In the eyes of many purgatory is a bit of a ‘nuisance’ teaching belonging in the same category as angels and indulgences and even hell. It’s not easy to explain because not many understand it deeply and so it’s always making us run up not only against our own ignorance but the disbelief of our modern world as well – and that’s a real nuisance.
The word purgatory comes from the Latin "purgare" to make clean or to purify. The Catholic Encyclopedia defines it as: a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.
The language can be a bit confusing here. In years gone by we spoke more of punishment while today we speak more of purification or purgation. Whatever word we use the Sacred Scriptures clearly teach that purification from, or punishment for, sin may remain even after the sin has been forgiven by God. We need only remember the Original Sin of Adam and Eve which, although forgiven in Christ, nevertheless had ongoing consequences for all of humanity (With sweat on your brow shall you eat your bread, until you return to the soil. Genesis 3:19).
Again, God took away the sins of Moses and Aaron and David and Solomon and yet they suffered painful consequences for their sins.
I liken it to a heavy smoker, such as I used to be, who declares his intention never to smoke again. This moment of very real liberation is then followed by the equally real sufferings of the withdrawal period which could last for some time.
Actually, this is what the Church means by the term ‘temporal punishment’. Like smoking withdrawals (mine lasted many months) it has a beginning and an end; it is temporal. Eternal punishment, on the other hand, has no end; it is the punishment of hell.
Looking at this matter from another perspective we can note that repentance for sin has always included a firm purpose of amendment and the intention to do penance, that is, make up for our sin. Clearly, the man who steals money has an obligation to pay it back if he can, or to make some other form of restitution. If you admit to me you stole my car I may forgive you, but you are still obliged to return it.
In the same way God will always forgive a sin when we repent. However, forgiving our guilt does not always mean release from punishment. In his mercy God forgives our guilt; in his justice God requires satisfaction.
The Church has always believed that prayer, fasting and almsgiving, indeed any penance, can purify us in this life and, consequently, those who fail to do so in this life will need to do so elsewhere if they are not to suffer the loss of heaven - which nothing impure can enter.
This leads us to make one other thing clear about purgatory. It is also the state or place in which we are freed from our venial sins. A venial sin wounds our relationship with God whereas a mortal sin destroys it. A person who dies in the habit of venial sin is still capable of heaven but needs first to be purged of those habits.
Commonly we fail to see the merciful love of God in this and somehow expect that God should not ask us to participate in our salvation at all. We might say, and correctly, as the Protestants do, that Jesus ‘paid the price’ for our sins! Yes, he did, and that’s why we are now forgiven - but let us not refuse this opportunity to share in the very sufferings of Christ which saved us. As St Paul says: It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church (Colossians 1:24).
Naturally enough, the Catholic teaching on purgatory is intimately bound up with the practice of praying for the dead. Those who pray for the dead must believe in purgatory; those who do not believe in purgatory will have no reason to pray for the dead; the two realities are always mentioned together in the oldest texts of the Fathers of the Church.
Without going into the historical details, which can be discovered from the Catholic Encyclopaedia, let me simply assert that praying for the dead and belief in the existence of purgatory were well established in the Church from the earliest times. Indeed, the Fathers maintained that the practice of prayers for the dead came from the Apostles themselves.
If we look at the liturgies of these early times we can see that the punishment or the purifying process undergone by the souls in purgatory is the experience of being ‘shut out’ from the sight of God for which they long with unbelievable intensity. This painful longing is made bearable only by the awareness it will one day be fulfilled.
The souls in purgatory have finished with sin and their purifying sufferings prepare them more and more for entrance into the eternal happiness of heaven. Purgatory is therefore a place of suffering, peace and joy.
We here on earth remain in communion with the souls in purgatory and we can aid them with our prayers and works of love. This is clear from the earliest Catholic teaching. Already in the 2nd Century it is recorded that Mass was offered for the faithful departed. Let us do so now and invoke on them and on ourselves the wonderful mercy of God.
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Fr. Tommy Lane’s Collection
St. Malachy’s Sister
St. Malachy didn’t get on with his sister, lost contact with her and didn’t see her any more before she died. After she died, he heard a voice one night telling him that his sister was hungry, she hadn’t eaten for thirty days. He remembered it was thirty days since he had offered Mass for her. He began to offer Mass for her again, saw her coming up to the door of the church, but she couldn’t enter and was wearing a black garment. He continued to say Mass for her and the next time she was dressed in a lighter garment and the final time he saw her she was dressed entirely in white surrounded by blessed spirits. This incident in the life of St. Malachy shows us the importance of praying for the dead.
Twins in the Womb
“Twins, a sister and brother were talking to each other in the womb. The little sister said to the little brother, ‘I believe that there is life after birth!’ Her brother protested: ‘No, no, this is all there is. This is a dark and cozy place, and we have nothing else to do but to cling on to the cord that feeds us.’ But the little girl insisted: ‘There must be something more than this dark place, there must be something else where there is light and freedom to move.’ Still she could not convince her twin brother. Then...after some silence, she said hesitantly: ‘I have something else to say, and I am afraid you won’t believe that either, but I think there is a mother!’ Her little brother now became furious: ‘A mother, a mother, what are you talking about? I have never seen a mother and neither have you. Who put that idea in your head? As I told you, this place is all we have so let’s be content.’ The little sister finally said: ‘Don’t you feel this pressure sometimes? Its really unpleasant and sometimes even painful.’ ‘Yes,’ he answered, ‘what’s special about that?’ ‘Well,’ the sister said, ‘I think this pressure is there to get us ready for another place, much more beautiful than this, where we will see our mother face to face! Don’t you think that’s exciting!” (Unfortunately I do not know the source.)
The dead Husband
“Her husband had died a few years before, and she had a young son who was born just before his father’s death. One day when her son was at a neighbor’s house, she suddenly sensed her husband was speaking to her. He seemed to be telling her that their son was drowning in a swimming pool. She ran next door to the neighbor’s and found her son drowning in the pool, exactly as she sensed her husband telling her. She pulled her son out of the pool, just in time to save his life.
Why does this story move us so deeply? A story about a child’s life being saved is certainly moving, but this story contains something more. A dead father is still there for his child, at the moment when he is needed most.”
(From Healing the Greatest Hurt page 144 by Matthew & Denis Linn and Sheila Fabricant and published by Paulist Press and used here with permission.) (More stories about the faithful departed and death)
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From Fr. Tony Kadavil's Reflections:
All Souls’ Day is a day specially set apart that we may remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone to their eternal reward and who are currently in a state of ongoing purification.
Ancient belief
1) People of all religions have believed in the immortality of the soul, and have prayed for the dead.
2) The Jews, for example, believed that there was a place of temporary bondage from which the souls of the dead would receive their final release. The Jewish catechism Talmud states that prayers for the dead will help to bring greater rewards and blessings to them. Prayer for the souls of the departed is retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that he/she may be purified.
