After reading the homily of Msgr. Josefino S. Ramirez about "Purgatory Is Already A Part of Heaven" in your publication, PWHS Vol. VII No. 22, October to December 2004 issue, I thought of the following reflection:

Sr. Herminia Iriola, OSA

Yes, life is a mystery of joy, sorrows, glorious and light, but many times we don’t accept the sorrowful mysteries of our life, because we want to dwell more on the glorious happenings.

Thinking of the sorrows we experience in life, like sickness, pains, heartaches, misfortunes, fears of every kind and all kinds of emotional and physical discomforts, are enough purgatory to suffer and if we offer everything in expiation for our sins, surely we will feel the grace of resurrection and of course the glorious mystery of our life.

We don’t need to die now, so as to let others pray for our souls in purgatory, we need only to pray now to let God help us bear our sufferings in life as expiation for our sins both of the present and the past. Yes, dying to self-love is enough purgatory for one who loves Jesus and Mama Mary.

And so our purgatory is our monthly confession of sins in the sacrament of reconciliation and the practice of humbling oneself to ask pardon from those whom we have hurt and forgiving others who may have hurt us.

Let us continue to meditate on the mystery of the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and think more of the sorrows they endured in accordance with the WILL OF GOD.

And whatever we do, wherever we go, however we are, we must always say in our hearts, "ALL FOR JESUS AND FOR SOULS," to lessen our purgatory and help more souls go to heaven.

January 27, 2005