At one point or another, maybe we'd arrive at what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes- there is nothing new under the sun. We'd get tired of the cycles we've been so happy about before. We'd care not for the showers of spring, nor for the snow that falls in winter. We'd find the meaninglessness of everything. And as Buddhists believe, we'd realize that we'd soon desire to escape the endless suffering we've subjected ourselves into. The very thing we've desperately desired to possess, the one thing we'd have lusted for would have become our own curse.

For people who seek forever, let a contemplation be made on how that forever is going to be spent and for what need that would serve us all. If not, and if wishes were granted indeed, we may have just been praying for our own hell, a hell we may not be able to escape. There is nothing new under the sun, and everything is passing as this world is whose fate had already been set since its fall. Everything shall come to an end except for one thing, the only thing that needs nothing new under the sun. Indeed, what remains is LOVE, the only thing that yields not to death but makes all things eternal, beautiful and new.  :-)

© Jocelyn Soriano for I Take Off The MASK!, 2008. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: eternity, heaven, hell, immortality, life after death, love, to live forever

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Some say that purgatory is for perfection, to be able to remove the stain of temporal sins upon a person's soul. But if this is true, what are indulgences for? And how could prayers of other people alleviate one's time in purgatory? Perfection is a very personal matter, and can only be attained by the soul itself.

This brings us to the idea of judgment and justice. Possibility arises that the existence of purgatory is to be able to render just punishmnent to souls who committed sins on earth. By this, God's wrath is alleviated by the sacrifice of other people praying for the soul of the person. His punishment then, is taken by someone else.

If we consider however, how grave the nature of sin really is, and how a transgression of one law also renders a transgression of all the others, we doubt if any person could really be able to pay for one's sins and reach heaven. And with this in mind, wasn't it Jesus by the way, who paid for all our sins by being the One Sacrifice required to quench God's wrath and bring salvation to all who will believe? Isn't a belief in purgatory therefore saying that the sacrifice of Jesus isn't enough to free us from punishment of our sins?

And if we could all be purified through purgatory, if we can be punished for all the sins we had, and after our sentence, be rendered justice and come clean and perfect before God, if by purgatory we can already attain salvation, what was the sacrifice of Jesus for? If we believe in this, then our faith may be no different from those who believe in various reincarnations that purify us until we are enlightened enough, until we get it right and all our virtues are made perfect.  If we believe in this, our faith is no more a faith of Grace, but of striving on our own, attaining perfection with no need of intervention from God.  If we believe in this, we are saying that we can save ourselves.

Following the above argument, we may say therefore that all who believe in Jesus are saved already and shall not perish (they have already risen in spirit in this life). All who believe have already passed from judgment into life. They will not be subject to judgment anymore, they who have sought refuge in Jesus' Love and Mercy.

But does this mean, all those who have not accepted Jesus in this life will go straight to hell after death? This too, may not be so. It is however deemed that all who have not believed will be subject to judgment.

Some people, they have already made a clear choice while living their lives on earth. They have made a choice to do evil, and to give more importance to pride rather to than to God's eternal love. These may well go into hell, these whose decisions will not change for all eternity.

Yet let us not forget those who have not made a choice. These ones I believe, are those who inhabit purgatory. Purgatory is an extension of God's mercy, an opportunity where God further reveals Himself to people so that they may know Him, and so that they can finally make an eternal decision. Will they accept His love? Will they reject the sacrifice of Jesus even then?

For those who still reject Him, therein is the unforgiveable sin, a sin of unbelief that will persist for all eternity. This sin, which Jesus says, will not be forgive in this age (this life), or in the age to come (afterlife).

But for those who finally find it in their hearts to accept Jesus, to accept God, these are they who will be saved still, yet only as through fire, for in purgatory, there are no more merits to earn. Their souls would be saved however, and God will welcome them in His loving arms. Pending this decision however, there is God's justice, and they stay in that state for as long as they delay their choice.

In the end, there are only two things we can do. Accept Jesus and have Life. Or reject Him forever, and suffer whatever punishmnent the Just Judge sees is due.  This punishment is eternal and no one can claim righteousness apart from the Mercy of God, no matter how many good works one has accomplished on earth.  Both those in hell and in purgatory suffer this punishment, the only difference is that those in a state of hell have already made their eternal choice, while those in purgatory have yet to make it.

Happy are those who have accepted Jesus and risen in the first resurrection (resurrection of the spirit), for the second death has no power over them.