3) Jesus and the apostles shared this belief and passed it on to the early Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs (Lumen Gentium-50).
4) The liturgies of the Mass in various rites dating from the early centuries of the Church include “Prayers for the Dead.”
5) The early Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice. Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: "When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar" (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book 9, Chapter 11, Section 27).
6) The synods of Nicaea, Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidences to prove that there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls.
7) Theological reason: According to Revelation: 21:27: “nothing unclean shall enter heaven.” Holy Scripture (Proverbs 24: 16) also teaches that even "the just sin seven times a day.” Since it would be contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls with venial sins in Hell, they are seen as entering a place or state of purification, called Purgatory, which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
Biblical evidence
1) II Maccabees, 12:46 is the main Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of prayer and sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Maccabees 12: 39-46), describes how Judas, the military commander, “took up a collection from all his men, totaling about four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering” (II Macc. 12: 43). The narrator continues, "If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them.”
2) St. Paul seems to have shared this traditional Jewish belief. At the death of his supporter Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him mercy on that Day” (II Timothy: 1:18). Other pertinent Bible texts: Matthew 12:32, I Corinthians, 3:15, Zechariah 13:19, Sirach 7:33.
The Church’s teaching: The Church's official teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and his fire of love. They also speak of Purgatory as an "instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual.
How do we help the “holy souls”? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC #1032) recommends prayer for the dead in conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The CCC also encourages "almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead." Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed, have Masses offered for them, visit their graves, and make daily sacrifices for them.
Introduction
This is a day specially set apart that we may remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone to their eternal reward, and who are currently in a state of ongoing purification. From time immemorial, people of all religions have believed in the immortality of the soul, and have prayed for the dead. The Jews, for example, believed that there was a place of temporary bondage from which the souls of the dead would receive their final release. The Jewish Talmud states that prayers for the dead will help to bring greater rewards and blessings to them. Since Jesus in no way contradicted this ancient belief, the efficacy of prayers for those who have died was incorporated by the infant Church in its teachings and practice. Evidence suggests that the belief dates back to the first century of the Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs (Lumen Gentium 50). In addition, Mass liturgies dating from these early centuries of the Church include “Prayers for the Dead.” Some of the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament, like the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity (both written during the second century), refer to the Christian practice of praying for the dead. Praying for the deceased members of the family as part of their family night prayers was also an ancient practice of oriental Christians. The early Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice which they believed had been inherited from the Apostles. Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: "When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar” (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 13 Sections 35-37).
The words Trinity and Incarnation aren’t in Scripture either, yet those doctrines are clearly taught in it. Likewise, Scripture teaches that Purgatory exists, even if it doesn’t use that word.
Logical belief, supported by synods. The Catholic Church teaches that not everyone who dies in God's grace is immediately ready for the Beatific Vision, that is, the direct experience of God and His perfect nature in heaven. So they must be purified of "lesser faults," and the temporal punishment due to sin in a place or state of purification. The Catholic teaching on Purgatory essentially requires belief in two realities: 1. that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering Heaven and 2. that the prayers and Masses of the faithful in some way benefit those in the state of purification. The synods of Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidence to prove that there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls. According to Revelation 21:27, “Nothing unclean shall enter Heaven” (cfr. also Is. 35: 8 and Wisdom 7: 25). Holy Scripture teaches that even "the just sin seven times a day" (Proverbs 24:16). Since it would be contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls in Hell, they are seen as entering a place or state of purification, Purgatory, which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. The Catholic Church understands the Communion of Saints as a relationship of love joining the faithful, living and departed. The Saints, both in Heaven and in Purgatory, pray for us, and we pray both to the Saints in heaven for their intercession, and for those in Purgatory, that they may swiftly enter the Beatific Vision. Thus, death is no barrier to prayerful communion with the dead. We lovingly remember them and thank God for their eternal reward. These souls can experience the love of Christ who frees them from their imperfections. Said Pope St. John Paul II : "Before we enter into God’s kingdom, every trace of sin within us must be eliminated, every imperfection in our soul must be corrected." (CCC #1030-1032).
Biblical evidence
1) II Maccabees, 12:46 is the main Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of prayer and sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Maccabees 12: 39-46), describes how Judas, the military commander, discovered that those of his men who had died in a particular battle had been wearing forbidden pagan amulets. His men at once "begged that the sin committed might be fully blotted out" (II Macc. 12: 42). Judas then “took up a collection from all his men, totaling about four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering” (II Macc. 12: 43). The narrator continues, ”If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them; whereas, if he had had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. This was why he had this atonement sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin" (II Macc. 12: 44-46). These verses so clearly illustrate the existence of Purgatory that, at the time of the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine. Not only can we show that prayer for the souls of the departed was practiced by the Jews of the time of the Maccabees, but it has even been retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that the loved one may be purified.
2) St. Paul seems to have shared this traditional Jewish belief. At the death of his supporter Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him mercy on that Day” (II Timothy: 1:18).
3) Matthew 12:32 hints at the possibility of sins being forgiven after death, "in the age to come,", when Jesus refers to the impossibility of forgiveness of sins against the Holy Spirit. St. Augustine and St. Gregory interpret this phrase, "in the age to come,” as a reference to Purgatory. Jesus' statement that certain sins "will not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come," at least suggests a purging of the soul after death. Pope St. Gregory (d. 604) stated, "As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire.” The Council of Lyons (1274) likewise affirmed this interpretation of our Lord's teaching.
4) In I Corinthians, 3:15, St. Paul speaks of a "test by fire" after death to prove the worth of our work in this world: "But if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you had escaped through the fire.” Several of the early Church Fathers considered this a reference to a process of purification after death.
5) Zechariah 13:19 “And I will test the third that survives and will purify them as silver is purified by fire." The Jewish School of Rabbi Shammai interpreted this passage as a purification of the soul through God's mercy and goodness, preparing it for eternal life. The Fathers of the Church interpret the statement as a reference to Purgatory.
6) Sirach 7:33 "Withhold not your kindness from the dead" The Jewish rabbis used to interpret this passage as imploring God to cleanse the souls of the deceased.
The Church’s teaching
The Church's official teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). In Lumen Gentium (50-52), Purgatory is seen in the broader context of salvation and heaven. Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church asserts, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicaea, of the Council of Florence, and of the Council of Trent" (No. 51). The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Purgatory as the “final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC #1031). Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and his fire of love. They also speak of Purgatory as an "instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual. According to this view, the refining fire of Purgatory is only a relic of medieval imagery. It is actually the fire of Divine love. It may, in fact, be a form of "blazing enlightenment" which penetrates and perfects our very being. God can anticipate and apply the merits of our present and future prayers for the dead, in favor of the souls we pray for, at the time of their purification. Pope Benedict considers Purgatory as an “existential state” and hence it is not necessarily accurate to speak of a location or duration of Purgatory. According to Pope Benedict XVI, "the souls that are aware of the immense love and perfect justice of God consequently suffer for not having responded correctly and perfectly to that love." It is the suffering of the holy souls. He continues that Purgatory is thus “the fringe of heaven, a state where heaven's eternal light has a refining effect on the “holy souls” (not 'poor souls'), who are held in the arms of Divine Mercy.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dWf_BtITG1Y .
