In Matthew 5:25-26, Jesus was talking about divine justice when He advised reconciliation before judgment and imprisonment. "You will not be released until you have paid the last penny." This temporary place of restitution called Purgatory obviously is different from Hell -- where there is no release forever, as well as earth - where people often get away with murder, etc. It is a necessary corollary for souls not "as perfect as the Heavenly Father." All have sinned and fall short of God's glory. We are still responsible for our personal sins.

"There is a sin that is mortal… All wrongdoing is sin, but there is a sin that is not mortal." (1Jn 5:16-17) This Scripture teaches us that there are two types of sin - deadly or mortal, and non-deadly or venial. The Church believes that a person dying in a state of mortal sin will go to Hell. Besides, a person carrying their unforgiven venial sin(s), or with their sins forgiven but unrestituted according to divine justice, is punishable in Purgatory. This is because "God chose us to be holy and blameless in His sight." (Eph 1:4) In Lk 12:47-48, Jesus speaks of the difference in the punishment of two "slaves" of sin. The degree of punishment depends on the degree of imperfection.

The Lord seems to have given us an efficacious means to restitute our sins. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus asks us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Divine forgiveness often is conditional on temporal reconciliation as stated in Mt 5:23-24. "Go first be reconciled with your brother, and then come offer your gift." Therefore our forgiveness of others is not a "right" and a "given", but a "duty" and "obligation." It can effectively help us make reparation of our various sins according to divine justice.

Why is Purgatory necessary since Jesus has washed away our sins by His Blood? The first reason is that we are still living in the kingdom of darkness and subject to the deceits and false promises of the evil one. Besides, we are prey to our own human and natural weakness while living in our mortal bodies. The second reason is that sin has two aspects -- the divine and the temporal - as it offends against both God and man. Both aspects have to be reconciled for sin to be completely erased. The two thieves on the cross satisfied the temporal aspect by forfeiting their lives. Only the good thief reconciled with God. Thus Jesus was able to say to him: "Today, you will be with Me in paradise."

Now we know that Paul was initially under the impression that Jesus would return within his own lifetime. Therefore 1Thess 4:15-17, taken together with other Scriptural passages, leads us to conclude that this refers to those, both living and dead, who refused the mark of the beast of the Anti-Christ on their hands or foreheads. These will be taken straight to Heaven on Jesus' second coming because of the intense tribulations and trials they will be subjected to.

In the letter to the Hebrews, Paul relates that Jesus' sacrifice has made obsolete the yearly one on the day of Atonement as stated in the Old Testament. We can approach the throne of God and ask for forgiveness directly and with the assurance that "I will forgive their evil doing, and their sins I will remember no more." (Heb 8:12) This refers to the divine aspect only. For example, if I break your window and ask God for forgiveness, I am assured of it. But the matter of your broken window and its inconvenience still remains for me to set aright. When David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheeba and ordering the death of her husband, God forgave him when he acknowledged his sin (2Sam 12:13). However, as there was no way of making temporal reparation for murder and adultery, David was forewarned by the prophet Nathan that the sword would not depart from his house and that others would take away his wives - and this came to pass.

Jesus came to reconcile us to the Father and thereby remove the legacy which was brought on humanity by the "original" sin of Adam (Rom 5:12-14). It is true that there are countless numbers of souls who could never have sinned, if sin is defined as the willful breaking of God's commandments and precepts. Babies who died in infancy, aborted babies who have never even seen the light of day, and those born mentally deranged, are examples of sinless souls. Mary, too, was sinless as confirmed by the angel's address: "The Lord is with you" in Lk 1;28, since sin is a breaking away and separation from God. Therefore, our personal sins are still ours to repair. Isaiah chapter 53 foretold the suffering of Christ and the benefits that would come about because of it - "By his stripes we were healed." Jesus indeed cured and freed many from their physical illnesses and from demonic possession, and even raised three from the dead. He was the Great Healer. However, sickness and disease are still with us today, just as sin is still such a large - and getting larger - part of our everyday lives. Our sins and our health are still our responsibility.

Finally, Jesus advised in Mt 7:14 that the gate to life is narrow, the road rough, and few find it. Obviously, Jesus was stating that Heaven was inaccessible except to a blessed minority. It seems to contradict His mission which was to save all mankind from death of separation from God and throw open wide the gate to Heaven. The answer to this was given by Mary on one of her earthly visits in recent history. She informed that a very few people go to Heaven directly after their death. Most people go to Purgatory. A large number of people go to hell. Purgatory is therefore a temporary though necessary place of purification prior to being taken to heaven.

God is loving and merciful. Hell is the penalty for those who reject His love and mercy. God is also jealous and just. The grandeur and dignity of God requires justice for even the smallest transgression. Purgatory is therefore necessary.