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Show "Straight to Heaven" Delusion. A prominent physician recently died in one of the southern states. He had loyally served the confederacy and was a popular man among his neighbors. Judging from his name, I suppose he was one of the men whose ancestry, a generation or two back, were Irish Catholics. He was a Protestant, a Mason Ma-son and Odd Fellow. In a sealed communication, com-munication, opened after his death, among other things, he said: "My sins have been many, but I now believe that the Almighty God has blotted them out, and that I will leave this world to go to a better one above." No doubt he was sincere, according to his light, but what assurance had he of blissful immortality and an instant in-stant entrance into heaven? But this is not uncommon among our dissenting brethren. They do not believe In purgatory. pur-gatory. They know that the Bible says that nothing defiled can enter heaven. They imagine that a stupendous miracle mira-cle is to be performed for their complete com-plete sanctification. They are, they think, to leave this world spotless and at once to keep company with saints and angels. It never seems to occur to them that this smacks of presumption. While even great saints in their humility, hu-mility, and with an approximate conception con-ception of God's justice, after lives of mortification, penance and holy labors, diffided in themselves, many thousands of men and women who do not lead such lives, actually think that they will immediately, after death, enter the abode of bliss. It is very difficult to persuade them that this may be delusion de-lusion and of the most perilous kind. When our Lord offered to give St. Al-phonsus Al-phonsus Rodriguez anything he asked, he solicited nothing fnr htmaoif k,, that his two holy maiden sisters should escape purgatory and go at once to heaven after their death. There-is no doubt that the request was granted, the more so as these ladies lived saintly saint-ly lives in the world; but how can people peo-ple who do not lead such lives count absolutely upon instant beatification? Souls whom we pray for as being the last to issue from otheir pains may have had centuries of purgation. How we ought to pray for them and pray, too, for the conversion of all who are in delusion as to their state in this world. Randell in New Century. |