How do we help the “holy souls”? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC # 1032) recommends prayer for the dead in conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Mirae caritatis (1902), states, "The grace of mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the Sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass], to all who belong to the Communion of Saints. The Catechism also encourages "almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead." All these prayerful acts are to be conducted as matters of faith, and not as something magical. The greatest act is to offer Mass for the dead, because in this One Sacrifice, the merits of our Lord Jesus are applied to the dead. Hence, this reconciling offering of the Lord is the greatest and most perfect prayer, which we can offer for the dead in their state of purification. Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed, have Masses offered for them, visit their graves, and make daily sacrifices for them.
Testimony by Fr. Paddy: When I was young, the devotion to the Holy Souls was very popular. People offered Masses for the Holy Souls. On All Souls Day each Priest offered three Masses, people came in great numbers for the Masses and they visited the Church often during the day to gain indulgences by their prayers. Even today relatives have Mass offered for their loved ones on their anniversary, birthday, Christmas and Easter. Sadly, however, prayer for the Holy Souls is not as popular as in times past. If I were to ask what is the best thing you can do for a loved one who has died what would you say? A funeral to talk about them? A nice grave and headstone? A tree, plant or a beautiful flower? Have a wonderful reception? Yes all those things are nice. But the best gift is prayer because that is the only thing that can help them on their journey to the Lord. I have put at the end of my will, “Please don’t spend time talking about me, spend time praying for me.” For it is a holy and wholesome thing to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sin. (Oct 30, 2009) (sacredheartparish@xtra.co.nz)
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From Sermons Illustrations:
DEATH
Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
Mark Twain.
Last words:
"Our God is the God from whom cometh salvation: God is the Lord by whom we escape death." Martin Luther
"Live in Christ, live in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death." John Knox
"Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I am abundantly satisfied, since it is from Thy hand." John Calvin "The best of all is, God is with us. Farewell! Farewell!" John Wesley "I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness--satisfied, satisfied!" Charles Wesley
It is possible to live under a delusion. You think you are kind, considerate and gracious when you are really not. You think you are building positive stuff into your children when in reality, if you could check with them twenty years later, you really didn't. What if you could read your own obituary? How do people really see you? Here is the story of a man who did.
One morning in 1888 Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, awoke to read his own obituary. The obituary was printed as a result of a simple journalistic error. You see, it was Alfred's brother that had died and the reporter carelessly reported the death of the wrong brother. Any man would be disturbed under the circumstances, but to Alfred the shock was overwhelming because he saw himself as the world saw him. The "Dynamite King," the great industrialist who had made an immense fortune from explosives. This, as far as the general public was concerned, was the entire purpose of Alfred's life. None of his true intentions to break down the barriers that separated men and ideas for peace were recognized or given serious consideration. He was simply a merchant of death. And for that alone he would be remembered. As he read the obituary with horror, he resolved to make clear to the world the true meaning and purpose of his life. This could be done through the final disposition of his fortune. His last will and testament--an endowment of five annual prizes for outstanding contributions inphysics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace (the sixth category of economics was added later)--would be the expression of his life's ideals and ultimately would be why we would remember him. The result was the most valuable of prizes given to those who had done the most for the cause of world peace. It is called today, the "Nobel Peace Prize."
Source Unknown.
John Wesley preached his last sermon of Feb 17, 1791, in Lambeth on the text "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near" (Isa 55:6). The following day, a very sick man, he was put to bed in his home on City Road. During the days of his illness, he often repeated the words from one of his brother's hymns: I the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me! His last words were, "The best of all is, God is with us!" He died March 2, 1791.
W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers, p. 245.
Death is not extinguishing the light from the Christian; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
When you're old as I am, there are all sorts of extremely pleasant things that happen to you...the pleasantest of all is that you wake up in the night and you find that you are half in and half out of your battered old carcass. It seems quite a tossup whether you go back and resume full occupancy of your mortal body, or make off toward the bright glow you see in the sky, the lights of the city of God.
Malcolm Muggeridge, Christian Times, September 3, 1982.
In Valladolid, Spain, where Christopher Columbus died in 1506, stands a monument commemorating the great discoverer. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the memorial is a statue of a lion destroying one of the Latin words that had been part of Spain's motto for centuries. Before Columbus made his voyages, the Spaniards thought they had reached the outer limits of earth. Thus their motto was "Ne Plus Ultra," which means "No More Beyond." The word being torn away by the lion is "Ne" or "no," making it read "Plus Ultra." Columbus had proven that there was indeed "more beyond."
Source Unknown.
On his deathbed, British preacher Charles Simeon smiled brightly and asked the people gathered in his room, "What do you think especially gives me comfort at this time?" When they all remained silent, he exclaimed, "The creation! I ask myself, 'Did Jehovah create the world or did I?' He did! Now if He made the world and all the rolling spheres of the universe, He certainly can take care of me. Into Jesus' hands I can safely commit my spirit!"
Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission, in the closing months of his life said to a friend, "I am so weak. I can't read my Bible. I can't even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child and trust."
Our Daily Bread, January 1, 1994.
Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without a ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well.
from the bookSeptember.
In 1846 former president John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke. Although he returned to Congress the following year, his health was clearly failing. Daniel Webster described his last meeting with Adams: "Someone, a friend of his, came in and made particular inquiry of his health. Adams answered, 'I inhabit a weak, frail, decayed tenement; battered by the winds and broken in upon by the storms, and from all I can learn, the landlord does not intend to repair.'"
Today in the Word, April 11, 1992.
Mark Twain, became morose and weary of life. Shortly before his death, he wrote, "A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle;...they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; ...those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. It (the release) comes at last--the only unpoisoned gift earth ever had for them--and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence,...a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever."
Mark Twain.
Gen. William Nelson, a Union general in the Civil War, was consumed with the battles in Kentucky when a brawl ended up in his being shot, mortally, in the chest. He had faced many battles, but the fatal blow came while he was relaxing with his men. As such, he was caught fully unprepared. As men ran up the stairs to help him, the general had just one phrase, "Send for a clergyman; I wish to be baptized." He never had time as an adolescent or young man. He never had time as a private or after he became a general. And his wound did not stop or slow down the war. Everything around him was left virtually unchanged--except for the general's priorities. With only minutes left before he entered eternity, the one thing he cared about was preparing for eternity. He wanted to be baptized. Thirty minutes later he was dead.
