There's frequent discussion of purgatory and a lot of misunderstanding. Purgatory is quite real and anyone who does not prepare for it is being irresponsible. Skeptics who prefer to believe their faith is a "free pass" do not understand that one of the holiest of men who lived, the prophet Isaiah, who proclaimed Jesus Christ in all of his writings, understood the reality of purgatory even as he hadn't yet died, and was certainly one of this most sinless of men who ever lived.
The prototype for purgatory was illustrated in Isaiah 6:5-7 when the seraphim purified Isaiah's lips with tongs holding a burning coal. Remember, Isaiah was one of the greatest and purest prophets to ever live and he felt unworthy to be in God's presence simply because he lived among sinners. With this action he showed the reality of purgatory before being in heaven.
Isaiah 6:5-7
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin PURGED.
It didn't hurt him, the process of purification, because he was not a sinner - far from it. But God did not wave off his need for the purification of the burning coal. This is because nothing unclean or flawed (even the act of being human) can be "covered up" to be in the presence of God, because nothing untrue or impure can exist in heaven. So those who disbelieve the reality of purgatory and the reality of even minor sin being a barrier to heaven do not understand Isaiah's message - the very prophet who foresaw Christ. Purgatory burns off the sinfulness attached to each human. Isaiah, one of the most holy humans who ever lived, only needed his lips touched. It's not a fun process and people ought to put themselves on sin diets quicker than spare tire diets because all the fat of sin must be burned off in purgatory. Notice Isaiah in his wisdom insisted on his purgatory even without sin except some qualms about his ability and company, and he hadn't even died, he was simply in the presence of God. Isaiah had near perfect comprehension of God's will and reality. Jesus Christ crucified allowed the dare and the hope to be in heaven; Jesus did not erase the need to be totally pure and sin free in heaven.
