Added new blog post about Purgatory.

blog/posts/2021-02-12-an-analogy-for-purgatory.cfg

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+filename = 2021-02-12-an-analogy-for-purgatory.html
+title = An Analogy for Purgatory
+description = Purgatory is one of those teachings of the Holy Catholic Church that is often difficult to comprehend, not only for those outside the Church, but even for those Catholics within. I believe that, to better understand what Purgatory is, we should understand sins as injuries to our soul.
+created = 2021-02-12
+updated = 2021-02-12

blog/posts/2021-02-12-an-analogy-for-purgatory.html

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+<p>Purgatory is perhaps one of the most misunderstood Catholic doctrine.
+So much so that even many Catholics have difficulty understanding it.
+Protestants will err in saying that it's a sort of waiting room before a
+soul enters Heaven, and Eastern Orthodox will err in saying that
+Catholics believe it's a light version of Hell. Both of these, however,
+miss the target, despite the true meaning being in the name itself:
+purging or purification.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+	"All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly
+	purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after
+	death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness
+	necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name
+	Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely
+	different from the punishment of the damned."<br />
+	- <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> § 1030-1031
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Even so, the concept of Purgatory can still be difficult to
+understand: if God has forgiven me of my sins, why must I go through a
+process of purification? I believe this difficulty with the concept of
+Purgatory is the product of something I've mentioned in my previous
+post about <i>Sin &amp; Hell</i>. Although "[Sin] is an offense against
+God"<sup><a href="#r1" >[1]</a></sup>, it would seem we're sometimes
+limited to believing it is only this, when in reality sin has a real
+negative effect on our immortal souls, causing deformities to the image
+&amp; likeness of God in which we were all created. This is similar to
+how when a child misbehaves: although the child suffers first-hand the
+consequences of his actions, his bad behaviour is an offense to his
+father who raised him better. As such, if sin causes injury to our
+souls, then our souls will also require healing, not just forgiveness of
+our Heavenly Father. As such, Purgatory is not simply a <i>tiny
+hell</i>, as it's not a question of punishment.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, sometimes the process for healing and purification can be more
+painful than the injury itself. Hence why Purgatory is not a waiting
+room, but rather a place where those who find themselves there are cured
+back to that perfect image &amp; likeness which they were created with.
+This process can be painful. To give an analogous anecdote, recently I
+had cut my hand with a knife; the injury itself hardly hurt, but the
+process of cleaning it and mending it hurt many times more than the
+injury itself. If this is true for physical wounds, why would it not be
+true for wounds of the soul? Our souls require healing and
+purification.</p>
+
+<label>[1]</label> <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> § 1871