can sometimes miss things, though we tend to have the big picture pretty well in mind. I still have information gaps that I'm not aware of until someone brings them to my attention. It''s  a bit like those tags from the store on a new garment that you forget to snip off.  You wear your new shirt unaware that everyone can tell it's a size 8 from the sale rack at Marshall's. Eventually a friend, or a spouse more likely points out the oddity.

 I learned only recently that I can ask for prayers at my parish for all my  deceased non-Catholic relatives.

"Did you think only Catholic souls are in purgatory?" my pastor asked.

Sometimes what should be obvious is overlooked.

 Where else but purgatory could my deceased protestant relatives be? Well, I suppose there are two options, but I'll stick with purgatory, though Grandma Brink might be in heaven, dear soul that she is.

 But, you see, purgatory is only spoken of by Catholics, and I had not, until these recent moments of illumination, made the mental and spiritual journey to collect my relatives from their protestant constructs of the after-life to deposit them in their rightful place, in purgatory. I have prayed for them, to be sure. But I have not entered their names into the book of remembrance  that we bring out each year in our parish for the All Souls mass. And that is a telling omission.

The good God, as Saint Therese liked to say, overlooks the barriers his children make that keep them at a distance from one another and from him while they are on earth. In a magnificent gesture of mercy and love, at the time of death,  he sweeps us  into his arms with a loving embrace, purifying and cleansing each of us of our misconceptions, limitations, short-sightedness, so that in heaven we will be one with the saints and angels, indistinguishable by our past fears and sad lapses, united as pure and holy children of God. The days of church division will be past, wiped out forever by the fire of divine love.

It gives me joy to bring my family with me on my Catholic journey, even if they are reluctant travellers.  The dear ones in purgatory, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, have already discovered the treasure of the fullness of the faith, and are I am sure yearning for the fulfilment of  their journey, eternal life with God. My prayers now will include the added  dimension  of acknowledging that we are even now fellow travellers, no longer strangers, but sisters and brothers in the faith, destined for a shared life in eternity.  

That is a great blessing, indeed.