Should we Pray for the Dead?

[antony mahendran]

Should we Pray for the Dead?

(www.vaticans.org)

 

Prayer for the dead, by its very nature implies that purgatory exists. After all, those in hell will not attain heaven no matter how much we pray and those in heaven do not need our prayers. So, this is obviously a sore point for those who do not believe in the doctrine of Purgatory. Here is a Scriptural defense of the doctrine of purgatory - I won’t go through it again here to save space.

So Catholics pray for the souls of the departed that they may be released from purgatory to enter heaven. But is this prayer Biblical? Absolutely, and I’m surprised more protestants don’t agree with it. Let’s start with the Old Testament.

 

A critical part of Luther’s desire to remove certain books of the Bible centered on their contents. Several books, especially Maccabees, referred to the Jewish tradition of prayer for the dead. All of these references implied the need and the holiness of those who did so, for example:

 

    2 Maccabees 12:44-45. "For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."

Obviously this didn’t work with Luther’s doctrine, so he removed these books from the protestant Bible. However, Old Testament scholars agree that the Jews firmly believed that prayer for the dead is good and valid. You can also see this in Sirach 7:33, where we are called to “withhold not kindnesses from the dead.”

 

But of course, some would argue that any quote from the “apocryptha” is invalid, so where else does the Bible teach prayer for the dead? I’ll get there, but first it’s important to note the theology behind this. Jesus taught that the Church is a vine and we are the branches. This vine comprises the “Body of Christ” in a mystical sense. Do we believe the dead are chopped off of the vine? Do we believe the dead are no longer part of the Body of Christ? Of course not. Christ conquered death and thus, the dead are still part of the mystical Body of Christ and know exactly what is happening on earth. If they need our prayers, it would be Christian of us to pray for them.

 

So where is prayer for the dead in the New Testament. The clearest example is from St. Paul:

    2 Timothy 1:16-18. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me eagerly and found me – may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day – and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

 

The point here is that Onesiphorus was already dead. And St. Paul clearly prays, “may the Lord grant him to find mercy.” St. Paul was praying that a dead man receive mercy.

 

We see this again from St. Paul:

    1 Corinthians 15:29. Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

 

The word “baptism” is often used to refer to suffering and afflictions (see Luke 12:50 and Mark 10:38-39). So Christians are suffering for the dead. That’s a very Catholic thought that suggests (as Paul does above) that the dead can be affected by our prayers and sufferings.

 

To end, note this passage:

    1 Corinthians 3:11-15. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble – each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

 

When we pray for the dead, we pray for those who are suffering loss, who are saved, but only through fire. Pray for your loved ones as well, that they may see the face of God. As they say, “May God rest their souls.”

God bless.

 

A comment from the catholic blog - deoomnisgloria.com

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[antony mahendran]

Ent...@aol.com wrote:

From: Ent...@aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 14:43:01 EDT
Subject: Re: [catholicpriests] Should we Pray for the Dead?

Yes - we should pray for those who have gone before us.  Unfortunately - you would not know it from most sermons we hear these days.  I attended All Saints Day Mass yesterday and part of it was a "memorial" to the people who died in our parish this past year.  To hear the sermon - all of them went straight to heaven when they died.  No suggestion of anything else --- much less prayers.

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