Christian Times, October 3, 1994, p. 26.
Thou oughtest so to order thyself in all thy thoughts and actions, as if today thou wert about to die. Labor now to live so, that at the hour of death thou mayest rather rejoice than fear.
Thomas a Kempis,Imitation of Christ.
A few days before his death, Dr. F. B. Meyer wrote a very dear friend these words: "I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered the palace. Don't trouble to write. We shall meet in the morning."
Quoted in Consolation, by Mrs. C. Cowman, p. 70.
I read that when a terrible plague came to ancient Athens, people there committed every horrible crime and engaged in every lustful pleasure they could because they believed that life was short and they would never have to pay any penalty. In one of the world's most famous poems, the Latin poet Catullus wrote, "Let us live and let us love, and let us value the tales of austere old men at a single halfpenny. Suns can set and then return again, but for us, when once our brief light sets, there is but one perpetual night through which we must sleep."
Morning Glory, January 29, 1994.
Alexander the Great, seeing Diogenes looking attentively at a parcel of human bones, asked the philosopher what he was looking for. Diogenes' reply: "That which I cannot find--the difference between your father's bones and those of his slaves."
Plutarch.
"Here lies Jamie Smith, wife of Thomas Smith, marble cutter. This monument was erected by her husband as a tribute to her memory and a specimen of his work. Monuments of the same style 350 dollars."
from Springdale, Ohio.
I was driving with my children to my wife's funeral where I was to preach the sermon. As we came into one small town there strode down in front of us a truck that came to stop before a red light. It was the biggest truck I ever saw in my life, and the sun was shining on it at just the right angle that took its shadow and spread it across the snow on the field beside it. As the shadow covered that field, I said, "Look children at that truck, and look at its shadow. If you had to be run over, which would you rather be run over by? Would you rather be run over by the truck or by the shadow?" My youngest child said, "The shadow couldn't hurt anybody." "That's right," I continued, "and death is a truck, but the shadow is all that ever touches the Christian. The truck ran over the Lord Jesus. Only the shadow is gone over mother."
Donald Grey Barnhouse.
Peter Kreeft tells us that in the Latin rite for the burial of an Austrian emperor, the people carry the corpse to the door of the great monastic church. They strike the door and say: "Open." The abbot inside says: "Who is there." "Emperor Karl, the king of..." The response from inside: "We know of no such person here." So the people strike the door again. "Who is there?" asks the abbot. "Emperor Karl." "We know of no such person here." So they strike a third time. "Who is there?" asks the abbot again. "Karl," say the people. And the door is opened.
One World, May, 1982.
"You don't go look at where it happened," said Scott Goodyear, who starts 33rd [speaking of race-car drivers who have been killed in crashes at the Indianapolis 500]. "You don't watch the films of it on television. You don't deal with it. You pretend it never happened." The Speedway operation itself encourages this approach. As soon as the track closes the day of an accident, a crew heads out to paint over the spot where the car hit the wall. Through the years, a driver has never been pronounced dead at the race track. A trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Racing Museum, located inside the 2.5-mile oval, has no memorial to the 40 drivers who have lost their lives here. Nowhere is there even a mention.
Source Unknown.
Sarah Winchester's husband had acquired a fortune by manufacturing and selling rifles. After he died of influenza in 1918, she moved to San Jose, California. Because of her grief and her long time interest in spiritism, Sarah sought out a medium to contact her dead husband. The medium told her, "As long as you keep building your home, you will never face death."
Sarah believed the spiritist, so she bought an unfinished 17-room mansion and started to expand it. The project continued until she died at the age of 85. It cost 5 million dollars at a time when workmen earned 50 cents a day. The mansion had 150 rooms, 13 bathrooms, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, and 10,000 windows. And Mrs. Winchester left enough materials so that they could have continued building for another 80 years.
Today that house stands as more than a tourist attraction. It is a silent witness to the dread of death that holds millions of people in bondage (Heb. 2:15).
Our Daily Bread, April 2, 1994.
Thursday, December 21, 1899, after cutting short a Kansas City crusade and returning home in ill health, D. L. Moody told his family, "I'm not discouraged. I want to live as long as I am useful, but when my work is done I want to be up and off." The next day Moody awakened after a restless night. In careful, measured words he said, "Earth recedes, Heaven opens before me!" His son, Will, concluded his father was dreaming. "No, this is no dream, Will. It is beautiful. It is like a trance. If this is death, it is sweet. There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go."
Moody, December, 1993, p. 70.
In one of his books, A.M. Hunter, the New Testament scholar, relates the story of a dying man who asked his Christian doctor to tell him something about the place to which he was going. As the doctor fumbled for a reply, he heard a scratching at the door, and he had his answer. "Do you hear that?" he asked his patient. "It's my dog. I left him downstairs, but he has grown impatient, and has come up and hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here. Isn't it the same with you? You don't know what lies beyond the Door, but you know that your Master is there."
Christian Theology in Plain Language, p. 208.
It is a poor thing to fear that which is inevitable.
Tertullian, third-century church father, speaking about death.
The bitter news of Dawson Trotman's drowning swept like cold wind across Schroon Lake to the shoreline. Eyewitnesses tell of the profound anxiety, the tears, the helpless disbelief in the faces of those who now looked out across the deep blue water. Everyone's face except one -- Lila Trotman, Dawson's widow. As she suddenly walked upon the scene a close friend shouted, "Oh, Lila ... He's gone. Dawson's gone!" To that she replied in calm assurance the words of Psalm 115:3:
But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
All of the anguish, the sudden loneliness that normally consumes and cripples those who survive did not invade that woman's heart. Instead, she leaned hard upon her sovereign Lord, who had once again done what He pleased.
Charles R. Swindoll, Starting Over, Multnomah Press, 1977, p. 67.
Around 125 A.D., a Greek by the name of Aristeides wrote to one of his friends, trying to explain the extraordinary success of the new religion, Christianity. In his letter he said, "If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they accompany his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby."
Today in the Word, April 10, 1993.
Before his death in 1981, American writer William Saroyan telephoned in to the Associated Press this final, very Saroyan-like observation: "Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?"
Today in the Word, April 11, 1993.
Edith Rockefeller McCormick, the daughter of John D. Rockefeller, maintained a large household staff. She applied one rule to every servant without exception: They were not permitted to speak to her. The rule was broken only once, when word arrived at the family's country retreat that their young son had died of scarlet fever. The McCormicks were hosting a dinner party, but following a discussion in the servants' quarters it was decided that Mrs. McCormick needed to know right away. When the tragic news was whispered to her, she merely nodded her head and the party continued without interruption.
Today in the Word, September 29, 1992.
