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“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son
and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on
the last day.” John 6:40
Yesterday’s Solemnity of All Saints gave us an opportunity to
celebrate and rejoice in the fact that there are countless people
who have gone before us who are now enjoying the glories of Heaven.
These faithful souls lived lives that were grounded in God’s grace
and have been fully purified of all sin. They now gaze at our good
God face-to-face.
Today, we commemorate the fact that many who die in a state of
grace are not immediately ready to stand before the glorious throne
of God and see Him face-to-face. The only way this is possible is
if every sin and every attachment to sin is purged from our souls.
We must have nothing but pure charity alive within us if we are to
enter the eternal glories of Heaven. But how many people die in
such a state?
The Church, in her wisdom and holiness, has taught clearly through
the centuries that when a person passes from this world to the next
while still attached to less serious sin, they need to be fully
purified in order to enter Heaven. This is Purgatory. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “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” (#1030–31a).
For some, Purgatory can be a frightening and even confusing
thought. Why doesn’t God, in His infinite mercy, simply take all
our loved ones who followed Him straight to Heaven? The answer is
simple. He does! And the path for them to Heaven is this incredible
mercy of their final purification.
Purification of all attachment to sin within our soul is a mercy
beyond what we can imagine. Through this final purification, God
prepares the holy souls who have died for an eternity of joy. But
this purification is necessary because God, in His love, does not
want any soul to live eternally with even a minor attachment to
sin. God wants us all free. The truth is that every sin on our
soul, even the smallest one, is reason enough for us to be excluded
from Heaven. So Purgatory must be seen as a final mercy from God by
which He lifts every last burden that keeps us from perfect love,
so that our eternity will be one of utmost freedom and ecstasy. God
wants us to be filled only with the purity of love forever. Thus,
upon our death, we are graced to enter into a final and intense
purification of every minor sin, so that when we see God in all His
glory, we will see Him with the perfection to which we are called.
Purgatory is a gift, a grace, a mercy. It will be painful to go
through in the same way that overcoming any sin is painful. But the
good fruit of freedom from sin makes every final purification we
must endure worth it a hundredfold and more.
Reflect, today, upon the spiritual truth that God wants you to be a
saint. If you are among those few who die in a state in which you
are purified from every sin, then be assured that you have already
completed your purgatory on earth. But if you or your loved ones
are among the many who still hold some minor attachment to sin at
the time of death, then rejoice that God is not done with you yet.
Anticipate with much gratitude the final purification that awaits
and look forward to the freedom that ultimately comes from that
purification.
My merciful Lord, You desire that my soul and the souls of all
your faithful be purified of every sin, even the smallest
imperfection. I thank You for the mercy of Purgatory and pray that
I will continually work toward that purification here and now. I
pray, also, for all those who have gone before me and are still in
need of these purifying fires. Pour forth Your mercy upon them so
that they may be counted among the saints in Heaven. Jesus, I trust
in You.
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Featured image above: Madonna and Child with Souls in
Purgatory by Luca Giordano, via Wikimedia Commons
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