Question about gaining merit for others

  • Thread starter Thread starter mommyof4
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mommyof4

Guest
OK, quick question for those of you who understand spiritual matters more deeply than I do (which means most of you)! 🙂

Is it possible for me to help other people gain merit, so that they will be closer to God in heaven when they die? For instance, if I say a prayer for another person, or have a Mass said for them, will that help them gain merit? I understand that they need to die in a state of grace for this merit to be fully realized in heaven, but is it possible for me to help them?

Thank you for helping me understand this better.
 
Tricky question.
Certainly we can have masses said, and we can pray for others.
These are both good things. But will it help others have more merit?

I do not think so. I do think however that the Love we show in doing such things can count toward the forgiveness of sin in the other peron, or the offering of greater graces to them by God.

The reason I put it this way is that I view merit a bit differently than many. Merit, in the Christian context speaks not to something “earned” that I can then transfer to someone else like cash. Merit in the Christian context is worthiness. If my faith and actions are worthy and true then they are meritorious and thus have merit.
What gives them merit is Agape Love and selflessness.
So when we do something to help another (in this life or after death) to “gain merit” or become worthy, it comes through another avenue…Our Asking God to forgive them some grave sin or our asking God to send someone grace, and strength to soften their heart toward Him. In this way we are, Through Love, forgiving another for not Loving God as they should, and we are asking God to increase grace to that person in hopes that they might see their error and respond to said grace - so that they may have worth (merit) in themselves.

Sorry if this sounds a bit convoluted, but I hope it helps.

Peace
James
 
I’m not sure what you mean by “merit”, but prayers and masses certainly help people.
Mikayla
 
mommyof4 said:
OK, quick question for those of you who understand spiritual matters more deeply than I do (which means most of you)! 🙂

Is it possible for me to help other people gain merit, so that they will be closer to God in heaven when they die? For instance, if I say a prayer for another person, or have a Mass said for them, will that help them gain merit? I understand that they need to die in a state of grace for this merit to be fully realized in heaven, but is it possible for me to help them?

Thank you for helping me understand this better.
Click to expand...
the merit you gain can onlybe for your soul…but you can ask god to increase the merit in those souls to the level it would be if they had lived a saintly life and never sinned…and you can pray for a happy death, merciful judgement, after death etc
 
mommyof4 said:
OK, quick question for those of you who understand spiritual matters more deeply than I do (which means most of you)! 🙂

Is it possible for me to help other people gain merit, so that they will be closer to God in heaven when they die? For instance, if I say a prayer for another person, or have a Mass said for them, will that help them gain merit? I understand that they need to die in a state of grace for this merit to be fully realized in heaven, but is it possible for me to help them?

Thank you for helping me understand this better.
Click to expand...
The only way I know to help others gain merit is the St. Louis Demontfort consecration, but even then it is what God Will’s in this application of grace. I don’t think we can know for sure, but the consecration is almost an attack on the sense’s itself. For me, having a strong will and a troubled past to offer and protect, it was very hard to defeat my own feelings of clinging to them…good question .
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top