When you have had a loved one go to be with the Lord, do not feel like you're the only person who has had this experience. There is an Eastern legend about a Hindu woman whose only child had died. She went to a prophet to ask for her child back. The prophet told her to go and obtain a handful of rice from a house into which death had not come. If she could obtain the rice in this way, he promised to give her the child back. From door to door she asked the question, "Are you all here around the table -- father, mother, children -- none missing?" But always the answer came back that there were empty chairs in each house. As she continued on, her grief and sorrow softened as she found that death had visited all families. Yes, death is universal; our painful experience is not the only one of its kind. Because God is faithful, because Jesus Christ is alive, so is your loved one and mine.
Hugh Salisbury, Through Sorrow Into Joy, p. 58.
John Bacon, once a famous sculptor, left this inscription on his tomb in Westminster Abbey: "What I was as an artist seemed of some importance to me while I lived; but what I was as a believer in Jesus Christ is the only thing of importance to me now."
John Bacon.
Howard Hughes: Worth 2.5 billion dollars at his death, he was the richest man in the United States. He owned a private fleet of jets, hotels and casinos. When asked to claim his body, his nearest relative, a distant cousin, exclaimed, "Is this Mr. Hughes?" He had spent the last 15 years of his life a drug addict, too weak in the end to even administer the shots to himself. His 6'4" frame had shrunk to 6'1" and he weighed only 90 lbs. Not a single acquaintance or relative mourned his death. The only honor he received was a moment of silence in his Las Vegas casinos. Time magazine put it this way: "Howard Hughes' death was commemorated in Las Vegas by a minute of silence. Casinos fell silent. Housewives stood uncomfortable clutching their paper cups full of coins at the slot machines, the blackjack games paused, and at the crap tables the stickmen cradled the dice in the crook of their wooden wands. Then a pit boss looked at his watch, leaned forward and whispered, "O.K., roll the dice. He's had his minute."
Time, December 13, 1976.
Napoleon Bonaparte: Responsible for the death of 500,000 French men in battle, approximately 1/6 of the population. Was exiled by the British for the last 6 years of his life on the Island of St. Helena. His wife Marie Louise never wrote him and married another man while he was still living. He never heard from his son again. he was confined to the house and grounds, needing the escort of a British soldier whenever he ventured anywhere on the island. The tombstone on his grave read simply, "here lies."
Source Unknown.
Adolph Hitler: Lived the last 4 months of his life in Berlin. It is believed that he went prematurely senile or insane. On April 29 he married Eva Braum and dictated his political testament in defense of his actions. On April 30 he said farewell to a few remaining military men, retired to his suite and shot himself while his wife took poison. Their bodies were burned in accordance with their instructions.
Encyclopedia Britannica.
God buries His workmen, but not His work.
Henrietta Mears.
Before British actor Robert Morley died, he asked that his credit cards be buried with him. Since his funeral, theLondon Times's letters pages have been filled with the thoughts of readers pondering their own deaths and their perpetual needs. -Wrote M.L. Evans of Chester: "In the unfortunate event of the miscarriage of justice and several thousand years ensuing before my sentence is quashed, I will take a fire extinguisher."
-Heather Tanner of Woodbridge specified a good map. "I have immense trouble finding my way in this life," she said, "so am extremely worried about the next."
-A pair of earplugs would accompany Sir David Wilcocks of Cambridge "in case the heavenly choirs, singing everlastingly, are not in tune." -Maurice Godbold of Hindhead would take a crowbar, "in case the affair proved premature." Even in the hereafter, there will always be an England.
U.S. News & World Report, June 22, 1992, p. 26.
The last days of British statesman and colonial leader Cecil Rhodes were marked by grave disappointment. He died from heart disease at a time when he was beset by personal scandals and discredited by unwise political decisions. Lewis Mitchel, who was at Rhodes's bedside in his cottage near Cape Town, South Africa heard the dying man murmur, "So little done, so much to do." Yet there's more than this to the story of Cecil Rhodes. He migrated to South Africa from Britain for health reasons. It was there that Rhodes made a vast fortune in gold and diamond mining. Even though he died feeling he had much more to do, he has left a lasting legacy because he used part of his fortune to endow the famous Rhodes scholarship program.
Today in the Word, July 28, 1992.
A young soldier, while dying very happily, broke out in singing the following stanza: "Great Jehovah, we adore thee, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, joined in glory on the same eternal throne: Endless praised to Jehovah, three in one." The chaplain then asked if he had any message to send his friends. "Yes," said he. "Tell my father that I have tried to eat my meals with thanksgiving." "Tell him that Christ is now all my hope, all my trust, and that he is precious to my soul." "Tell him that I am not afraid to die--all is calm" "Tell him that I believe Christ will take me to himself, and to my dear sister who is in heaven." The voice of the dying boy faltered in the intervals between these precious sentences. When the hymn commencing, "Nearer, my God to thee," was read to him, at the end of each stanza he exclaimed, with striking energy, "Oh Lord Jesus, thou are coming nearer to me." Also at the end of each stanza of the hymn (which was also read to him) commencing, "Just as I am--without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bid'st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come," he exclaimed, "I Come! O Lamb of God, I Come!" Speaking again of his friends, he said, "Tell my father that I died happy." His last words were, "Father, I'm coming to thee!" Then the Christian soldier sweetly and calmly "fell asleep in Jesus."
Anonymous Confederate soldier--1861-65/died in battle in the War Between the States.
I am not come hither to deny my Lord and Master.
Anne Askew--July 16, 1545--burned at the stake after torture on the rack, at the age of 25.
Margaret Wilson, a Scottish girl of eighteen, was tied to a stake where the tide was due to come in. The water covered her while she was engaged in prayer; but before life was gone, they pulled her up till she recovered the power of speech, when she was asked by Major Windram, who commanded, if she would pray for the king. She replied that "She wished the salvation of all men, and the damnation of none." "Dear Margaret," said one of the by-standers, deeply affected, "say God save the king." She answered with great steadiness, "God save him, if he will, for it is his salvation I desire." "Sir, they cried to the major, "she has said it; she has said it!" The major, approaching her on hearing this, offered her the abjuration oath, charging her instantly to swear it, otherwise to return to the water. The poor young woman...firmly replied, "I will not; I am one of Christ's children! Let me go." Upon which she was again thrust into the water, and drowned.
Margaret Wilson--Early 1680's--drowned for faithfulness to the Reformation.
Let me pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.
General T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson--wounded by his own men, he died shortly after.
Neil Simon, who wroteThe Odd Couple andBarefoot in the Park, was asked on the Dick Cavett Show whether making a lot of money concerned him. The studio went dead silent when Simon answered, "No...what does concern me is the fear of dying."
Leighton Ford,Good News is For Sharing, p. 31.
