Are Catholics losing the opportunity for grace?

[Lou_F]

Hi,

Yesterday I made a new thread and would like to and love to thank everyone with your wonderful responses. You don’t know how much you have helped. I mentioned a project I would like to begin, though this is not the one I was refering to, I would like to share this with you.

How can we begin to love our neighbor, much less our enemies, if we do not love ourselves? There is a fountain of grace out there that we are not using to our advantage. In a past post, I mentioned that if a carpenter has to build a house but refuses to use the proper (or best) tools and supplies, the house will take longer to build and the supplies used won’t hold up as well. I cannot stress enough the importance of having Masses for the living. I’m all for having Masses for the souls in purgatory, but isn’t having Mass to save people from the fires of hell more important than the fires of purgatory? Is not a Mass for our own selves to obtain the additional grace to combat the evils in our world a tool and/or supply we are failing to use?

If we seek to have more vocations, world peace, convert muslims, have saints in our day, and for we ourselves to lead people to become saints, have Masses for the living. In my diocese, there are 400,000 Catholics and 170 parishes. Not all the parishes have daily Mass, but if you add up the days of the ones who do, plus the number of Sunday Masses each has, it’s nearly 40,000 Masses in a single year. That’s only 10 years if we were to have a single Mass for each Catholic in the diocese. A decade does not take a lot of time.

After a decade, if we add the birth of new Catholics, masses for our enemies, and masses for the souls in purgatory, there will be plenty of time to do so. Christ says we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Many of us find it harder to receive a gift than give one. Should we not prioritize having Mass for ourselves first in order to love ourselves and others more? Are we not to love one another as Christ loves us? I just think we have this wonderful source and were just failing to use the grace the Mass can give this world to it’s fullest potential. Many have repeat Masses for the souls in puragatory, and that’s wonderful, but how can we not give others the opportunity to grow in grace? If the Church would just start having just one Mass for each Catholic, (for both the laity AND priests, sisters, etc.) what a world this can be. Doing so will bring more Catholics, and more parishes built to welcome them. When there are more Catholics and parishes, there will be more Masses that can be said to include them, the souls in purgatory, and our enemies as well.

Money is the root to all evil. Maybe we have to pull out those roots by pulling out our wallets and pay the price for grace. With the recent lawsuits that have hurt the Church, having Masses for the living can give the Church the financial and supernatural support She needs.

God Bless everyone!

 

[Mordocai]

We have Masses said for the dead because it is a spiritual work of Mercy.
Whether or not they can offer their suffering for us, as I understand it, is debated by theologians.
However, if you were in purgatory and get to Heaven and come to find out that this person on earth offered the Mass for you and prayed for you to come into the Presence of God, would you not pray real real hard for that person? It is the hope that, in a sense, you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
So we hope for their prayer efforts as we also pray for them.

Imagine for a second if the Saints in Heaven stopped praying for us.
The world would end!
So we do not stop praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory because we hope to take them out of such excruciating pain sooner that they might glorigy God sooner.
It is for God’s glory; not ours.

Those are just my thoughts, though

God Bless
Mordocai

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

There is a fountain of grace out there that we are not using to our advantage. In a past post, I mentioned that if a carpenter has to build a house but refuses to use the proper (or best) tools and supplies, the house will take longer to build and the supplies used won’t hold up as well. I cannot stress enough the importance of having Masses for the living.

One of those proper tools however is having souls who are in heaven to help us. I can’t stress enough the importance of having masses said for the faithfully departed. Our offering for their eternal rest is a key ingredient. Souls in Heaven are an inexhaustible supply of grace for us here.
Lou F:

I’m all for having Masses for the souls in purgatory, but isn’t having Mass to save people from the fires of hell more important than the fires of purgatory?

Souls will be saved from hell if we help those who are in Purgatory who will in turn help us by their prayers when they are in Heaven.
Lou F:

Is not a Mass for our own selves to obtain the additional grace to combat the evils in our world a tool and/or supply we are failing to use?

We most certainly should pray for ourselves and our closeness to God at Mass. But unlike souls in Purgatory who, once in Heaven, will be constantly praying for the souls here on Earth, our souls are susceptible to temptation and even if we say a mass for someone one day, the next day they may fall back into sin and would need to have another mass said for that person.
Lou F:

Many have repeat Masses for the souls in puragatory, and that’s wonderful, but how can we not give others the opportunity to grow in grace?

I’m not sure if I agree in having mass for the faithful departed more than once. There are so many souls who need masses. One mass should suffice. I’m not sure if it’s improper to have more than one or not.
Lou F:

When there are more Catholics and parishes, there will be more Masses that can be said to include them, the souls in purgatory, and our enemies as well.

