A reflection on Lenten fasting

Fr. Schouppe's book, Purgatory, contains the following account.

There was a community of nuns whose mother superior required that the sisters not take any food or drink between meals. One day a sister came to her in dire thirst, asking for an exception to this rule. The mother superior refused, and the sister obeyed. Years later, this sister died and another nun had a vision of her soul. She was suffering in the flames of Purgatory when an angel appeared to her with the cup of water she had refused out of obedience. The angel tossed the water onto her, extinguishing the flames.

I thought of this story this past Friday when I was about to bite into a hamburger and remembered the requirement to abstain from meat. Perhaps one day my soul will be suffering in the flames of Purgatory and an angel will appear, toss a hamburger which will bounce off my head and before being consumed by the flames, then shrug and walk away.

This story also makes me question the wisdom of my choice to give up alcohol for Lent.