According to an old fable, a man made an unusual agreement with Death. He told the Grim Reaper that he would willingly accompany him when it came time to die, but only on one condition--that Death would send a messenger well in advance to warn him. Weeks winged away into months, and months into years. Then one bitter winter evening, as the man sat thinking about all his possessions, Death suddenly entered the room and tapped him on the shoulder. Startled, the man cried out, "You're here so soon and without warning! I thought we had an agreement." Death replied, "I've more than kept my part. I've sent you many messengers. Look in the mirror and you'll see some of them." As the man complied, Death whispered, "Notice your hair! Once it was full and black, now it is thin and white. Look at the way you cock your head to listen to me because you can't hear very well. Observe how close to the mirror you must stand to see yourself clearly. Yes, I've sent many messengers through the years. I'm sorry you're not ready, but the time has come to leave."
Daily Bread, February 29, 1991.
When Corrie Ten Boom of The Hiding Place fame was a little girl in Holland, her first realization of death came after a visit to the home of a neighbor who had died. It impressed her that some day her parents would also die. Corrie's father comforted her with words of wisdom. "Corrie, when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?" "Why, just before we get on the train," she replied. "Exactly," her father said, "and our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need--just in time."
Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 30.
Many accidental deaths result from taking risks. That's the conclusion of an organization in Canada that is seeking to decrease accidents between cars and trains. Roger Cyr, national director of Operation Lifesaver, puts most of the blame for fatalities on drivers who are risk-takers. "Studies have shown that when people hear a train whistle their minds tell them to accelerate their speed," says Cyr. About 43 percent of the accidents occur at crossings equipped with flashing lights and bells or gates. Cyr also said that many drivers "even have the audacity to drive around or under gates." They take the risk, thinking they can beat the train and somehow miss the collision--but with tragic consequences!
Daily Bread, April 6, 1991.
When John Owen, the great Puritan, lay on his deathbed his secretary wrote (in his name) to a friend, "I am still in the land of the living." "Stop," said Owen. "Change that and say, I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living."
John M. Drescher.
We owe a deep debt of gratitude to Adam, the first great benefactor of the human race: he brought death into the world.
Mark Twain.
The bodies of those that made such a noise and tumult when alive, when dead, lie as quietly among the graves of their neighbors as any others.
Jonathan Edwards.
Our civilization is founded on the shambles, and every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.
William James.
In the 18th century, Archibald Boyle was the leading member of an association of wild and wicked men known as "The Hell Club" in Glasgow, Scotland. After one night of carousing at the Club's notorious annual meeting, Boyle deemed he was riding home on his black horse. In the darkness, someone seized the reins, shouting, "You must go with me!" As Boyle desperately tried to force the reins from the hands of the unknown guide, the horse reared. Boyle fell down, down, down with increasing speed. "Where are you taking me?" The cold voice replied, "To hell!" The echoes of the groans and yells of frantic revelry assaulted their ears. At the entrance to hell, Boyle saw the inmates chasing the same pleasures they had pursued in life. There was a lady he'd known playing her favorite vulgar game. Boyle relaxed, thinking hell must be a pleasurable place after all. When he asked her to rest a moment and show him through the pleasures of hell, she shrieked. "There is no rest in hell!" She unclasped the vest of her robe and displayed a coil of living snakes writhing about her midsection. Others revealed different forms of pain in their hearts. "Take me from this place!" Boyle demanded. "By the living God whose name I have so often outraged, I beg you, let me go!" His guide replied, "Go then--but in a year and a day we meet to part no more."
At this, Boyle awoke, feeling that these last words were as letters of fire burned into his heart. Despite a resolution never to attend the Hell Club again, he soon was drawn back. He found no comfort there. He grew haggard and gray under the weight of his conscience and fear of the future. He dreaded attending the Club's annual meeting, but his companions forced him to attend. Every nerve of his body writhed in agony at the first sentence of the president's opening address: "Gentlemen, this is leap year; therefore it is a year and a day since our last annual meeting." After the meeting, he mounted his house to ride home. Next morning, his horse was found grazing quietly by the roadside. A few yards away lay the corpse of Archibald Boyle. The strange guide had claimed him at the appointed time.
Paul Lee Tan.
The story is told of a nobleman who had a lovely floral garden. The gardener who tended it took great pains to make the estate a veritable paradise. One morning he went into the garden to inspect his favorite flowers. To his dismay he discovered that one of his choice beauties had been cut from its stem. Soon he saw that the most magnificent flowers from each bed were missing. Filled with anxiety and anger, he hurried to his fellow employees and demanded, "Who stole my treasures?" One of his helpers replied, "The nobleman came into his garden this morning, picked those flowers himself, and took them into his house. I guess he wanted to enjoy their beauty." The gardener then realized that he had no reason to be concerned because it was perfectly right for his master to pick some of his own prize blossoms.
Source Unknown.
On a bitterly cold January day several years ago, five-year-old Jimmy Tonglewicz chased a sled onto the glazed ice of Lake Michigan. In a blink of the eye he disappeared beneath the ice. The last words his dad heard were: "Save me, Dad!" Jimmy's panic-stricken father plunged into the freezing water, but the cold quickly rendered him helpless and he left the scene in an ambulance. For over twenty minutes Jimmy remained submerged beneath the icy waters. When his limp, lifeless body was pulled from the lake by divers, he had no pulse. But he had a lot going for him--especially the cold water! Scientists call what happened the "mammalian diving reflex." The shock of the cold water allowed Jimmy to live without breathing an abnormally long time. Slowly he came around, and today Jimmy lives a normal life.
Today in the Word, May, 1990, MBI, p. 9.
The courage of Civil War leader Stonewall Jackson in the midst of conflict can be a lesson for the believer. Historian Mark Brinsley wrote: A battlefield is a deadly place, even for generals; and it would be naive to suppose Jackson never felt the animal fear of all beings exposed to wounds and death. But invariably he displayed extraordinary calm under fire, a calm too deep and masterful to be mere pretense. His apparent obliviousness to danger attracted notice, and after the first Manassas battle someone asked him how he managed it. "My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed." Jackson explained, "God (knows the) time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter where it may overtake me." He added pointedly, 'That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave."
Mark Brinsley.
All ends with the cancellation of forces and comes to nothing; and our universe thus ends in one vast, silent, unappreciated joke.
Stephen Leacock, Canadian humorist, writer, professor.
Victoria Principal, a star of the Dallas, television program was nearly killed in an automobile accident when 19 year old. Upon recovering she said she had a new sense of her mortality, and rather than turning her thoughts to eternity, she abandoned herself to hedonistic living for the next two to three years. She didn't want to die having missed any of life's experiences.
Source Unknown.
