Prayer of the Faithful

[DiZent]

I have noticed this to be quite rote - for the Church, bishops, etc, for elected leaders, teachers, etc, for the poor, those who are ill, those who have died, and special intentions. This week, the lector asked to pray “for those who died, that they will be rewarded in heaven for their good works”. This struck me as one of those times when we say something that sounds like “works salvation” - even though I don’t believe that’s what was meant.

 

[SMHW]

I have noticed this to be quite rote - for the Church, bishops, etc, for elected leaders, teachers, etc, for the poor, those who are ill, those who have died, and special intentions.

Well the intentions are supposed to (roughly) follow this format:

1. 
   *]For the needs of the Church;
   *]For public authorities and the salvation of the whole world;
   *]For those burdened by any kind of difficulty;
   *]For the local community.
   

   This week, the lector asked to pray “for those who died, that they will be rewarded in heaven for their good works”. This struck me as one of those times when we say something that sounds like “works salvation” - even though I don’t believe that’s what was meant.

   Even though we believe we are ‘saved’ by the grace of God rather than by works we do believe that our ‘reward’ in heaven is based on our good works. In other words, works alone are not enough to get us into heaven but once in, works do matter.
   
   That said, I believe this prayer is more concerned with our desire that the dead will be with God in heaven than what ‘level’ of reward they will receive in heaven…
   
   …(or lack of punishment in purgatory since reaching purgatory really does mean one has ‘made it’ to heaven.)