Why a Priest Will Mention Purgatory in a Funeral Homily

 

(Twenty-fifth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on September 22, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; Psalm 54; James 3:16-4:3; Mark 9: 30-37.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-fifth Sunday 2024]

Every once in a while after a funeral someone will come up to me and ask me why I mentioned purgatory in my homily.  Now I should mention that most of the time when this happens, the questioners are not angry or combative; they’re simply curious—and somewhat confused.  You see, in their minds their recently-deceased friend was a good, caring, faith-filled person; consequently they think that I should have focused my remarks exclusively on heaven.

They really didn’t see the need to mention purgatory, since, from their perspective, their deceased friend couldn’t possibly be anywhere other than in God’s eternal kingdom.

Now there are several problems with that line of reasoning, not the least of which is that it violates a command of Jesus Christ: the command not to judge!

When we hear Jesus say, “Stop judging, that you may not be judged,” we usually interpret that to mean, “Don’t condemn another person to hell in your mind or heart.”  And that’s right; that’s definitely a valid way to interpret our Lord’s words.   But it’s also only half the story.  Jesus is also warning us here against “judging” others in the opposite way, by personally declaring them to be in the kingdom of heaven.  No, we should never condemn another person to hell, but neither should we presume that they’re going to heaven immediately when they die; nor should we presume that our deceased relatives and friends have already passed through the pearly gates.

The Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has the power to canonize people; we, as individuals, do not.

We can speak of our hope that our deceased relatives and friends have already arrived; we can express a very confident hope that they’ve already made it into the kingdom of heaven.  But we must never say “we know,” because we don’t (unless, of course, they’ve been canonized; then we do know).

And this is precisely why we pray for the dead!  We pray for the dead because we realize that some people die in the state of grace—in friendship with God—but are not quite ready to see the Lord face to face.  They don’t have any mortal sins on their souls when they leave this life, but they may still have some venial sins that they need to be forgiven for, and they may still have some sinful attitudes that they need to get rid of.

Or they may need to make reparation for some of their already-forgiven sins.

It says in the Book of Revelation, chapter 21, that “nothing unclean will enter [heaven].”  NOTHING!  That means you’re not ready for heaven, even if you have just one, little, unforgiven venial sin on your soul—or just a teeny, tiny bit of anger or pride or lust or some other sinful attitude in your heart.

In Hebrews, chapter 12, we are told to “Strive for that holiness . . . without which no one can see the Lord”—indicating that we need to attain a certain level of holiness before we can experience the beatific vision.  Basically, that holiness needs to be attained in this life (meaning that we need to die in Christ, in the state of grace); but some of that holiness can be attained after death, which is what Jesus was getting at when he said in Matthew 12:32 that some sins can be forgiven “in the age to come.”

So even though—as many Protestants like to tell us—the word “purgatory” is not found in the Bible, the truth about purgatory and about the need for a final purification after death is clearly present in the Sacred Scriptures.  One of the most important passages in this regard is found in 1 Corinthians 3, where St. Paul says that some people who have lived mediocre Christian lives will be saved, but they will first need to pass through “fire”—hence one of the ways purgatory is sometimes described is as a “holy fire.”

It’s not the destructive fire of hell; rather, it’s a fire that purifies us and cleanses us and makes us radiant with God’s grace.

The need for purgatory is illustrated quite well by the apostles in today’s gospel story from Mark 9.  It says there that when they arrived at their destination in Capernaum Jesus asked them a question.  He said, “What were you arguing about on the way?”

They were fighting, of course, about who was the greatest; about who was “numero uno” among them.

Now I ask you, if these men had died of natural causes at that precise moment, would they have been ready to pass through the pearly gates of heaven?

I don’t think so!  They clearly had some pride in their hearts—and perhaps a little arrogance and self-centeredness as well.

All of that would have needed to have been washed away, before they could have entered the Lord’s eternal kingdom.

And so it is for many—perhaps most—souls after death.

Which is why I mention purgatory in every funeral homily I preach!  Every deacon, priest or bishop should. 