For those who ask, whether salvation can be lost, this is my reflection: Salvation cannot be lost in this life. If one has really bonded with Jesus, will he be unbonded? Will he be snatched away from his hand? Will Jesus not complete the good work begun in him? And if salvation can be lost in this life, do we also say that salvation can be lost in the next?

As to good works, I believe that every authentic good work comes from true faith. Those who act differently from what they profess may not have truly believed at all.

Further, purgatory is not only existent in the afterlife, but here on earth as well. For those who have not yet availed of Jesus' boundless love, they still thirst, they do not find true rest of soul. The only difference is this: In this life, the separation of light and darkness has not yet taken place. In this life, God's justice is still delayed to give us time. In this life, we may not feel the full extent of our emptiness, because we fill our souls with many other things, and with lesser loves, loves that will not last and will perish in the fire of the next life. In the next life, we have nothing to cover up for our emptiness. We bare our naked souls and we feel intensely our thirst for the love of God. In the next life, justice is not delayed anymore and we suffer immediately the consequences of our previous sins.

Must we wait therefore for the next life? Or shall we avail of the living water which Jesus offers us right now right where we are?

I believe that there are two things we work on in purgatory: repentance of our sins, and belief in Jesus.

And why these two things?  I believe that these two things are needed in order that we may come to Jesus wholeheartedly and entrust our souls into His mercy.  Following are the stages a soul undergoes in its path to God:

1.  The soul's conscience is cleared and one can clearly see its state of impurity.  One clearly sees the hurts he has done to others, and how greatly He has offended God.  This step is from God's Grace alone.

2.  Once our conscience had been opened, we have two choices.  To repent of them and accept our shortcomings, or to deny them and lie to ourselves and to God.  Herein enters the greatest sin, which is pride.

3.  Even if we repent of our sins, we discover that we cannot really help ourselves and attain salvation.  We come to know that it is only Jesus who can help us and save us from our misery.  This step also comes from the Grace of God.

4.  Once we recognize our helplessness, we surrender to Jesus and avail of His great sacrifice.  We hide in His heart and accept that it is only through His wounds that we can find healing and salvation.  We surrender, and we BELIEVE in Him fully.

5.  If we are still here on earth, that belief is reflected in works of mercy.  As we have been forgiven, so do we forgive others.  As we have been loved, so do we love others and extend the mercy we have received.

What's difficult there is that after seeing our sins, we can no longer say sorry to the people we've hurt, we can no longer make reparation or any good works. 

Here on earth, while there is still time, we have a chance to both REPENT and BELIEVE.  We repent by allowing our conscience to clearly mirror to us the state of our souls.  Here, the Sacrament of Confession is a blessing we can all avail.

Due to justice however, punishment still remains.  Through INDULGENCES of LOVE, we prove that we BELIEVE and take part in the sacrifice of JESUS.  We take part in the Blood of the Lamb that justifies us and saves us from the unquenchable fire of Justice.

At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy.  Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it. - (Jesus, Diary of Sister Faustina)

John 5:24-25

Matthew 18:32-33 

O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

Matthew 25:34-36

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

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Post tags: what is the purpose of purgatory

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for sending people to hell

for all eternity.

Consider however these two things:

1.  It is not God who sends people to hell, but people who refuse God's Mercy and wishes to proudly exalt themselves for all eternity.  After being enlightened of everything they need to know in order to decide, will they change their minds at all after they render their eternal choice?  Will they choose God above themselves?  Will they choose true Love instead of human wisdom and pride?

2.  Which God will be unjust?  The One who after a definite time shall separate the darkness from the Light?  Or the One who will forever choose to mingle the Light with the darkness that is not His?

Much of the suffering of people on earth is due to the dual nature of things upon this life.  Light and darkness, day and night, good and evil.  It is here where the good suffer for the evil things those of the darkness persist in doing.  Will a just God forever allow that the good suffer for the evil they have not done?

 Per the much cited Law of Attraction,  we attract what we vibrate.  If we vibrate goodness, we attract it.  If we vibrate evil, evil things will happen to us as well.  Haven't you wondered then that out of all the evil things the current world has done, it has not yet attracted the frightening recompense it deserves?  Whence shall the day of Justice come at all?  In truth I say that this world has not yet suffered what it deserves only by virtue of God's Mercy, and by virtue of God allowing the time for this duality of things to exist until the intended harvest is ripe.  In truth I say, it is by virtue of the suffering of the good that the evil in this world has not yet been exterminated.  Were it not for such, those living in darkness would have long ago received what they deserved.

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Post tags: did God send people to hell, heaven, hell, is God unjust to send people to hell, purgatory, why send people to hell

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I believe that the eternity of hell
does not really depend on the weight of one's sins
for no matter what the weight,
God can forgive us with His unfathomable Mercy.

