When we study the catechism, we learn that one of the spiritual works of mercy is to pray for the living and the dead. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), “Prayer is one of the most powerful ways we can support others. Joining together in prayer for the living and the dead entrusts us all into God’s care” (Spiritual Works of Mercy). God is always caring for us; it does not matter if the person is alive or dead. Usually, we pray for people who are sick, without a job, or in serious difficulties, and we pray for people who are gone, resting in the peace of Christ. Frequently, at Mass, people pray for their family and friends who have passed away. Because we do not know exactly if they are in heaven, purgatory, or hell, we pray for them so that God has mercy on them. We pray for them because we want them to enjoy the presence of the Lord in His Kingdom in the company of all the Angels and the Saints.
Purgatory is more like heaven than hell because all souls there are not in the hands of Satan, but they are waiting for the lovely hands of God. They have their sorrows, but also joys. They know that God is close. Because of this knowledge, they suffer because they cannot see God yet. But they also rejoice, because they also know that this suffering will end, and they can enjoy the presence of the Lord when they get to heaven. They have this hope. St. Catherine of Genoa wrote,
I believe no happiness can be found worthy to be compared with that of a soul in Purgatory except that of the saints in Paradise; and day by day this happiness grows as God flows into these souls, more and more as the hindrance to His entrance is consumed. Sin’s rust is the hindrance, and the fire burns the rust away so that more and more the soul opens itself up to the divine inflowing. A thing which is covered cannot respond to the sun’s rays, not because of any defect in the sun, which is shining all the time, but because the cover is an obstacle; if the cover be burnt away, this thing is open to the sun; more and more as the cover is consumed does it respond to the rays of the sun.
It is in this way that rust, which is sin, covers souls, and in Purgatory is burnt away by fire; the more it is consumed, the more do the souls respond to God, the true sun. As the rust lessens and the soul is opened up to the divine ray, happiness grows; until the time be accomplished the one wanes and the other waxes. Pain however does not lessen but only the time for which pain is endured. As for will: never can the souls say these pains are pains, so contented are they with God’s ordaining with which, in pure charity, their will is united. (Treatise on Purgatory)
Therefore, let us pray for the souls in purgatory. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters who are waiting to enter the Presence of the Lord. Let us pray for them in the Eucharist, the Holy Rosary, or a Novena. Let us pray not only for our faithful departed, but also for those who no one ever prays for. They deserve also to be in the presence of the Lord.
Remember, The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build.
God Bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always.
Fr. Jorge Ramírez
