Purgatory
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2 November 1989
Manila, Philippines

My dear Sisters,

On this day when we are thinking about the souls in purgatory, it is good for us to reflect on the two truths that we know are certain about purgatory. The first truth is that purgatory exists, and the second truth is that those who are undergoing purification in purgatory are helped by the prayers of the faithful on earth, and particularly by the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass. We know that these two truths are certain, because the Church has given us an infallible assurance that this is so. The Church does not ask us to believe anything more than that. She does not tell us how long purgatory may last, or what kind of suffering the souls endure there. In telling us that there is such an experience of purgatory after death and that we can help the souls in purgatory by our prayers and good works, the Church has told us enough to encourage us to pray for those who are undergoing that purification which is necessary before they can enter into the banquet hall of heaven.

Suppose you are coming into a city after a long walk on a dusty road, and somebody asks you to accept an invitation immediately to a banquet with all the important people of the country present. You would excuse yourself for a few moments, saying that, as you are covered with dust, you would like to freshen up before entering the banquet hall. You would be glad to have the opportunity of making yourself worthy to take your place at the table. Now at the end of our lives, there is a great likelihood that some of the dust of sin will be still clinging to us. No one can enter the banquet hall of heaven with sin still clinging to him. So purgatory is there to cleanse and purify us before we take our place at the table of God in heaven.

Perhaps you have heard someone saying to another: "You cannot take your money with you to the grave." That is true. Even if we cannot take our money to the grave, our hearts can be unduly attached to money and to other things. We can enter heaven only when we can fully surrender ourselves to God. So God has to cleanse our hearts and make them pure, and that experience can be and is very often painful.

The Church does not tell us what form that purification takes. Sometimes I imagine it must rather be like the experience that Peter had when Jesus looked on him after Peter had denied Him. Peter felt the pain of that loving look and went out and wept bitterly. His tears came from the remembrance of the great personal love which Jesus had shown him. We can console ourselves that, whatever form of purification there may be in purgatory, it does not come from the hands of a vindictive God. In the Bible we read: "The souls of the just are in the hand of God. In the sight of the unwise they seem to die, but they are in peace." (Wis 3:3).

The second truth, which the Church has made clear to us, is that we can help the souls in purgatory by our prayers, our good works, and especially by the Sacrifice of the Mass. When St. Monica was dying and was surrounded by her son, St. Augustine, and his brother, she told them that it did not matter where they buried her body. "All I ask of you," she said, "is that you remember me at the altar of God." No, it does not matter greatly where they place our bodies after we have died, but it does matter greatly that people will pray for us after our death. No Mass is ever celebrated without the dead being remembered. No Mass is ever celebrated without it touching the souls in purgatory.

In praying for the souls in purgatory daily and commending those we have known in this life by name to the mercy of God, we are uniting ourselves, not only with our departed friends and relatives, but with Jesus Christ Who said: "I go to prepare a place for you." (Jn 14:2). Praying every day for the souls in purgatory, we are cooperating with Jesus Christ in the preparation of that place which He is preparing for those who love Him. To us, as to all the souls in purgatory, Jesus Christ keeps saying: "Let not your hearts be troubled....l will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also....l will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you." (Jn 14:1, 3; 16:16).

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