Purgatory - The Time is now! Get Ready!

the Lord be with you your spirit a reading from the holy Gospel According to Mark the spirit drove Jesus out into the desert and he remained in the desert for 40 days tempted by Satan he was among wild beasts and the angels ministered to him after John had been arrested Jesus came to galile proclaiming the gospel of God this is the time of fulfillment the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe in the gospel the gospel of the Lord praise to you Lord Jesus Christ you only get one life Jesus said in the gospel today this is the time and I say to you this is the time this is the only time Jesus says this is the time of fulfillment the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe in the gospel those of you that got ashes on Wednesday you heard those words repent and believe in the gospel as the ashes were sprinkled on your head or you might have heard remember you are dust and to dust you will return and so this season of Lent this season of reminder of the shortness of life and the time of penance and the time of transformation you know lent is a season what does the word lent mean I don't know if you ever thought about that before but lent is from an Old English word and it simply means the springtime okay it means Springtime and it's the lent is the springtime fast and if I kind of like words I'm a little bit of a word nerd so uh so where does the word lent come from it actually it's a comes from a Germanic English is a Germanic language and as the days of spring get longer and longer so lent actually is related to a German word that means lengthening or getting longer and so you you can see the word long in Lent if you look closely enough and so as the days get longer in this Springtime fast so we are called to transformation so lent a season of fasting as the days get longer a season of New Life a season to remember this is the time you know lent began as a time of praying for and praying with and fasting for and fasting with those people who would be coming into the church at Easter and so this preparation for the Waters of baptism this preparation for the renew of God's life in US you one of the Privileges that I have as a pastor as a priest is that people ask me questions and spiritual questions and sometimes I like to try to answer their questions before they even ask them like I know you are wondering yourself what's where does the word lint come from well now you know okay so maybe you weren't asking that but but nonetheless what is here's a question for you I remember when I heard this what is the number one subject that Jesus talks about more than he talks about any other subject the thing that he speaks about more than he speaks about anything else and it was in the gospel today it was in the go gospel today Jesus says this is the time of fulfillment the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe now I've narrowed it down for you what is the number one thing that Jesus speaks about is it belief is it repentance it is the kingdom of God Jesus speaks more about the kingdom and the the coming of the Kingdom than he speaks about any other subject he teaches us to pray Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come he says over and over again the kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden in a field the kingdom of God is like a man who planted seed in his field and then someone evil came and planted weeds in it he says the king om of God will be taken from you and given to people who do the works of the Kingdom he says not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter the kingdom he says You must receive the kingdom as a child or you will not enter into it and over and over and over and over again he's constantly speaking about the coming of the kingdom and our need to be prepared when the kingdom comes and our need to enter into the kingdom unless one is born of water and spirit he cannot what enter what the kingdom speaking about baptism and the entry into the Kingdom so it's a very important subject because you know what there's two ways there's the way of light and there's the way of Darkness there's the way of life and there is the way of death there's the way of lies and there is the way of Truth there is the kingdom of God and there is another kingdom and it is the kingdom of Satan it is the kingdom of death and Jesus comes to rescue us from the kingdom of death the kingdom of Satan you know Satan is a king if you will and he pays a wage and and he pays a wage the wages of sin is what death and if you will in some respects and I don't mean to be too negative and too dark but in some respects it is the kingdom of Satan that we live in where death Reigns and we come to be reborn into the Kingdom of Light and we have this season of Lent to remember remember this is the time this is the time for us to get ready this is the time of fulfillment and the kingdom of God it's not here it is what at hand it is coming and so we are called to prepare for that Kingdom so lent a season as the days get longer this Springtime fast as we anticipate the gift of our baptism to be renewed D in baptism as I walk through the church on Easter Sunday sprinkling everybody right and at the Easter Vigil those people who will be baptized coming into the church we are called to conversion this is the time now is the time after we die it will be too late if we are hardened by sin and our heart is turned from God if the things of God are boring if we think God is a tyrant if we blaspheme God if mortal sin is a part of our life we must be converted and enter into the purgative way there are these stages in the spiritual life and if you will in one respect the first stage stage of the spiritual life is being turned away it's living in the Kingdom of death and that really isn't a stage of the spiritual life it's an anticipation of the spiritual life and the first step into the spiritual life is entering into the purgative way the purgative way where we are purged of our sin and we are transformed by God's grace and see l is a season of being purged when we pray and we fast and we give in a very particular way we recommit ourself to our Christian Life we are striving to be purged of our sinfulness to prepare for the coming of the kingdom of almighty God so what is Lent lent is a season it's a season of fasting it's this spring season of fasting anticipa a in those coming into the church it's a spring season of fasting where we all who are already in the church perhaps we think about the last four things what are the last four things death judgment Heaven and Hell those are the last four things and so we should be spending a little bit of time this Linton season thinking about the last four things well death you know what death is right it's the separation of the body and soul it's when this fleshly body comes to its end dies and then our soul and our body are separated that is death after death there is the immediate judgment we will stand before the Judgment seat of God and then ultimately there is heaven or there is hell and what is heaven Heaven is the place of perfection it is that re is being with God for all eternity with the uh the Blessed Mother and all of the Saints perfect fulfillment and then there is hell and what is hell hell is that place of blasphemy it's a place of hatred it's a place of regret it's a place of Darkness now