What Is Purgatory?

Today I would like to bring up a very important topic. That topic is purgatory. What is it? What’s the whole point to it? There is so much debate on its existence as it isn’t really mentioned in the Bible. Not anywhere that stands out anyway. There are however, a few verses that important figures have said prove the existence of purgatory.

Palm 66:12
Thou didst let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet thou hast brought us forth to a spacious place.
Origen and St. Ambrose suspected that the water is of baptism and the fire is of purgatory. Purgatory is commonly regarded as a cleansing by way of painful temporal punishment, which, like the eternal punishment of hell, is associated with the idea of fire. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 back this idea. I’ll let you check out those verses yourselves.

Micah 7:9
I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I shall behold his deliverance.
St. Jerome saw this as clear proof of purgatory, and if you look at it, it kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? There are actually a lot of other verses, but I don’t think this sermon should be filled with that.
The Lord has spoken about the existence. His death opened the portal to the staging area. We enter there, our lives are reviewed, and we are sent back. Some of us might even stay there for a while. The point is, there is clarification from the Lord himself that purgatory is real. What more proof do you need? Take this knowledge and remember to love God and love each other.