November, the last month of the Church’s year, is when we pray for the dead. This baffles the secular minded and scandalises even other Christians – it was one of the great divid- ing lines between Catholics and Protestants at the Reformation. Yet the practice is fundamental to Catholic belief, for it is an axiom of faith that the communion of the Church is not limited to those alive at any given time but is, rather, a great body com- posed of the living and the departed. And the dead, at least in purgatory, can be helped by our prayers. The kindliest aspect of November’s devotions is that they extend beyond our own dead family and friends, to take in all the souls in purgatory as well.
The practice is based on scripture as well as tradition: Judas Maccabeus made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sins. As the Catechism of the Church observes, “from the beginning, the Church has honoured the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God”.
It is worth saying all this, because a secular society is impoverished by its take on death, as being the extinction of a human being. People do attempt to preserve the memory of the dead – by preserving their virtual personality online, by sponsoring charities in their memory or donating to hospitals or universities in their name – but it is no substitute for the firm belief that we can in this life help the poor souls and by our efforts, ease them into heaven. It is a great co-operative enterprise from which perhaps we too shall benefit one day.
But the Reformers did have a point: it is corrupt for parishes and priests effectively to charge the faithful for Masses for the dead. Of course priests need support, but when they urge parishioners to make a donation in their altar lists for the dead, they are making money from grief and piety. The same goes for the offerings that Catholics still place in Mass cards for the dead; indeed, this is in practice a prerequisite for those Masses. There are better ways of contributing to the support of our pastors. Let us continue to pray for our dead, but let’s leave money out of it.
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