03/11/2024
๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ก ๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐
If you love them, you pray for them your whole life.
Two of the popular misconceptions about Death is that we assume someone is already in heaven and/or they are now angels. These are troubling beliefs because it alters our understanding of Death and how we should live our lives as Christians.
I. DO NOT ASSUME SOMEONE IS ALREADY IN HEAVEN
"๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ; ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ." (Matt. 7:13-14)
It's a sad fact that not everyone goes to heaven, as evidenced in the passage above. When we die we already go through Judgement where we are judged by God according to how we lived our lives. Those who die in the State of Grace (no Mortal and Venial Sins) automatically go to heaven; those who die with unconfessed Venial Sins will go to Purgatory first for purification before entering heaven as "nothing unclean enters heaven" (Rev. 21:27); while those who die with Mortal Sins are condemned to hell.
Only God knows who goes where. So what do we do since we don't know where they are after death? WE PRAY FOR THEM. As revealed in 2 Maccabees 12:46, praying for the dead is a holy and wholesome practice so that the dead may be freed from their sins. Praying for the departed, while we don't know their state, is still a charitable and holy practice and at the same time it helps us in our sanctification as well because we are offering ourselves and making sacrifices for another.
While God, in His infinite wisdom and only if He wills it, can give us signs or miracles letting us know that our loved ones are in heaven, we must not stop praying for the rest of the faithful departed.
II. WE DO NOT BECOME ANGELS WHEN WE DIE
When someone dies we often hear the expression "Heaven has gained another angel" or "They have received their wings". While this is sentimental this is still untrue.
Humans and Angels are two very distinct creatures. There's a reason why whenever an angel appears to a human in Scripture they always begin with "Do not be afraid". This is because Angels are pure spirits, they do not have physical bodies but they can miraculously appear to us in human form so we can relate to them. While we, humans, are both body and soul, and, unlike Angels, we experience physical Death.
There is nothing in Scripture also that tells we become Angels or "earn wings" after we die. No. Every creature God created has its own nature, purpose, and being.
So let us not assume people become angels or immediately go to heaven after death. There is always reason to have hope, but we shouldnโt allow that hope to obscure some basic facts: Christ calls us to repentance; he calls us to faith and baptism; he demands of us a moral life; and, if we fail, we are to retreat to the sacrament of reconciliation. Even a pious, regular communicant can endanger his soul through mortal sin, especially in a culture that celebrates immorality.
As we continue to pray for the faithful departed, we continue to pray for one another as well.
