Can I get a mass said for a non practising deceased friend?

[Zeno11]

My best friend of 30 years died last month. She was cremated and her ashes are to be scattered. She has not attended the church since she was a child. Her funeral was conducted by a pastor of some kind. She and I had many discussions about religious beliefs over the years. As far as I understand, she believed in Jesus Christ, but recently she told me she didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead and she thought we are reincarnated until we become spiritually pure and fit for heaven.

I am so confused and upset since she died. She was a very kind and loving person who suffered poor health all her life. She was generous, loving, always ready to listen and support you and lend a helping hand. Is there any hope for someone who has not understood the gospel? Would it be okay to have a mass said for her soul? I feel I have really let her down by not being able to convince her of my faith.

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Yes, Mass can be said for anyone.

St. Ambrose: “We have loved them during life; let us not abandon them in death, until we have conducted them by our prayers into the house of the Lord.”

St. John Chrysostom: “Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.”

Pope St. Gregory: “Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.”

None of us have a perfect understanding of God and the mysteries of salvation. Your friend was in error on some facts about God and salvation but that doesn’t mean that she didn’t respond to God’s grace to the best of her ability.