A great article..http://www.franciscan-ofs.net/ap/litfwrpu.htm
Most priests do not encourage people to avoid purgatory. Some think it is dangerous to ask God to skip purgatory. I think this is a mistake. I firmly believe, studying the Doctors and those who have written on perfection, that we cannot build up the Church without first coming into a perfection on earth-at least the Illuminative State.
And, if we are willing to come into perfection now, we are willing to ask God to purged us now, thus avoiding purgatory. Those who are canonized saints went straight to heaven when they died. Can we not desire this as well and do good deeds to merit such?
St. Therese the Little Flower believed this was so. When a sister in the convent thought that one could not avoid purgatory, she answered:
You do not have enough trust. You have too much fear before the good God. I can assure you that He is grieved over this. You should not fear Purgatory because of the suffering there, but should instead ask that you not deserve to go there in order to please God, Who so reluctantly imposes this punishment. As soon as you try to please Him in everything and have an unshakable trust He purifies you every moment in His love and He lets no sin remain. And then you can be sure that you will not have to go to Purgatory.5r
"Oh! How you grieve me! You do a great injury to God in believing you're going to Purgatory. When we love, we can't go there."6
"I know that of myself I would not merit even to enter that place of expiation since only holy souls can have entrance there. But I also know that the Fire of Love is more sanctifying than is the tire of Purgatory. I know that Jesus cannot desire useless sufferings for us, and that He would not inspire the longings I feel unless He wanted to grant them."13
