themselves—­by their prayers.  And oh, when they are admitted into Heaven, how they will pray for those that have helped them out of Purgatory!  If you do this great charity, God will, when you die, put in some good person’s heart to pray for you while you suffer in Purgatory.  There must be a Purgatory, for one who dies with the slightest stain of sin upon his soul cannot enter Heaven, and yet God would not send him to Hell for so small a sin.  But why does God punish those He loves?  Why does He not forgive everything?  He punishes because He is infinitely just and true.  He warned them that if they did certain things they would be punished; and they did them, and God must keep His promise.  Moreover He is just, and must give to everyone exactly what he deserves.

415 Q. Can the faithful on earth help the souls in Purgatory?  A. The faithful on earth can help the souls in Purgatory by their prayers, fasts, almsdeeds; by indulgences, and by having Masses said for them.

416 Q. If everyone is judged immediately after death, what need is there of a general judgment?  A. There is need of a general judgment, though everyone is judged immediately after death, that the providence of God, which, on earth, often permits the good to suffer and the wicked to prosper, may in the end appear just before all men.

“Providence of God.”  Sometimes here on earth we see a good man always in want, out of employment, sickly, unsuccessful in all his undertakings, while his neighbor, who is a very bad man, is wealthy and prosperous, and seems to have every pleasure.  Why this is so we cannot understand now, but God’s reason for it will be made known to us on the Day of Judgment.  Sometimes the wicked do good actions here on earth—­help the poor, or contribute to some charity, for instance; and as God on account of their wickedness cannot reward them in the next world, He rewards them chiefly in this world by temporal goods and pleasures.  For all their good deeds they get their reward in this world, and for the evil their punishment in the next.  The good man who suffers gets all his reward in the next world, that even his sufferings here atone partly for the evil he has done.

A second reason for a general judgment is to show the crimes of sinners and the justice of their punishment; also that the saints may have all their good works made known before the world and receive the glory they deserve.  On earth these saints were sometimes considered fools and treated as criminals, falsely accused, etc., and now the whole truth will stand out before the world.  But above all, the general judgment is for the honor and glory of Our Lord.  At His first coming into the world He was poor and weak; many would not believe Him the Son of God, and insulted Him as an impostor.  He was falsely accused, treated shamefully, and was put to death, many believing Him guilty of some crime.  Now He will appear before all as He really is—­their Lord and Master, their Creator and Judge.  How they will tremble to look upon Him whom they have crucified!  How all those who have denied Him, blasphemed Him, persecuted His Church, and the like, will fear when they see Him there as Judge!  How they will realize the terrible mistake worldlings made!