November 15

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

For those of us who are Christian and specifically Catholic, there are elements of our religion that may seem normal to us that are probably quite strange to those of other faiths. Some of these may be liturgical in nature, while others may be about certain spiritual disciplines, and of course there is the mysterious nature of the Sacraments that can confuse and confound others. But one of the more baffling ones is how it is we pray for the dead.

Even within our own faith, praying for those who have died may seem a bit strange. We believe that in the instant of death, a particular judgment of a person is made by God, as to whether or not they will spend eternity in heaven or in hell. And once that judgment is made, there is no changing that. So in a sense, why do we pray for the deceased? This was a question even in the Early Church, when the Eucharistic Prayers (or Anaphoras) were being developed, and one of them clearly included a section praying for the deceased. Our theology encourages us to pray in particular for the souls in Purgatory; those that are destined for heaven but are not yet perfected and ready to bask in heavenly glory. And so, the easy answer is that when we pray for the dead, that’s who we’re really praying for. But there is also another way to look at things.

When we pray, we do so in the context of time. As human beings, all of our actions are based in time, and as such, we tend to think in a linear fashion about prayer and about everything. But prayer is directed towards God, who is outside of time. And so, how our prayer is heard by God is different than how we may think of it in terms of a timeline. When I was a kid and did my prayers before bed, I often wondered how God could hear and take in so many prayers from so many people in the world. In my wondering, I often asked myself, does God pause time so that he can catch up on those prayers, and if so, would we even notice? With much more theology behind me these days, I don’t believe that’s how it works, but something of that principle is happening.

When we pray for an individual, whether living or deceased, God hears that prayer. And the Lord will give the grace needed to that person, in the time and place in which they need it, regardless of WHEN the prayer was said. In other words, if you pray for a loved one who has passed, whether they are in purgatory or somewhere else, that prayer is never wasted. And the prayers we say now may be the very help they needed in earthly life to get to their heavenly reward. My friends, may we continue to pray for the faithful departed!

Peace and Goodness,

Fr. Dan