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Those were my words, now for the actual definition.

PURGATORY

The place or condition in which the souls of the just are purified after death and before they can enter heaven. They may be purified of the guilt of their venial sins, as in this life, by an act of contrition deriving from charity and performed with the help of grace. This sorrow does not, however, affect the punishment for sins, because in the next world there is no longer any possibility of merit. The souls are certainly purified by atoning for the temporal punishments due to sin by their willing acceptance of suffering imposed by God. The sufferings in purgatory are not the same for all, but proportioned to each person’s degree of sinfulness. Moreover, these sufferings can be lessened in duration and intensity through the prayers and good works of the faithful on earth. Nor are the pains incompatible with great peace and joy, since the poor souls deeply love God and are sure they will reach heaven. As members of the Church Suffering, the souls in purgatory can intercede for the persons on earth, who are therefore encouraged to invoke their aid. Purgatory will not continue after the general judgment, but its duration for any particular souls continues until it is free from all guilt and punishment. Immediately on purification the soul is assumed into heaven. (Etym. Latin purgatio, cleansing, purifying.)

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

You are living under a performance based religion. God had given you a new covenant which is not performance based. Can you see that this notion of ‘purgatory’ is a subtle assertion of the performance based religion? When Jesus shed His blood and entered into the Holy Of Holies to spread HIS blood on the Mercy Seat, His blood was/is so efficacious that it need be done only once, for all, forever. In His act He fulfilled the law and took away the law as your schoolmaster. The notion of you atoning for your acts in life is anathema to what God tells us of this new covenant, which Jesus sealed with His own blood.