We need the souls in Purgatory to be in Heaven now, we shouldn’t wait for later. The souls in Purgatory can’t help themselves. But we can help them by our prayers for them.

Personally, I offer every Mass for those who are alive here on Earth, especially those who are furthest from God. I also offer my masses for the souls in Purgatory.

 

[pippin]

I always thought one mass each week was for the people of the parish. I know it is in our parish. I think some people do offer masses for the living. In our bullitin I see masses offered to the such & such family or special intension of so and so. I think some of these include living people.

Another thing, we can receive the sacraments which the sould in purgatory can’t. We can get a lot of grace by frequent confession. Also, as someone mentioned, when we attend mass we can offer that for someone such as our enemies.

 

[baltobetsy]

We pray and have Masses offered for the souls in Purgatory because they cannot help themselves. It is a work of mercy. And it is customary to have many Masses said for individuals. If the one we pray for no longer needs the prayer, God will use the merits for someone else - it will not be wasted.

Betsy

 

[Lou_F]

Baltobetsy, and the rest who responded,

You have raised excellent points that I never before considered. You have all made me realize the absolute importance of the prayers the souls in purgatory are for us. Baltobetsy, you may have already answered this question when you said a Mass for someone no longer in purgatory will not be wasted, and will be used for someone else if they are already in heaven. However, 2 things, I think, can happen. If the souls are STILL in purgatory, then an unrepented sinner on earth may lose a soul since the grace was not added during his/her lifetime. Also, I don’t know the answer to this, but wouldn’t one Mass be even more powerful than the prayers of the saints in heaven?

St. Augustine once said: “The spiritual value of a sacrament is like light. Though it passes among the impure, it is not polluted.”
Whether it’s the prayer of the saints, or the Mass, both are not polluted, but isn’t the Mass a greater source of grace?
To me, it seems that the Mass is even more powerful than the prayers of the saints. The Catechism explains that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives. Unless the beautific vision the saints have makes their prayers for us equal to or greater than the Mass, I will remain confident in your answer. I guess the question I now have is: “Does the beautific vision the saints have make their prayers as powerful as the Mass?” If not, it still seems that the Mass will give the more abundant grace necessary to lead sinners in most need of God’s mercy to conversion and repentance.

Thanks,
and God Bless you all.

 

[baltobetsy]

Perhaps the best answer is to place our prayers and Mass offerings into the hands of Our Lady and ask her to use them to the best advantage. Her love and wisdom are so much greater than our own.

Remember also that time only exists on earth. God and the souls that go before us are not in time, but in eternity. So God can apply our prayers for others to their earthly life or to their purgatory, wherever the need is/was greatest. It’s never too late to pray for someone’s conversion or a happy death for them, even if they’re long gone. I wish I could remember which saint it was who prayed for a happy death for his parents long after they died.

Betsy

 

[acadian]

Our parish seems to have more Masses than it does intentions offered, so recently I have started having Masses said for family members on their birthdays. They put an * next to the name when the publish Mass intentions in the bulletin to designate anniverseries and birthdays. I have heard somewhere that one Mass offered while you are alive is worth more than 1000 Masses offered after you are dead. Don’t know who figures these things out, but it struck a chord with me.

 

[Sr_Sally]

Our parish seems to have more Masses than it does intentions offered, so recently I have started having Masses said for family members on their birthdays. They put an * next to the name when the publish Mass intentions in the bulletin to designate anniverseries and birthdays. I have heard somewhere that one Mass offered while you are alive is worth more than 1000 Masses offered after you are dead. Don’t know who figures these things out, but it struck a chord with me.

Wow. We are booked months ahead with intentions! Even though I can’t get the names of my friends and relatives in the bulletin as officially having that Mass said for them, I do offer my presence at Mass for various intentions. And I do pray when people and situations come to mind. Even if it is after the fact, God is not limited by time and is pleased at our prayers no matter when we say them.

 

[Lou_F]

I still think that Mass for the living (those in most need of mercy) outweighs the importance of Mass for those in purgatory.

I’m afraid of the fires in purgatory, but oh what a happy fire if I know that that fire was not diminished due to replacing a Mass for my soul in purgatory to save a soul from eternal hell fire. A true hero would enter a burning house to save another and risk the burns to his/her own body.

I don’t know how many masses are needed for a soul in purgatory to enter heaven, or how many are needed to ease their suffering. But multiple masses for a soul in purgatory, who particularly could use a few more (to ease his pain or enter heaven), may take away the time necessary for one Mass for a soul in most need of mercy here on earth. One who is subject to damnation.

Thanks, Lou