Heaven, Hell and Purgatory

"In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth," Gen. 1:1

"Look down, then, from heaven, your holy abode, and bless your people Israel and the soil you have given us in the land flowing with milk and honey which you promised on oath to our fathers." Deu. 26:15

"The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven. God's eyes keep careful watch; they test all peoples." Psalms 11:4

"Thus says the Lord: The heavens are my throne, the earth is my footstool. What kind of house can you build for me; what is to be my resting place?"  Isaiah 66:1

"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Mat 5:12

"But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal."

Mat. 6:20

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.  Mat. 8:10

"So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God." Mark 16:19
"In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be." John 14:2-3

"The heavens are my throne, the earth is my footstool. What kind of house can you build for me? says the Lord, or what is to be my resting place?" Act 7:49

"Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together 4 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thes. 4:17

"But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth 11 in which righteousness dwells."
2 Peter 3:13

"Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God." Rev. 2:7


Heaven is where you can enjoy the fullness of communion with God so it is the state of supreme happiness. You can also think of it as the dwelling place of God that you can experience for all eternity if you believed in Him and remained faithful to His will. Jesus opened heaven to us when He died on the cross and rose from the dead. It is not a physical place in the clouds but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. Heaven is the ultimate goal that you should strive for through His grace if you lived your life welcoming God and opening yourself to His love.


Hell

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.  How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few."  Matthew 7:13-14

"Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous

and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." Matthew 13:49-50

"And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Matthew 25:46

"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."  Mark 9:43-48

"These will pay the penalty of eternal ruin, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power," 2 Thess. 1:9

"Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld."
Revelations 1:18b

"The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Revelations 20:10

"But as for cowards, 8 the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
Revelations 21:8


Hell is the opposite condition of existence than heaven and is the ultimate consequence of sin if you chose to freely reject God’s love and forgiveness during your life. It brings eternal suffering and everlasting punishment with the loss of God and no return to Him, the source of all life and joy. You can avoid the fiery furnace of hell by saying “yes” to God and “no” to the temptations of the Devil.

Purgatory


"In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water."  1 Pet 3:19-20

"for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire (itself) will test the quality of each one's work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire."
1 Cor. 3:11-15

"They disciplined us for a short time as seemed right to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we may share his holiness." Heb. 12:10

He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.  But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin. 2 Maccabees 12:43-46

"but nothing unclean will enter it, nor any (one) who does abominable things or tells lies. Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." Rev. 21:27

"And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." Mt. 12:32



You can think of purgatory as the boot camp of heaven so that our sins can be taken off our souls. It is simply the last stage of sanctification or purification (cleansing) after death before you enter into perfect and complete communion with God. It is not a place but a state of being where you have to be brought up to the level of spiritual excellence. In order to do this you must endure some kind of pain or discomfort before you receive the reward of heaven. It is also joyful because your soul is in closer union with God than it is on earth and you will have a final and full appreciation of just how much God loves you and how gracious He is to you since you know you are guaranteed to enjoy God forever.

It is not a middle state between heaven and hell but is more like a mudroom or closet to heaven since everyone who goes to purgatory goes to heaven. After all, you need to get gussied up before entering the King’s palace. You need to be fitted for life in heaven so this transition is necessary to become fully united with God and the whole communion of saints.

You, the living can pray for the souls in purgatory for them to be made holy more quickly and in the most painless way possible. You can even help your deceased loved ones and other poor suffering souls in purgatory by doing good works for them and making sacrifices. If you don’t go straight to heaven, you will remain in purgatory until you pay or make up for your sins (even the ones already forgiven) depending on the number and seriousness of them or until Christ’s second coming at the end of the world. It is then that you will achieve the holiness needed to enter the joy of heaven. While on earth, you can even try and lessen your time in purgatory by avoiding sin, fasting, almsgiving, doing penance and gaining indulgences.