Gratification vs. Purification

[Therese]

A traditional priest, Fr. Bernard Uttley, says that all of Catholicism can almost be summed up in one line: that the purpose of life is not gratification but purification, as opposed to other non-Catholic sects ("Christians") who don't believe in that purification process on earth.  What he says is so true.  How many of us are living very mortified lives, denying our senses of what they crave after, for the love of God and for our purification?  What a purgatory we will have for ourselves if we are not doing much penance on earth and are barely atoning for our sins.  But if we seek to please God in everything and have an unshakable confidence that God is purifying us at every moment in his love and will not leave one trace of sin of us, we can avoid purgatory, says St. Therese of the Child Jesus, who also points out like an angel that love is more sanctifying than the flames of Purgatory.  The bottom line is that we should always seek to please God in everything, being self-sacrificial and always putting God first, then others second and ourselves last (of course, our souls must always come first before our neighbor's).  How can we always be pleasing to our Lord?  By obeying His commandments, by doing our daily duties well (part of our duties include works of mercy), by always seeking His holy Will over our own, by self-abandonment, by practicing the 10 Principle Virtues of Mary (e.g. ceaseless prayer, constant mortification, heroic patience) and, of course, by the worthy reception of valid sacraments.  God bless you! 

[whiterockdove]

The notion of purification being a blessing and not a punishment is very comforting to me.
I have some staunch  Protestant friends who beleive very much in the notion of  difficulties
As " God is out to get me".
St. Anthony of Padua, as the Saint of converts, please pray for us!

[Therese]

The notion of purification being a blessing and not a punishment is very comforting to me.
I have some staunch  Protestant friends who beleive very much in the notion of  difficulties
As " God is out to get me".
St. Anthony of Padua, as the Saint of converts, please pray for us!

God is not "out to get us" in any bad sense, everything He does is meant to get us to heaven.   St. Therese and St. Augustine teach that everything is grace--St. Augustine says that even includes our past sins, as they can serve to humble us, etc..  Yes, purification is always a grace and blessing, Whiterockdove, meant to prepare us for union with God here on earth and in heaven.  Even if God does send us some necessary punishment in this life (e.g. temporal punishment), the punishments He sends us in this life (and not in hell) are really a remedy of mercy from His hand meant to heal/cure/correct our spiritual ills and to give glory and honor to His Name, while at the same time, being the means for us to make up for and atone for our sins, as is due to Him, in justice.  

A parent who truly loves His child punishes him/her out of love, to correct and guide the child to a good life--to help the child and not to hurt it.  Parents who do not punish a wayward child really are not being merciful but hateful toward their child, as they are doing nothing to help the child be a good boy/girl and purged of his/her sins--they are not preparing their child for beatitude in heaven like our heavenly Father does when He purifies us and punishes us.  We either pay now or we will have to pay later for our imperfections and sins; in the end, we get away with nothing.  Let us never fear the merciful hand of God working in our lives and always remember that everything He ordains and permits to happen to us is for our spiritual benefit and ultimate happiness.  Even in times of punishment we should have the peace of God strong in our hearts, knowing that He loves us more than we love ourselves and is doing everything possible to help us to get to heaven by sending us punishments when they are necessary ... and there is happiness and blessedness for us who humbly and contritely suffer under the hand of God with a sure hope and confidence in His Merciful Love.  God bless you!  

[odhiambo]

It is a blessing that we in the Catholic Faith see it so clearly the necessity for mortification, offering up things for God, etc; others do not.
Some years ago a woman took it upon herself to give me some unsolicited advice.
 I was going through a rough phase in my life and it showed.
She gave me a lecture to the tune that if I do not look after myself, nobody else will; that I am always to think in terms of I, me, mine, myself!
I listened to her politely knowing that that was her way; not mine at all.

[Therese]

It is a blessing that we in the Catholic Faith see it so clearly the necessity for mortification, offering up things for God, etc; others do not.
Some years ago a woman took it upon herself to give me some unsolicited advice.
 I was going through a rough phase in my life and it showed.
She gave me a lecture to the tune that if I do not look after myself, nobody else will; that I am always to think in terms of I, me, mine, myself!
I listened to her politely knowing that that was her way; not mine at all.

Good, Odhimabo, that you think rather in terms of He (our Lord) and She (our Lady), Him and Her, His and Hers, Himself and Herself--and not in the selfish way of worldlings.  God bless you!