My departed friend

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Tazz29

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Last Tuesday I attended the funeral of my friend who has died at the age of 41 years. I wont bore you with my own history but suffice it to say I had a catholic upbringing and much of it flooded back to me when I sat through the full catholic mass that was arranged to mark my friend’s passing.

During the mass the priest proclaimed that the best thing that we could all do was to pray for our friend to be accepted into the kingdom of Heaven.

Can this be so? Wont his soul go directly to Heaven as he was such a kindly person? Do so many people have to pray to enhance his chances of acceptance? Did I hear wrong?

This has troubled me much since Tuesday - your thoughts would be much appreciated as this statement has raised many questions for me.

Kind Regards

Luke

I hope I have posted this in the correct area
 
Dear Luke…through the mercy of God, your friend’s kindness assures him of salvation see Matthew 25 verses 31-46, but however good anyof us are there are usually little pleace in our hearts and lives that still need purification, so sometimes our souls need prayer from others when we die.

Perhaps your friend went straight to heaven but we don’t know for sure if there isn’t something in him that he still wishes God to purify…so we pray for him anyway, in case. *Who of us is perfect! Not me…and I go to Mass every day! I just try very much! 🙂 *
Our prayers help souls who do still need them, and we pray for those who have died in every Catholic Mass.

I’m sorry you lost your friend. May God abundantly bless you, Luke,

warmly, Trishie
 
God alone could see with accuracy the hearts and minds of men. It is not for us to make the final judgment of who should be allowed to enter heaven. For this reason it is more proper to maintain due respect to this exclusive prerogative of God. We can utmost humble ourselves and pray to Him that our friend be accepted in heaven.
 
It is impossible to know if one has gone to heaven, unless the Church beatifies that person. Please do not get too anxious over this; there is nothing left to be done, except to pray for his soul if it is in purgatory.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most precious blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home, and within my family.

All glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
 
Lord,
Please guide our hearts to all truth and love.
Please take all the souls who have left their bodies into Your Heavenly Kingdom. Allow them the grace to let go of anything that cannot be taken with them into Your Kingdom.
By the blood of Your Son, may they all see that Jesus died so they may be able to let all of this go to the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sorrowful Mother Mary, please pray for all the souls in Purgatory and for the souls who are in need of the gift of understanding here on Earth.

Saint Peter Damian, please pray for us!
Amen. Amen.
+
 
Thank you for your prompt reply Trishie - there is much we could discuss.

I wasn’t asking for actual prayers for my friend but rather clarification that prayer was required.

Surely we (still living) do not have to offer our prayers for a soul that is infinitely closer to the Truth than we could ever be on Earth.

Are souls of the departed mute in the afterlife and unable to explain their own iniquities?

I only required clarification - sorry
 
Tazz, actually we’re encouraged to pray for others in the Prayer Intentions section of the forums. 🙂 Questions usually find their way to other sections of CAF…but I’m glad you came here. 🙂 Welcome.

As it happens, when we die we see very clearly the good we have done and the good that we failed to do. And we freely choose to seek purification of anything that we see in themselves and our past lives that is imperfection…in any way less than true love. Not one of us is invariably patient, invariably kind in our thoughts and actions. God welcomes us for the goodness of our lives, but we can’t bear to be in His presence if there is anything still not purified in us because when we see God face to face, we love Him so much that we want to be wholly pure and good before Him.

I hope others will pray for me when I die. I try the best I can manage, and I pray a lot, and try to help people anyway I can, but I fail sometimes too, even if I’m the only one who recognises that. People tend to be very kind about me, but I know my failings. It’s no reflection on your friend whom you obviously admire very much, that we have offered prayers for him, but if you had spoken to him about his life, he would almost certainly have told you he secretly wished he was more loving, more kind than he was, at least occasionally.

Please don’t feel it’s an insult to your friend that anyone should pray for his soul. He, on the other hand, may be very grateful that you have placed him in a position that we who are strangers to you both, are praying for him…and if you don’t mind, I’ll remember you at Mass this evening also. 🙂

It’s Sunday afternoon in Australia, and I’m about to get ready for Sunday evening Mass. God bless…Trishie 🙂
 
Without both body and soul, a being would not be considered as man. Generally, the earthly body is subject to decay, but the soul is not, for it is spirit.

