As a Roman Catholic, I’ve always been extremely curious about the church’s definition and explanation for purgatory. If you are unfamiliar the Roman Catholic tradition here is a short little summary before I dive into a separate idea of purgatory in which I’ve brewed up in my mind.

As Catholics, we believe that purgatory is a purification period in your extended life to achieve and seek out the holiness which is necessary for you to enter heaven. Purgatory is meant for those who have died but lived with God’s grace and friendship, however, they are not pure enough to enter Heaven.

Roman Catholics believe that nothing “unclean” shall ever enter heaven and receive the presence of God. So our mortal sins may be forgiven by God, but sometimes people can carry their impurities with them. Our sins being forgiven is kind of like having the chickenpox. The chickenpox will eventually clear up, but the virus will be with you forever. So purgatory is the stage in people’s lives where they need to clear away their impurities to live with God forever in Heaven.

So if purgatory is the stage in your life when you are kind of in limbo between heaven and hell, aren’t we already there? Think about it! As you live and breathe right now, aren’t we basically in purgatory?

This is the time in our lives when we are asked to make the right choices, live with God’s grace and friendship, carry out our Lenten duties and live a life like Jesus once did. So right now we are facing our judgement day. If you live this kind of life, the presence of God in Heaven seems to be in sight. If you live the complete opposite way, one could speculate you’d be going to Hell.

It’s that simple. God gave us free will to make our own choices and decisions. However, He is constantly guiding us toward a more righteous and pure life in order for us to live with Him forever. Now it’s up to us in or mortal state to fulfill His wishes and our desires.

So are we living in purgatory? I believe so. You are currently placed in between Heaven and Hell (which is my definition of purgatory) and because God gave us free will, you get to decide where you want to go from there. Just remember, today and the rest of your life is your own judgement day for where you want to end up after this mortal life.