LET me leave politics, drugs and Senator Leila de Lima awhile and allow me to indulge in other topics not too far away from extrajudicial killings. Purgatory.
I do not know how many and whose souls have been saveD in purgatory, but Catholic masses all over the country have this uncanny part where a layperson would read names of the departed the church is so cocksure he or she is still in purgatory.
I am amazed by recitation of names uttered in utmost confidence of its veracity as though some living witness just came back from that pre-departure cleansing station and listed down who among the zillions who have gone to that great beyond are still wallowing in the not-so-hot fire in purgatory.
We Catholics have been taught even before our first holy communion that before the souls of the departed, who committed venial sins, are cleansed in purgatory before they are finally admitted to heaven. They first have to go through a process of purgation and we, the living, have to help them hurdle the sanitization through prayers and masses. Buying indulgence by way of donations to church coffers for a mass or masses to be said depending on the gravity of the sin remain to be the norm.
In these days of convoluted and corrupt government we call this “tongpats”. The Commission on Audit takes you to the Ombudsman which will grill you before the Sandiganbayan which in turn deliver you to the calaboose if proven guilty. In juxtaposition, in catechism we were told that sin will either bring you to purgatory or heaven. I do not exactly understand why there is a mid-station between one’s deathbed and heaven.
The bible only teaches us that our final destination is only either in hell or in the celestial abode. Whoever invented purgatory must be Judas for wasn’t he the one assigned as keeper of the apostles petty cash? But then again, we read that even Judas so remorseful upon realizing the gravity of trading Jesus with 30 pieces of silver later returned the money. In his repentance, he took his own life.
The atonement of Judas teaches us that repentance for our sins will be our salvation because God is so merciful. God will not consign you first to purgatory as a punishment because if we believe in his Divine mercy in death there is no purgatory to talk about. Like in the new bus route implemented these days in traffic congested Edsa, take a point-to-point bus as it takes you to your destination faster and more comfortable. There are no drop-off points along the way. Living a wholesome life is like riding in that bus. You pay more, which means you sacrifice or forget your vices, but it gets you to your home faster into the embrace of your family.
But prayers for the souls in purgatory? That’s too late.
Furthermore, I hope the church put a stop to reading the names of people who they say are in purgatory. It’s libelous.