24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: September 13, 2026
In 36 years as a priest, I have preached on most elements of the Catholic Faith. But, there is one thing that I do not think I have ever preached about. Purgatory. Yet, there is some fundamental truth about our Faith that is revealed in our teaching on Purgatory.
One of my favourite movies is one called AfterLife. It is a Japanese movie that takes place in a small, mid-20th century social-service-style structure which is a way station between life and death. Every Monday, a group of recently deceased people check-in: the social workers in the lodge ask them to go back over their life and choose one single memory to take into the afterlife. They are given just a couple of days to identify their happiest memory, after which the workers design, stage and film them. In this way, the souls will be able to re-experience this moment for eternity, forgetting the rest of their life. They will spend eternity within their happiest memory.
It always makes we wonder about what one moment in my life I would choose to hold on to in eternity.
Well, Purgatory, is not a place we need to go to in preparation for Heaven. Not a place, but a state of being. Better as a verb rather than a noun. Purging. All that does not belong in the Kingdom of Heaven is needs to be purged. We enter a process where all that does not belong in Heaven will be purged from us.
For instance, any hatred in our hearts will need to be purged. Any anger that remains in us will need to be purged. Any greed will need to be purged. Any envy will need to be purged. Any money or things we are still clinging to will need to be purged.
What is in you now that will need to be purged before you may enter the Kingdom of Heaven?
It is for this reason that a central message of the Gospel, a key preaching of Jesus, is the need to forgive. It is why Peter asks him how many times they will need to forgive a brother or sister who has sinned against them. Obviously Peter has heard Jesus speak of this often and insistently. Jesus responds by saying, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” There is no limit to the need to forgive. For only in forgiving is evil removed, only forgiveness sets us free completely from sin in our lives or committed against us. You could say that forgiveness is one act of purging we need to go through before entering Heaven.
Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving slave who refuses to forgive his fellow slave. He concludes by saying, “So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
There is no way into the Kingdom of Heaven until we have forgiven each brother or sister from our heart. Any lack of forgiveness will need to be purged in purgatory.
Our first reading from the Book of Sirach gives a really good reflection for what we will need to do before entering Heaven. It will challenge us to look within and see if there is any anger, lack of forgiveness, that is still in me that needs to be purged. It says, “Does anyone harbour anger against another, and expect healing from the Lord?” It goes on to say, “Remember the end of your life, and set enmity aside….” and “the vengeful person will face the Lord’s vengeance.”
Forgiveness is the only path to a better world. Vengeance never makes things better, it only keeps alive the anger and hatred that leads to more violence and harm in the future.
Forgiveness is one necessary purging before we will be able to enter eternal life in Heaven.
So, this week you may want to watch the Japanese movie, Afterlife.
Or you may want to reflect on our First Reading from the book of Sirach we heard today.
Purgatory is that purging we will need to go through before entering Heaven. All that does not belong in the Kingdom of God will be purged from us.
We all need to ask ourselves now, what is still in me that needs to be purged, what in me does not belong in the Kingdom of Heaven? For most of us, that will probably include the need for