No matter what the weight,
God can make us pay for it
and we can be released
after we have rendered what has been due.

But hell, as it is hell which is eternal
is not based on the weight
or in the multitude of one's sins
but on the condition of one's heart
when one has already received
all that is needed to be received
in order for the heart to make a choice

When the mortal man realizes
he is no longer mortal,
when the veil of time and space
had been lifted up and he sees,
when he becomes such a spirit
as the angels are,
he will render a judgment upon himself

and he will render an eternal decision
as the angels have made

Will he approach God's Divine Mercy
and accept whatever punishment is due his sins?
Or will he despise all that is God's
and turn to the light which is not Light
with those fallen stars
who will never
ever
bow down again
unto Him
who is just
and who is Love.

© Jocelyn Soriano for I Take Off The MASK!, 2008. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: eternal punishment, hell, judgment, purgatory, redemption, salvation, why is there eternal punishment in hell

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But is eternity always a blessing? Shall we be happy to find out the mere fact that we are all eternal and that we shall never really die? Is that the end of all our sufferings?

Many Christians do not think so, for with the existence of eternal life and heaven, the existence of hell also comes into play. For Eastern Religions, too, the succession of never ending reincarnations seem more like a curse than a blessing, a curse that should be broken through enlightenment. For atheists, a vision of a life lived over again is empty compared to the valuable moment that will never pass our way again.

To some extent, I believe in that. In my own belief, "Hell" indeed is being stuck. This curse is hence symbolised by the circle, which is the false symbol of eternity and perfection. The circle is like the number zero, a life lived that merely goes back where it came from and amounts to nothing in the end. It is the eradication of the self and the absorption of everything into nothingness.

Perfection for me is symbolized by the infinity sign, a sign telling us that though life can be eternal, it is not zero, that though there can be unity, the separate persons embracing each other are not eradicated.

This infinity sign however was cut into two circles thru sin, hence, we were trapped in endless and meaningless cycles. We were separated from God and from perfectly loving each other. Hence came the bar between the two circles, a bar remedied by Jesus thru the cross. It is the cross that bridged the gap and restored perfection in infinity, a perfection of love, for where there is no love, there is no need for eternity.

This article was written by Jocelyn Soriano at http://itakeoffthemask.com  You are free to republish this article as long as original author is cited and a link back to this website is provided.

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Post tags: alchemy, eternal life, eternity, eternity a curse or a blessing, forever, heaven, hell, is eternity a curse, life after death, nirvana, paradise, perfection, purgatory, reincarnation

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VISIONARY:
I see the Primeval Light, which is LOVE, encompassing the world, sustaining everything in it, offering Absolute Joy and Peace to all who will open up their hearts for Him.

INQUIRER:
How about darkness? Whence did it come from? Was it from the Light?

VISIONARY:
Light has nothing to do with darkness. Even in the beginning, light was separated from the darkness. Darkness is not created, only Light is, yet many choose to remain in darkness rather than be made part of the Light.

INQUIRER:
Why is there so much darkness in the world?

VISIONARY:
Light has come unto the world, but the world refused Him and chose to remain in Darkness. Nevertheless, the Light did not abandon the world, but provided a Flame that will seek out all who desire to come out of the darkness that they may be a part of the Light in the appointed time, when a separation of the Light from the Darkness shall be made once again.

INQUIRER:
When shall this separation commence?

VISIONARY:
The Time shall come like a thief in the night.

INQUIRER:
And what of this thief? How shall he separate the Light from the Darkness?

VISIONARY:
Those who have set themselves apart for the Light at the time appointed them shall be duly harvested, no one can snatch them away from their Lover.

INQUIRER:
And what of those who have not known their Love?

VISIONARY:
Their Lover awaits them, even unto the beyond. He will make known unto them that which had been concealed by the Darkness. He will wipe away the tears from their eyes and He will vanquish all their fears.

INQUIRER:
Does it mean then that all shall be saved?

VISIONARY:
Salvation is for all as Light is for all. Yet even in the beyond not all men look towards the Light. In stubbornness, men persist in their darkness and hide from the very One, the Only One who can bring True Light into the darkness of their hearts where they are.

This article was written by Jocelyn Soriano at http://itakeoffthemask.com  You are free to republish this article as long as the author and the site  are duly acknowledged.

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Post tags: a vision of light darkness and eternal damnation, God, heaven, hell, Jesus, paradise, purgatory, vision heaven, vision hell

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