When I moved to the U.S. I was impressed with the number of total strangers who visited my home to wish me well...they all sold insurance! One day my visitor was talking about the necessity to be prudent in the preparation for all possibilities. "If something should happen to you, Mr. Briscoe--" he started to say, but I interrupted with, "Please don't say that. It upsets me." He was a little startled, but tried again, "But with all due respects, sir, we must be ready if something should happen to us." "Don't say that," I insisted. He looked totally bewildered and said, "I don't understand what I said to upset you." "Then I'll tell you," I replied. "It upsets me that you talk about (Life's) only certainty as if it's a possibility. Death isn't a possibility, it's a certainty. You don't say "if," you say "When," whenever death is the subject."
D. Stuart Briscoe,Spirit Life.
George McDonald wrote to his sorrowing wife when their daughter died. He began by telling her that she wouldn't find consolation in lovely but empty sentiments that he called "pleasant fancies of a half-held creed." He then pointed out that the Great Shepherd had gone before and prepared the way for their daughter. McDonald reminded her that they were both moving along day by day toward that same destination. In closing, he said, "We seek not death, but still we climb the stairs where death is one wide landing to the rooms above."
George McDonald.
A Christian railroad engineer was speaking to a group of fellow workers about heaven. He said, "I can't begin to tell you what the Lord Jesus means to me. In Him I have a hope that is very precious. Let me explain. Many years ago as each night I neared the end of my run, I would always let out a long blast with the whistle just as I'd come around the last curve. Then I'd look up at the familiar little cottage on top of the hill. My mother and father would be standing in the doorway waving to me. After I had passed, they'd go back inside and say, 'Thank God, Benny is home safe again tonight.' Well, they are gone now, and no one is there to welcome me. But someday when I have finished my 'earthly run' and I draw near to heaven's gate, I believe I'll see my precious mother and dad waiting there for me. And the one will turn to the other and say, 'Thank God, Benny is home safe at last.'"
Source Unknown.
In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph. He didn't profess to be a born-again Christian, but it seems that he must have been influenced by Paul's teaching of the resurrection of the body. Here's what he wrote: The Body of B. Franklin, Printer: Like the Cover of an old Book Its contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Guilding, Lies here, Food for Worms, But the Work shall not be wholy lost: For it will, as he believ'd, Appear once more In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and amended by the Author.
Benjamin Franklin.
The hymn writer Fanny Crosby gave us more than 6,000 gospel songs. Although blinded by an illness at the age of 6 weeks, she never became bitter. One time a preacher sympathetically remarked, "I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you." She replied quickly, "Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?" "Why?" asked the surprised clergyman. "Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!" One of Miss Crosby's hymns was so personal that for years she kept it to herself.
Kenneth Osbeck, author of several books on hymnology, says its revelation to the public came about this way: "One day at the Bible conference in Northfield, Massachusetts, Miss Crosby was asked by D.L. Moody to give a personal testimony. At first she hesitated, then quietly rose and said, 'There is one hymn I have written which has never been published. I call it my soul's poem. Sometimes when I am troubled, I repeat it to myself, for it brings comfort to my heart.' She then recited while many wept, 'Someday the silver cord will break, and I no more as now shall sing; but oh, the joy when I shall wake within the palace of the King! And I shall see Him face to face, and tell the story--saved by grace!'" At the age of 95 Fanny Crosby passed into glory and saw the face of Jesus.
Source Unknown.
In his excellent little book When Loved Ones Are Taken in Death, Lehman Strauss made some interesting comments about the Greek word translated "departure." He wrote, "It is used metaphorically in a nautical way as when a vessel pulls up anchor to loose from its moorings and set sail, or in a military way as when an army breaks encampment to move on. In the ancient Greek world this term was used also for freeing someone from chains and for the severing of a piece of goods from the loom. This is what death is as described in the Bible. Here, we are anchored to the hardships and heartaches of this life. In death, the gangway is raised, the anchor is weighed, and we set sail for the golden shore. In death, we break camp here to start for heaven."
Lehman Strauss, When Loved Ones Are Taken in Death.
Statistics and Stuff
John Climacus, a seventh-century ascetic who wrote "Ladder of Divine Ascent", urged Christians to use the reality of earth to their benefit: "You cannot pass a day devoutly unless you think of it as your last," he wrote. He called the thought of death the "most essential of all works" and a gift from God. "The man who lives daily with the thought of death is to be admired, and the man who gives himself to it by the hour is surely a saint." "A man who has heard himself sentenced to death will not worry about the way theatres are run."
Gary Thomas, in Christian Times, October 3, 1994, p. 26.
Late faith is unavailing. There's little use accepting arks once the rain begins to fall. Death is such an instant storm that by the time you reach for an umbrella, you already need your water wings.
Calvin Miller,The Valiant Papers, p. 20.
Every hour 5417 people die.
Humor
A bank in Binghamton, New York, had some flowers sent to a competitor who had recently moved into a new building. There was a mix up at the flower shop, and the card sent with the arrangement read, "With our deepest sympathy." The florist, who was greatly embarrassed, apologized. But he was even more embarrassed when he realized that the card intended for the bank was attached to a floral arrangement sent to a funeral home in honor of a deceased person. That card read, "Congratulations on you new location!"
Our Daily Bread, May 25, 1992.
A young business owner was opening a new branch office, and a friend decided to send a floral arrangement for the grand opening. When the friend arrived at the opening, he was appalled to find that his wreath bore the inscription: "Rest in peace." Angry, he complained to the florist. After apologizing, the florist said, "Look at it this way -- somewhere a man was buried under a wreath today that said, 'Good luck in your new location.'"
Bits & Pieces, June 23, 1994, p. 4.
An evangelist asked all who wanted to go to heaven to raise their hands. Everyone in the audience did so, except one elderly man sitting near the front of the auditorium. The preacher pointed his finger at him and said, 'Sir, do you mean to tell us that you don't want to go to heaven?' 'Sure I want to go, but the way you put the question, I figured you were getting up a busload for tonight!'
Source Unknown.
"It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens."
Woody Allen.
Poems
I have no wit, no words, no tears;
My heart within me like a stone Is numbed too much for hopes or fears; Look right, look left, I dwell alone; I lift mine eyes, but dimmed with grief No everlasting hills I see; My life is in the falling leaf: O Jesus, quicken me.
My life is like a faded leaf,
My harvest dwindled to a husk; Truly my life is void and brief And tedious in the barren dusk; My life is like a frozen thing, No bud nor greenness can I see: Yet rise it shall--the sap of Spring; O Jesus, rise in me.
My life is like a broken bowl,
A broken bowl that cannot hold One drop of water for my soul Or cordial in the searching cold; Cast in the fire the perished thing, Melt and remould it, till it be A royal cup for Him my King: O Jesus, drink of me.
Christina G. Rossetti.
***
Fr. Tony Kadavil:
All Souls’ Day is a day specially set apart that we may
remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone for their eternal reward and
who are currently in a state of ongoing purification.
Ancient belief: 1) People of all religions have
believed in the immortality of the soul, and have prayed for the dead.
