Here's How We Can Help Get Our Family and Friends to Heaven

02-24-2019Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, MA Theology & Catechetics

I want to spend some time reflecting on three fundamental truths of the Catholic faith and how their interconnectedness helps us to cooperate in our own redemption and the redemption of others. God, in all of His divine genius, has created a beautiful gift for us in the Church and it’s important for us to learn how it all works so that we can utilize this gift thoroughly.

The Mystical Body of Christ
Of course we are all familiar with the physical Body of Christ which includes His time spent on Earth, His resurrected body, as well as its presence in the Holy Eucharist. However, Christ has a mystical body as well, which is comprised of all of His faithful followers, united under one head, which is Jesus himself. Like any other body, Christ’s mystical body is both diverse and united. Your body has feet, fingers, eyes, a heart, a brain, etc. Each member of your body has a different purpose and function, yet every member works together toward the united goal of the advancement of your body. Christ’s mystical body is also made up of many members, each with its own gifts, charisms, and purpose, but all united in advancing the entire body to its end goal which is salvation for all of its members. Now, just like your human body, no one member of Christ’s body can act independently without affecting other members of the body. When you cut your finger, your brain tells you it hurts, your heart pumps your blood out of the cut, and your other hand puts a Band-Aid around the cut. Your finger is not isolated from your body and necessarily needs the other members. Similarly, your every sin hurts other members of Christ’s body, but every virtuous act and prayer helps the entire body. Put more succinctly, you and I are each members of Christ’s mystical body and we are working together to get ourselves and each other to heaven. We each have our own distinct purpose, but by God’s design, we do not operate in a vacuum and there is a very good reason for that. (For further reading, see Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] #787-791 and the encyclical MYSTICI CORPORIS CHRISTI by Pope Pius XII.)

The Communion of Saints
As members of the Body of Christ, assuming we have not cut ourselves off from the head and remain His faithful servants in a state of grace, we remain permanent members of His body whether on this earth or after death. It is this concept that keeps those of us here on Earth interconnected with the other members of the mystical body who have passed on to the next life which, in its entirety, is called “The Communion of Saints.” What this means for us, practically, is that just as our actions affect those around us while we’re alive, we can also affect those souls who have gone before us and they can affect us in return. This affect comes about through prayer and the offering of sacrifice. I will talk more about how we can help the dead in the next section, but here I will talk about how the dead help us. It would be incorrect and nonsensical to say that after someone has died, they are no longer members of the mystical body of Christ and have been cut off. Instead, they are even more fully realized members of His body as they come closer to the head than we are while alive. Our loved ones – and even those we’ve never met – can and do pray for us from where they are. They can also effect miracles in our lives and provide for us in ways they never could while alive. The Communion of Saints is a truth that keeps us all connected to one another as a family under Jesus.

Before moving on, I just want to add this fun fact: The place where the entire Communion of Saints comes together – both living and dead – is in the re-presentation of the One Sacrifice in the celebration of every Mass. Together, all of us, all of our deceased loved ones, and all of the angels, stand together at the foot of the Cross where God is outside of time. Very cool! (For more reading, see CCC #1474-1477.)

Purgatory
Catholic Christians are unique in believing and accepting the doctrine of Purgatory, but, if you ask me, it is one of our greatest gifts. Scripture tells us that nothing unclean will enter Heaven (Rev. 21:27). I don’t know about you, but I’m nowhere near “clean” as far as sin is concerned and certainly not worthy to stand before our Most Holy God as I am, stained with sin. We can certainly be sorry for our sins, but we must be cleansed and purified of the imperfections within us. After death, if we have not been fully purified through our suffering on Earth, we go to Purgatory where we will complete our purification process. Be sure that if you make it to Purgatory, you will not go to Hell because you do have to accept Jesus as you Lord and Savior to even make it this far. Phew! Now, what happens once we’re in Purgatory? Purgatory is described as a “purifying fire” which means it isn’t comfortable in any sense of the word. It is a place of redemptive suffering. Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. You’ll find that verse 15 sums up this concept of Purgatory: “…the person will be saved, but only as through fire.” You WILL be saved, but you have to go through a purifying fire first. Another thing to note is that after you’re dead, you can no longer sin and you can no longer be selfish in any sense of the word. You can only act in a perfectly charitable and self-less manner. It is for this reason, the souls in Purgatory cannot pray for themselves. They also cannot really pray for those in Heaven, because those souls are no longer in need of prayers. That leaves all of us here on Earth for whom the souls in Purgatory are fervently praying at all times. Lucky us!! But if those souls can’t pray for themselves, who is praying to bring them out of Purgatory and into Heaven? That’s our job!! Remember the Body of Christ we talked about earlier? We, the members of the Body on earth, affect change by praying and offering sacrifice for the poor souls in Purgatory to finally get to Heaven. Sure, they will eventually get there, whether we help them or not, but we can help speed up the process for them. Just like with the cut finger analogy, a finger on one hand can speed up the healing of the cut on the other finger by applying an antibiotic ointment and Band-Aid. That’s how our prayers help the souls in Purgatory. Because we are not God, we cannot know how long a soul will be in Purgatory or whether it has already passed through Purgatory into Heaven. Therefore, it is imperative that pray regularly for the deceased. But what if a soul is already in Heaven and we are still praying for him or her? One of the many beautiful things about our God is that no prayer is ever wasted and the graces that are obtained by those prayers will be applied to a soul in more need. Our praying for the deceased is never in vain and is always efficacious for the souls in Purgatory. (For further reading see CCC #1030-1032.)