Purgatory

I like to view God as an all consuming fire of love and in that context one could say that when a person dies and moves closer towards Gods fiery presence, only that which is pure remains and all thats impure (which consists of all the attachments to this world and to sinful tendancies) is burnt up in Gods presence; for only that which is absolutely pure can enter Gods august presence; the pain one experiences in purgatory will not be so much a purifying fire as the pain of seeing God who is the ultimate desire of one's heart (as St. Augustine says "Our hearts are restless untill they rest in Thee") and not being able to be united to Him.

Those whose works were pure will pass through this purifying fire unscathed and enter Gods presence immediately like the saints.(whose works are like pure gold)
Those whose works have some impurity will have to go through a period of purification when all thats impure will be burnt up (purged out) before entering Gods presence, and it will cause pain because seperation always does, this experience can be called purgatory.(especially those whose works can be compared to gold mixed with hay)
And finally, those whose works are entirely impure will be totally consumed in the fire and will not be able to move any closer to God.(especially those whose works can be compared to hay)

From this we see that the teaching on purgatory is not at all that far-fetched as many people make it out to be, but rather very biblical and quite convincing too.

We must all remember to pray for the souls in purgatory especially those souls who are
(1) most in need of Gods mercy,
(2) abandoned,
(3) nearest release from purgatory,
(4) our beneficiaries and dearly beloved.