SEVENTEENTH SERMON.
ON PURGATORY AFTER DEATH.
Subject.
There is none of us who has not just reason to fear a severe purgatory after death; therefore we should show mercy to the poor souls because they who refuse to do so will have to expect a purgatory without mercy.—Preached on the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost.
Text.
Et iratus dominus ejus tradidit eum tortoribus, quoadusque redderet universum debitum.—Matt. xviii. 34.
“And his lord being angry delivered him to the torturers, until he paid all the debt.”
Introduction.
This was a hard sentence for that poor servant, to be thrown into prison and be given over to the torturers. Yet in my opinion it was a merciful punishment for that merciless, ungrateful man, who deserved to be treated with far greater severity; for though he was to be punished, yet it was only until he should pay the whole debt. Hence his chastisement was not to last always, but till he should have paid all he owed his lord; thus he had the hope of being one day freed from prison and torture. Here, my dear brethren, we have a vivid picture of the prison which we Catholics call purgatory, in which the just God confines the souls of those who have not sufficiently satisfied for their sins, that they may be tortured, not forever, but only for a time and until they have completely paid all they owe the divine justice. Poor souls! I cannot help thinking how hard it must be for you! But be comforted; your torments in that prison will come to an end; and the duration of your chastisement can be curtailed by the living, if we only wish to show you that mercy. O Christians! so should each one of us think, how will it be with me after my death? Shall I be sent to that prison to be tormented? In all probability such will be the case. And that thought should urge us to do all we can to help the poor souls who are actually there now.
