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SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
Pray for the living
and the dead
Eighth and final part in a series on the Spiritual Works of Mercy
Even though Jesus is divine as well as human, one in being with the Father, we read in the Gospels that He still felt the need to pray.
During His life on Earth, He frequently withdrew to quiet places to be alone with the Father in prayer, to delight in His love, to adore Him and give Him praise, to lift up to Him the needs of the human family, interceding especially for sinners who had wandered far from the Father’s love. It is not surprising then that Jesus would teach us through parables and His own example of the need for us to pray always and not lose heart (Cf. Luke 18:1).
The seventh and final Spiritual Work of Mercy draws us into the merciful heart of Christ, where we join with Him and His Holy Spirit as they plead on our behalf. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it (#2635), “In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ’s, as an expression of the communion of saints.”
A school of hope
Pope Benedict writes that prayer is “the essential setting for learning hope. When no one listens to me anymore, God still listens to me. When I can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, I can always talk to God. When there is no longer anyone to help me deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond the human capacity for hope, he can help me. When I have been plunged into complete solitude…; if I pray I am never totally alone” (Spe Salvi, 32).
The Holy Father goes on to explain that prayer is not an escape from reality but an immersion in reality, for there is nothing more real than God, the Creator of all. Listen once again to Pope Benedict’s words, “To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness. When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well” (Ibid.). In the very act of praying, our ability to love is purified. Our heart expands so we see beyond our own concerns to the needs of others, both the living and the dead.
In prayer, we also discover the strength we need to face life’s struggles. What may seem overwhelming before we pray no longer seems that way after we pray. In prayer, we discover the wisdom of the Angel Gabriel’s message to the Virgin Mary (Lk 1:37), “…nothing will be impossible for God.”
How do we know God is listening?
Of all the kinds of prayer, such as adoration, praise, contrition and so forth, intercessory prayer most deeply challenges our faith. In an age of skepticism like our own, this test can be intense. The Catechism instructs (#2734), “The principal difficulty concerns the prayer of petition, for oneself or for others in intercession. Some even stop praying because they think their petition is not heard.”
The principal qualities we need in prayer are perseverance and trust. It can seem like God is not listening. We hear Him say to us (Lk 11:9): “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” But often we ask and only silence follows, or we seek and don’t seem to find anything. Notice, however, that Jesus does not say: “Ask only once or twice and that will do it.” He doesn’t say, “Just knock a couple times.”
In the parable of the friend who comes at midnight (Lk 11:5-8), Jesus recounts how the man keeps knocking on the door of the neighbor’s house because at first the sleepy neighbor is not disposed to wake up and help. Then, Jesus adds in reference to prayer, “I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.”
God hears our every prayer. If He delays in responding, this is only done for our good and for the good of others. When we persevere in petition to God, our faith is tested and grows stronger. In fact, God gives us more than we can ask or imagine. This is captured quite poignantly by the prayer of an unknown Confederate Soldier during America’s Civil War:
I asked God for strength, that I might achieve…
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do great things…
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy…
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men…
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life…
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for,
but everything that I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself,
my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men, most richly blessed.
A love reaching into eternity
Authentic love comes from the heart; so does true prayer. Show me someone who prays and I will show you someone who loves. This is why the Catechism says (#2745), “Prayer and Christian life are inseparable, for they concern the same love and the same renunciation, proceeding from love… the love with which Jesus has loved us.” Prayers for the living and the dead, prayers for others, move us beyond preoccupation with oneself. This is especially true with prayers for those who have died.
The practice of praying for the dead has its roots in the Jewish faith. Already in the Old Testament, in 2 Maccabees 12:46, we see this tradition in place when Judas Maccabees “made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.” Throughout her history, the Church has honored the dead and prayed for their eternal repose. Saints throughout the ages have urged us to offer sacrifices and petitions for the dead. For example, in the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom exhorted the faithful in a homily on 1 Corinthians 15:1ff, “Let us help and commemorate the dead. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.”
Reflecting the constant tradition of the Church, Vatican II taught in Lumen Gentium (#50), “…because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins she offers her suffrages for them.”
The mercy of God that is the source of our hope inspires us to hand on this mercy to others. We do this by means of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, including this final one: Pray for the Living and the Dead.
Copyright 2008 The Catholic Sun.
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