When man dies, he would need a new body in order to be able to act as a person. For without a body man’s soul is powerless. It cannot pray, and cannot do any act favorable to himself or to others.

Upon physical death, he who was pleasing to God would be “clothed” with a new body…the once “earthly” body is replaced with a new “heavenly” body which then is spiritual. With that he can perform acts favorable to himself or to others according to the will of God.

He who was not pleasing to God and qualifies to go to hell shall also be clothed with a new body for him to anguish hell in full and without end as what he had chosen during his lifetime.

But those who were not pleasing to God but not qualified to go to hell would not as yet be clothed with the new body. In other words, they remain bodiless. Since they are powerless in such state, they need badly the prayers of their friends so that a new body would be clothed into them making them qualified to finally enter heaven.
 
When a soul dies, it either goes to Hell - if it is unrepentant - or Heaven - if it loves God. Now, not all souls that love God are holy, and God, who is Thrice-Holy, detests even the least sin, so a soul which has a spot of sin on it cannot yet Heaven. But God is so merciful, and so wise, that He has given unto us a way to enter Heaven: For just as the Cross is the ladder to Heaven, so too is Purgatory - purging from sin - the ladder to Heaven. So a soul that goes to Heaven yet still has sin undergoes purging from sin. But how can we help such a soul? God, who is so merciful and so wise, has given us means to help our departed brethern, to lessen their suffering and to shorten their stay in Purgatory. God has given us three means: Prayer, sacrifice, and indulgences. We can pray to God, to ask Him to have mercy on the souls detained in Purgatory; we can offer God the Blood of Christ, to appease His Justice on the souls; we can ask Mary to console the souls by visiting them, for she is the Star of the Sea. We can offer up our works, prayers, joys and sufferings, in union with the sufferings of Christ on the Cross and with the Holy Mass celebrated throughout the world, for the relief of the souls; we can make sacrifices and offer them for the relief of the souls; we can make pilgrimages and offer them for the relief of the souls. We can obtain indulgences from the Treasurary of the Church and offer them for the souls in Purgatory; there are many things we can do to obtain indulgences: study the Scriptures for half a hour; pray the Rosary; make the Holy Hour of Reparation, just to name a few pious practices.
 
Thank you for these replies

I realise that I have probably posted my question in the wrong section of this forum - can anyone please direct me to where I may pose the questions and seek clarification.

I was taught that the concept of purgatory was no longer sanctioned by Rome - is this not the case?

Are we detracting from the omnipotence of our God if we believe that we can sway His decision (on whether to allow a soul into Heaven) with our prayers?

Regards
 
Tazz,

I’ll at least address your concern…and pray for clarity about this on your part {{Smile}}

Quote: During the mass the priest proclaimed that the best thing that we could all do was to pray for our friend to be accepted into the kingdom of Heaven.

We can never truly know what is in the heart of someone that passes on such that they come into the Kingdom or not. That’s why the priest was asking everyone to pray that your friend truly entered the Kingdom of God. If they lived a good life of course it’s likely.

If in your heart you get the inner sense to pray such that your friend will defintely be in heaven, then do so. If you don’t get the sense that you have to pray, then don’t.

Don’t overwork yourself worrying about this. But if it still gives you concern, then talk to a priest or even go to confession and discuss it there.
 
Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death.
Amen
 
Tazz29 said:
Thank you for these replies

I realise that I have probably posted my question in the wrong section of this forum - can anyone please direct me to where I may pose the questions and seek clarification.

I was taught that the concept of purgatory was no longer sanctioned by Rome - is this not the case?

Are we detracting from the omnipotence of our God if we believe that we can sway His decision (on whether to allow a soul into Heaven) with our prayers?

Regards
Click to expand...
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

*1030 All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.604 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:605
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.606

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."607 From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.608 The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:
Code: 
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.609*
vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm#III
 
I recommend posting your questions and concerns in one of these forums Liturgy and Sacraments ,Moral Theology or Spirituality.
Tazz29 said:
Thank you for these replies

I realise that I have probably posted my question in the wrong section of this forum - can anyone please direct me to where I may pose the questions and seek clarification.

I was taught that the concept of purgatory was no longer sanctioned by Rome - is this not the case?

Are we detracting from the omnipotence of our God if we believe that we can sway His decision (on whether to allow a soul into Heaven) with our prayers?

Regards
Click to expand...
 
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