"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." ~Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030
Today the Church remembers those who have died but are still awaiting full union with God in heaven. This is purgatory--the soul in final purification. My addictions to coffee, sensual comforts, white lies, fear of rejection--all those things that make me rely on me instead of on my Creator--will be purged away until, as St. Teresa of Avila says, "God alone sufficeth."
Or, as Dante put it so perfectly, until my soul is "pure and disposed to mount unto the stars." ~Canto XXXIII, line 145
Let us pray for the dead who wait in joyful hope.
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