I think that some people react negatively when purgatory is mentioned because they think that purgatory is a bad thing, and that the priest is implying something negative about their deceased relative or friend by making reference to it.

But it’s not a bad thing!  It’s a great thing.  Remember, the people in purgatory are saved; their salvation is secured; they’re on their way to heaven, and there’s no possibility of them ever going to hell.

They just need to be cleaned up a bit before they meet the King of kings and the Lord of lords!  And the good news is that we can help them to pass through their purification process more quickly by our prayers, and sacrifices—and especially by having Masses offered for the repose of their souls (since the Mass is the most powerful prayer of all, given the fact that it’s the prayer of Christ himself).

Many of you I’m sure remember Monsignor Struck, who helped out here in his retirement years until he passed way in 1997.  Monsignor Jack Struck was one of the holiest people I’ve ever met in my life, but he always used to say, “When I die, all I want is to get through the back door of purgatory.”

He said that because he was holy and humble—and because he knew that if he got through the “back door” he was eventually going out the “front door” and into the eternal kingdom of heaven!

Let me conclude today by reading to you a small part of the Church’s official teaching about purgatory, which is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, beginning in paragraph 1030.  There we are told:  

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.
The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. . . . The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire . . .

This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture [in the Old Testament Second Book of Maccabees].

From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.  The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.

So if I mention purgatory at the funeral Mass of one of your relatives or friends sometime in the near or distant future, please do not be confused or offended.  Remember, saying that they might be in purgatory is just another way of saying that they’re on their way to heaven.

But do remember to pray for them!—because if our loved ones are indeed in purgatory that’s what they want from us most!  Not words of praise, but rather prayers and sacrifices and Masses for their souls, so that they can get to that “front door of purgatory” more quickly.

“But, Fr. Ray, what if my relative or friend is already in heaven?”

Well, then the prayers you offer will go to help another needy soul.

No prayer for the dead is ever wasted.

 

Simon Peter: Quick Fall and Quick Rise

 

(Twenty-fourth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on September 15, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Isaiah 50:5-9a; Psalm 116:1-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-fourth Sunday 2024]

Because we are sinners, here are the choices we constantly face in our lives: it’s either “quick fall, no rise” or “quick fall, slow rise” or “quick fall, quick rise.” 

Life involves many quick falls—quick falls into sin!  The Bible tells us that even the just person (not the scoundrel, the just person) sins seven times, so nobody is exempt from this phenomenon.  In fact, you can come to church, make a good confession, and sin again in your thoughts or your words before you exit the parking lot afterward!  It can happen that quickly!  This is one reason why Simon Peter is such a lovable and attractive character as the Scriptures portray him.  During our Lord’s three-year ministry Peter turned the “quick fall” into an art form.  He was extremely adept at it.  He could go from the highest of heights to the lowest of lows in a matter of minutes.  

We see a classic example of this in today’s gospel reading.  When Jesus asked the twelve apostles that decisive question, “Who do you say that I am?” only Peter answered.  And he gets an “A” for his response.  He said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  In Matthew’s account of this scene, Jesus then said, “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah!  No mere man has revealed this to you—my heavenly Father has.”  Can’t you just see Peter lifting up his head and sticking his chest out with joy at hearing those words?  Then, of course, Jesus went on to tell his apostles what kind of Messiah he would be—not the great military leader and earthly king they and the Jewish people were expecting, but a suffering Messiah who would go to the cross for the salvation of the world.  That, I’m sure, didn’t sit too well with any of them, but once again Peter was the one to speak.   He said, “Oh no!  Not to you Jesus!  May that never happen to you!”  Our Lord then snapped back, “Get behind me—Satan!”  Peter went from being the most blessed of all the apostles, to the very mouthpiece of Satan—all within the span of one, short conversation.   He was truly and unquestionably the master of the quick fall.