as we as I encourage you to think about these things in this season of Lent I said at the beginning of the homy that sometimes people ask me questions right sometimes I try to anticipate their questions and one of the questions that I get it seems like perhaps the most popular question that people have asked me over my years as a priest about the Bible about the sacred scripture when someone goes out of their way to write me a note or to email me something or to come see me and say I read in the Bible this and I don't understand what does this mean that passage that I'm very often asked about came up in the readings today it came up in the readings today and if you were listening carefully to the second reading you might have even thought to yourself know what does that mean what is what is Paul talking about there I mean what is Peter talking about there this was in the letter from St Peter and I'm going to quote part of it now Christ suffered for sins once the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous that he might lead you to God Christ put to Death In the Flesh was brought to life in the spirit and in it in the spirit he went to preach to the spirits in prison who had been disobedient so people will come to me what do you think their question is who are these Spirits in prison what is this about what's Jesus going to the spirits in prison and maybe you've never asked yourself that question maybe you've never thought about that maybe that's never come to you but I'm going to say this obviously it is a spiritual Place Jesus has been put to Death In the Flesh in the spirit he goes to a place where there are these spirit IR who have been disobedient they are if you will in prison so Spirits in prison spirits that have been disobedient in prison Jesus goes to them to preach to them now before I go any further I'm going to remind you of a story that Jesus told in Matthew Chapter 5 Matthew Chapter 5 quote Jesus says quote settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge and the judge will hand you over to the guard and you will be thrown into prison amen I say to you you will not be released until you have paid the last penny do you think that Jesus is just telling us about how to settle worldly Affairs and to settle out of court or do you think Jesus is speaking about spiritual things there what do you think probably spiritual things I would say because that's what Jesus speaks about more than anything else he speaks about spiritual things and the kingdom of God coming and those kind of things and so I say with absolute certainty that Jesus is not simply talking about settling out of court he's talking about standing before the judge and going to prison and paying the last penny and I go back to this quote again so he went to the speak to the or preach to the spirits in prison who had been disobedient a moment ago I mentioned the last four things have death judgment heaven and hell but you know when we are judged this is one of the fundamental teachings of our Catholic faith if we when we are judged if we have the grace of God in us if we have the grace of God in us but we are imperfectly purified from our sins what happens to us do we go straight to heaven no where do we go we go to Purgatory we go to Purgatory that our sins may be cleansed from us that we would be transformed by God's grace now this reality of purgatory I just want to spend just a minute or two on this in this season of Lent this season of trans formation the season of healing where we hear Jesus say this is the time I say to you all this is the time for us to be purified now of our sins before we stand before the Judgment seat of God because and I quote the Bible now from The Book of Revelation chap 21 nothing unclean will enter Heaven so if there is anything clinging to us that is uncleaned is going to be stripped from us either now in our journey of conversion or when or when we stand before almighty God when we when we experience if you will that prison of of transformation that is Purgatory quoting the catechism those who die in a state of grace and friendship but are imp perfectly purified although they are assured of their Eternal salvation will undergo a purification after death so as to achieve the Holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven you know sometimes people will say well the word Purgatory is not in the Bible Well the word Trinity is not in the Bible either but the concept is there right when Jesus says baptize in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit there's the concept of the Trinity well what about the concept of purgatory I'm going to I'm going to read a little bit from St Paul's letter to the Corinthians here for you for St Paul speaking about building on the foundation of Christ building our life of faith on the foundation of Christ Paul says for no one can la lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ now if anyone Builds on that foundation with gold silver precious stones wood hay straw each one's work will become manifest on the day that is the Judgment Day when God will disclose it and it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done and if the work that one has built on the foundation survives he will receive a reward if anyone's work is burned up he will suffer loss though himself will be saved but only as Through Fire what do you think that fire that we're saved through is when our works are evaluated by God we call that fire the fire of purgatory saved but as Through Fire where do we get this idea from well we get it from Jesus going to the spirits in prison right we get it from St Paul's letter there we get it from our Old Testament Heritage did you know that in the Old Testament before Christ came that they would pray for the dead that they would offer sacrifices for the dead even to this very day there is a prayer called the El Mal raahim it's my best Hebrew impression okay that's a Hebrew prayer for the dead and they pray that prayer uh for those who have died that God would purify their souls so today I know I've talked about a lot of stuff Lent is a season it's a season of preparation it's a season of Detachment it's a season of purification it's a season of getting ready to stand before the Judgment seat of God I hope and pray you my brothers and sisters take this season seriously now is the time the kingdom of God is at hand we will all stand stand before the Judgment seat of God let us pray that God's grace cleanse and heal us that we cooperate with that Grace and prayer and fasting and almsgiving and we are truly transformed and again you know as I said on Ash Wednesday if you're already perfect and you're already you know you don't need any more grace or transformation maybe you can pray for somebody else okay maybe you can spend some time praying and fasting for those people entering into this why don't you do that anyway pray for them so this season of Grace this season of healing the season of purification the season if you will of purgatory where we are transformed let us embrace it let us live it let us thank God for it and let us use this grace and season as God has called us to to prepare to meet him uh in eternal life

Channel: Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church

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Length: 21min 0sec (1260 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 18 2024