Glimmer like Gold

Gold—smooth and shiny, it dresses a variety of jewelry from earrings to rings, giving gems a brilliant backdrop. It is one hot commodity. Popularity aside, the process of getting gold to the showcase is quite heated. Before gold glitters, it goes to the furnace to be made pure. “For gold is tested in fire” (Sirach 2:5).

Like such bright bling, our soul must also be made pure. “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (CCC 1030). In life, the devil will try to sell hell, but we seek not to sin and aim to win a home in heaven. Yet, in the end, our souls may still need to mend. This is done in purgatory.

Those in purgatory are promised eternal bliss in paradise, but are not yet ready to gaze upon God. This may be the case if a soul dies with venial sins or without doing ample penance for past sins. St. Paul says some “will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15). God, who is love, judges through love and love demands purification. In purgatory, we will bathe in the blaze, until, like gold, we are made