What were the first steps for St. Faustina?
Prayer. If we don’t pray, then we can’t say we’re on the way to being converted — or perhaps, more accurately, on the path of conversion. We can’t claim we’re falling deeper in love with God. And, it may well be, until we begin and manage to take a few steps, we can’t imagine we would want to deepen that relationship — or have a clue of what joy that deepening would bring.
Prayer is the language of this conversion, this conversation with our Creator. It’s one way we respond to His courting us. Conversion is falling in love with God.
What Does Purgatory Have to Do with Conversion?
“Not my will, but thine, be done.”
— Luke 22:42
What’s the chief way to avoid purgatory? Doing the will of God in all things in the present moment. What’s conversion? Striving to get better at doing his will.
That theme runs throughout St. Faustina’s diary:
My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God. God never violates our free will. It is up to us whether we want to receive God’s grace or not. It is up to us whether we will cooperate with it or waste it. (1107)
O Jesus, I want to live in the present moment, to live as if this were the last day of my life. I want to use every moment scrupulously for the greater glory of God, to use every circumstance for the benefit of my soul. I want to look upon everything, from the point of view that nothing happens without the will of God. (1183)
The hearts of the holy souls in purgatory beat in perfect harmony with the will of God. The holy souls want us to convert and become holy here on earth.
Let our prayer be that of Our Lord and Our Lady: “Thy will be done.” Conforming ourselves to the plan of God will give us the grace to avoid purgatory.
We are required to do penance for our sins to make satisfaction in this world. What are these means of satisfaction? Devotion to the Mother of God; charity toward the living and deceased; mortification and faithfulness to our state in life; reception of the sacraments; confidence in the divine mercy of God; and death in union with Jesus.
We are invited to be one with the holy souls in their love, their eager expiation, and their union with God. One with them in purifying our hearts from imperfections, in atoning for our sins, in learning something new of the incomprehensible holiness of God. Becoming one with those who rest in the blissful vision of God.
II. What Is Penance?
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
— 2 Chronicles 7:14
We have a pretty clear idea of what’s meant by the word “prayer,” but what about “penance,” as it’s used when talking about conversion? This is how the glossary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it:
Interior penance: a conversion of heart toward God and away from sin, which implies the intention to change one’s life because of hope in divine mercy (1431). External acts of penance include fasting, prayer, and almsgiving (1434). [Emphasis in original.]
So what we’re talking about here isn’t the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. We’ll get to that a little later.
Yes, penance is something we can do for the conversion of others, including those with hardened hearts, but it’s also something we can do for ourselves. And while it always involves making a personal sacrifice, it can be “easy” in the sense that we never have to go far to do it. Opportunities are available every day, right in our own backyard. No, closer than that. We don’t even have to leave the house.
Again, quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Jesus’ call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, “sackcloth and ashes,” fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance.
Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart).
The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart. (nn. 1430-1432; emphasis in original)
So when it comes to acts of penance, in the words of Dorothy in the Land of Oz, “There’s no place like home.” Acts of penance can, and pretty much have to, begin right where we live and be directed toward those who live with us. That “radical reorientation” of our whole life won’t even make it out the door if we don’t begin being more charitable — kind, forgiving, patient, and all the rest — to those closest to us.
This is easy to agree with in theory — but, as we all know, often more than a little challenging in practice. Accepting those challenges and overcoming those challenges is penance.
This is the essence of conversion … and the essence of bypassing purgatory.
Purgatory, the Final Penance
It’s important to remember, or to realize for the first time, that the holy souls in purgatory are concerned about the salvation of those of us still on earth, especially of their loved ones and friends. Their prayers help us recognize our faults so that we can understand the malice of sin.
The souls have a tremendous resolve in assisting us to become holy — that is, to do the will of God in the present moment — so that we find the direct path to heaven. They don’t want us to have to attend this “school of conversion” called purgatory! (Better to be “homeschooled,” to start now right in our own homes.) Through their prayers, they reproach us by inspirations of the Holy Spirit — that’s so, especially when we lose focus of what should be the vision of our path to holiness.
If we submit ourselves to their influence, we can avoid purgatory. Theirs is the spirit of penance, detesting all sin, having an ardent desire to satisfy justice with perfect resignation and humility. Each of us — you and I — need to imitate them. And we’re oh, so foolish when we don’t.
The Great Mystery of the Mass
In the words of St. Faustina: “Oh, what awesome mysteries take place during Mass! A great mystery is accomplished in the Holy Mass. With what great devotion should we listen to and take part in this death of Jesus. One day we will know what God is doing for us in each Mass, and what sort of gift He is preparing in it for us. Only His divine love could permit that such a gift be provided for us” (914).
In this two-way relationship between the Church Militant and the Church Suffering (those of us on earth and the souls in purgatory), how can we help them? Through our sacrifices and prayers — and most especially through the Mass.
A living person is still capable of growing in sanctifying grace. And so a Mass offered for a person already in God’s grace has the effect of giving the gift of increased grace, which the person may willingly receive in order to become more Christlike.
As