Intro to Purgatory

When our lives come to a close and our days are over, there will be 4 last things. These are death, judgment, Heaven and Hell. These are the things that all of us must face when we die. We will all pass through the darkness of death, and at last stand before the Almighty to render an account of our deeds, both good and evil. As Catholics, we believe that if we have died unrepentant for mortal sins on our soul, we will be exiled to the prison of fire, known as Hell. However, if we have confessed these sins and have been forgiven, we shall enter into the eternal ecstasy known as Heaven.

If we are forgiven our sins, but we have not made atonements for those sins, we must be purified before we can enter the gates of Heaven. When we are forgiven for our sins, we can be at peace, but we must still suffer punishment for them.

Receiving forgiveness does not mean that we escape justice for our sins. Purgatory is a way to make up for our sins. All atonement that has not been made for our sins will be made in purgatory when we die. Though it may seem terrible, it is a blessing to us as imperfect humans because if there was no purgatory, we would be subjected to the perfect justice of God. This means that we would either be destined for Heaven (in which case we would have to already be free of atonement due to our sins) or Hell (if we had any sin on our soul). Since no person aside from our Mother Mary, and her Son, Jesus were born without original sin, none of us would be likely to go straight to Heaven upon death.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen described Purgatory as follows: “Purgatory is the place where the love of God tempers the justice of God and where the love of man tempers the injustice of man.” It is truly a place where God’s infinite mercy allows us to be purified before we enter into Heaven.

Recommended reading:
Purgatory Explained