In our reflections last week, we recalled some fundamental aspects of our Catholic faith regarding eternal life. In this month of November, the Church ends the liturgical year reminding us to reflect upon last things. That is, death, judgement, heaven and hell. 

 

Our practice of the faith and our personal relationship with Christ during our lifetime teach us to face these realities with the hope and confidence that we are given all the graces we need to arrive at the final goal of heaven. In that sense we are confident in death, we are filled with hope in judgement, we long for heaven and we do not fear hell.

 

Still, the choice stands before every one of us. God respects our freedom which He has implanted within us to love Him or to choose this world. With our free will comes all the consequences of our choice for all eternity. 

 

As we noted last week, part of the context for our own share in the death of Jesus and meeting Him in judgement is the continuing connection of the living in this world with the dead who have gone before us. God’s love has provided an opportunity for final preparation and purification even after death for those who have not died apart from Him by the choice for unrepented mortal sin. And we can assist those souls in purgatory by our prayers.

 

In this year of Eucharistic Revival, we should recall that the Mass has long played a special role in the Church’s prayer for the dead. Each Mass is celebrated for the benefit of the whole Church and the whole world. It makes present again the one sacrifice for sins offered by Jesus to the Father by His death on the cross.

 

But we frequently hear announced a particular intention for the Mass, often with the Prayers of the Faithful. This practice has a long history in the Church. Except in limited exceptional conditions, a single special intention, often for a deceased member of the faithful, can be accepted by the priest offering the Mass. Over the centuries this intention has frequently been associated with a small offering contributed by the one asking for the special intention for the Mass. The Church’s Canon Law states that such offerings are to “contribute to the good of the Church, and … share in the Church’s concern for the support of its ministers and its activities” (Can 946).

 

The origin of the practice is attested to in the early Church by inscriptions on Roman era tombs. The faithful have prayed for souls of the dead throughout the life of the Church. But the constant deepening faith in the Eucharist recognizes the Mass as united to and making present again the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In that light, just as we can imagine the special grace of praying before the crucified Christ for any intention but especially for loved ones in purgatory, so the Church understands the special graces from the application of a special intention of the Mass for the dead.

 

We should not forget however that the Second Vatican Council taught that, “the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist.” (Lumen Gentium 10). While it is entrusted to priests to offer the sacrifice of the Mass, all the baptized exercise that royal priesthood by joining their prayers, joys, sorrows and intentions to those of the priest at every Mass. For that reason, praying for the repose of our beloved dead has a great value any time we attend Mass.

 

What a comfort it is, especially in this month of November, to pray in hope for those who have preceded us in death. And what an even greater comfort to do so united to Christ in the Mass and in His greatest act of love for us, His death on the cross offered to save us.