All Soul's Day

by Fr. Jess Ty  |  11/02/2025  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Family of God, Where in the Bible do they refer to a purification or purgation of souls?

In Revelation 21:27 we learned that “Nothing unclean will enter heaven.” This implies that souls dying with imperfection will undergo purification first before they will enter heaven. In Matthew 12:32, it says; “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” “age to come”, meaning after death.

See also Luke 12:42 -48, “light beating” refers to purgatory. See also 1Corinthians 3:10-15, “If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only a through fire.”

Also, in 2Maccabees 12:38-46, “Judas take up a collection which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, in as much as he had the resurrection of the dead in view.” Also, in Philippians 2:10 “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” “under the earth” is again a reference of purgatory.

The Church's official teaching is this: It is an existential state of purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent, CCC 1031). Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and His fire of love.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI considers Purgatory as an “existential state” and, hence, it is not necessarily accurate to speak of a location or duration of Purgatory. He said, "The souls that are aware of the immense love and perfect justice of God consequently suffer for not having responded correctly and perfectly to that love." It is the suffering of the holy souls. He continues that Purgatory is thus “the fringe of heaven, a state where heaven's eternal light has a refining effect on the “holy souls” (not 'poor souls'), who are held in the arms of Divine Mercy.” (Please look for St. Catherine of Genoa’s teaching on purgatory too.)

May we all not forget to pray for our beloved dead who left this world ahead of us.