In the aftermath of the quick falls that all of us take every day, we can (and we do) respond in one of three ways.  I made note of these a few moments ago.  The first possible response is what I would call the “quick fall with no rise.”  This is the response of those who sin, and then give up.  They throw in the towel—they despair—even though they could be forgiven, even though they could be washed clean in the blood of Jesus and make a fresh start.  Sad to say, the classic example of the quick fall with no rise is another apostle, namely Judas.  Judas went from being a future bishop, a future pillar of the church, to an evil and deceitful traitor in a matter of a few days.  His fall was total, it was quick, and it was decisive.  But, as Bishop Sheen once said, the real tragedy of Judas is that in spite of his terrible sin, he still could have become Saint Judas, if he had only turned back to the Lord and sincerely asked for forgiveness.  The “quick fall, no rise” scenario should never have happened to him.  It should never happen to anyone.

The second possible response to a quick fall into sin is what I call the “quick fall, slow rise” response.   Now unfortunately this is very common.  It occurs whenever a person sins, and then for some reason delays his repentance.   Because of fear, or for some other reason, he puts off dealing with it.  Now the sad aspect of this scenario is that if the sin isn’t dealt with right away, it very often gets worse, and the consequences of the sin get more severe, until the person finally makes the decision to take it to confession and make the changes that are necessary in his life.  Let me give you one example from my own experience.  I have a friend—a married man with a beautiful family—who almost lost everything: his wife, his kids, his house—everything, because of a gambling problem.  He first called me after he had lost several thousand dollars.  I told him what he needed to do to deal with the problem, but he delayed in making the changes I told him he needed to make.  He delayed until he lost several thousand more dollars.  Well finally he came to his senses, thanks be to God.  But I’m sure if you talked with him today he would tell you that he wishes he had risen out of his sin and addiction more quickly than he did.  He would certainly have had a much smaller debt than he ended up with! 

For anyone who may have a tendency to be a slow riser I would say, “Ask St. Augustine to pray for you.”  Seek his heavenly intercession.  Augustine is the patron saint of all those who fall quickly and rise slowly.  His mother, who prayed for his conversion for 30 years, would certainly agree with that assessment.  Augustine as you will recall was the great playboy of the 4th century, whose famous prayer was, “O Lord, make me chaste, but not now.”  Years after his conversion he wrote a beautiful prayer to the Lord which begins with the words, “Late have I loved you”.  In it you can sense the sorrow he had in his heart that he had wasted so much time delaying his conversion. 

Which brings us to the final possible response, which is a quick fall with an equally quick rise.  This also brings us back to Peter, because Peter is the patron saint of all those who don’t delay their repentance.  In other words, he’s the patron saint of all those who rise out of their sin as quickly as they fall into it!  I would ask you this morning to put yourself in Peter’s position after Jesus called him “Satan”.  Can you imagine how Peter must have felt?  He must have been devastated!  But there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever anywhere in Scripture that he walked away from the Lord!  There’s no evidence that he went away and sulked.  He stuck with Jesus.  He was anxious to have the Lord raise him up again—which incidentally Jesus did do, literally, a few days later when he took Peter (along with James and John) up a high mountain to give them a little glimpse of heaven in the Transfiguration.

And so it was with Peter’s other well-known falls.  For example, when he began to sink after walking on water, Peter immediately reached out his hand to Jesus so that our Lord would save him, so that our Lord would raise him up out of the sea. And Jesus did!  And then there’s the best example of all: after denying our Lord three times on Holy Thursday night, Peter jumped at the first opportunity he had to recommit himself to Jesus.  In one of their first encounters after the resurrection, Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  ‘Yes, Lord.’  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  ‘Yes, Lord.’  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  ‘Yes, Lord, you know everything, you know well that I love you.’  Three professions of faith made by Peter through which he, in effect, repented for his three denials.   I suppose you could say that this was Peter’s first confession—complete with a penance given by Jesus who told him to go out and “Feed my lambs.”

And so today, at this Mass, let us humbly acknowledge ourselves to be what we are: quick fallers! But let us also confidently seek the powerful prayers of the very first pope: “St. Peter, pray for each of us present in this church this morning, that whenever we fall into sin we will have the courage, the wisdom, the desire—and the good sense—to rise up as quickly and as decisively as you always did.  Amen.”