2) The Jews, for example, believed that there was a place of
temporary bondage from which the souls of the dead would receive their final
release. The Jewish catechism Talmud states that prayers for
the dead will help to bring greater rewards and
blessings to them. Prayer for the souls of the departed is retained by Orthodox
Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’sKaddish for
eleven months after the death of a loved one so that he/she may be purified.
3) Jesus and the apostles shared this belief and passed it
on to the early Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your
prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the
Roman catacombs (Lumen Gentium-50).
4) The liturgies of the Mass in various rites dating from
the early centuries of the Church include “Prayers for the Dead.”
5) The early Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice.
Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead,
advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine remarked that he used
to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: “When I die,
bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar”
(St Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book
11, Chapter 13 Sections 35-37).
6) The synods of Nicaea, Florence and Trent encouraged the
offering of prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidence to prove that
there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on
their souls.
8) Theological reason: According to Rv 21:27, “nothing
unclean shall enter heaven.” Holy Scripture (Prv 24:16) also teaches that
even “the just sin seven times a day.” Since it would be
contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls with venial sins in Hell,
they are seen as entering a place or state of purification, called Purgatory,
which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in
the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
Biblical evidence: 1) II Mc 12:46 is the main
Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of prayer and
sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Mc 12:39-46) describes how Judas, the
military commander, “took up a collection from all his men, totaling about
four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering” (II
Mc 12: 43). The narrator continues, “If he had not believed that the dead
would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them.”
2) St. Paul seems to have shared this traditional Jewish belief. At
the death of his supporter Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him
mercy on that Day” (II Tm 1:18). Other pertinent Bible texts: Mt
12:32, I Cor, 3:15, Zec 13:19, Sir 7:33.
The Church’s teaching: The Church’s official
teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of
purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification
can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). Some modern
theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming
encounter with Jesus Christ and His fire of love. They also speak of Purgatory
as an “instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from
soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual.
How do we help the “holy souls”? The Catechism
of the Catholic Church (CCC #1032) recommends prayer for the dead in
conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. It also
encourages “almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead.” Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed,
have Masses offered for them, visit their graves, and make daily sacrifices for
them.
Introduction: This is a day specially set apart that
we may remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone to their eternal
reward, and who are currently in a state of ongoing purification. From time
immemorial, people of all religions have believed in the immortality of the
soul, and have prayed for the dead. The Jews, for example, believed that there
was a place of temporary bondage from which the souls of the dead would receive
their final release. The Jewish Talmud states that prayers for the dead will
help to bring greater rewards and blessings to them. Since Jesus in no way
contradicted this ancient belief, the efficacy of prayers for those who have
died was incorporated by the infant Church into its teachings and practice.
Evidence suggests that the belief dates back to the first century of the
Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is
a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs (Lumen
Gentium 50). In addition, Mass liturgies dating from these early
centuries of the Church include “Prayers for the Dead.” Some of the earliest
Christian writings outside the New Testament, like the Acts of Paul and
Thecla and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity (both
written during the second century), refer to the Christian practice of praying
for the dead. Praying for the deceased members of the family as part of their
family night prayers was also an ancient practice of oriental Christians. The early
Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice which they believed had been
inherited from the Apostles. Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) wrote about the
anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands.
St. Augustine remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother,
remembering her request: “When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but
remember to pray for me at the altar” (St. Augustine of Hippo,Confessions, Book
11, Chapter 13 Sections 35-37).
Though the word Purgatory does not appear in Scripture,
neither do the words Trinity and Incarnation, yet
those doctrines are clearly taught in it. Likewise, Scripture teaches that
Purgatory exists, even if it doesn’t use that word.
Logical belief, supported by synods. The Catholic
Church teaches that not everyone who dies in God’s grace is immediately ready
for the Beatific Vision, that is, the direct experience of God and His perfect
nature in heaven. So they must be purified of “lesser faults,” and the temporal
punishment due to sin in a place or state of purification. The Catholic
teaching on Purgatory essentially requires belief in two realities: 1) that
there will be a purification of believers prior to entering Heaven and 2) that
the prayers and Masses of the faithful in some way benefit those in the state
of purification. The synods of Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of
prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidence to prove that there is a place
or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls.
According to Rv 21:27, “Nothing unclean shall enter Heaven” (cfr. also
Is 35:8 and Wis 7: 25). Holy Scripture teaches that even “the just sin
seven times a day” (Prv 24:16). Since it would be contrary to the
mercy of God to punish such souls in Hell, they are seen as entering a place or
state of purification, Purgatory, which combines God’s justice
with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion
of Saints. The Catholic Church understands the Communion of Saints as
a relationship of love joining the faithful, living and departed. The Saints,
both in Heaven and in Purgatory, pray for us, and we pray both
to the Saints in heaven for their intercession, and for those in Purgatory,
that they may swiftly enter the Beatific Vision. Thus, death is no barrier to
prayerful communion with the dead. We lovingly remember them and thank God for
their eternal reward. These souls can experience the love of Christ who frees
them from their imperfections. As the Second Vatican Council repeats, “fully
conscious of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the
pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has
cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead” (Lumen Gentium, n.
50). Said Pope St. John Paul II: “Before we enter into God’s
kingdom, every trace of sin within us must be eliminated, every imperfection in
our soul must be corrected.” (CCC #1030-1032).
Biblical basis: 1) II Mc 12:46 is
the main Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of
prayer and sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Mc 12:39-46), describes how
Judas, the military commander, discovered that those of his men who had died in
a particular battle had been wearing forbidden pagan amulets. His men at
once “begged that the sin committed might be fully blotted out” (II Mc
12:42). Judas then “took up a collection from all his men, totaling
about four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin
offering” (II Mc 12:43). The narrator continues, ”If he had not
believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless
to pray for them; whereas, if he had had in view the splendid recompense
reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. This
was why he had this atonement sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they
might be released from their sin” (II Mc 12:44-46). These
verses so clearly illustrate the existence of Purgatory that, at the time of
the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their
Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine. Not only can we show that
prayer for the souls of the departed was practiced by the Jews of the time of
the Maccabees, but it has even been retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite
a prayer known as the Mourner’sKaddish for eleven
months after the death of a loved one so that the loved one may be purified.
2) St. Paul seems to have shared this
traditional Jewish belief. At the death of his supporter
Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him mercy on that Day”
(II Tm 1:18).
3) Mt 12:32 hints at the possibility of
sins being forgiven after death, “in the age to come,” when
Jesus refers to the impossibility of forgiveness of sins against the Holy
Spirit. St. Augustine and St. Gregory interpret this phrase, “in the
age to come,” as a reference to Purgatory. Jesus’ statement that certain
sins “will not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come,”
at least suggests a purging of the soul after death. Pope St. Gregory (d. 604)
stated, “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final
Judgment, there is a purifying fire.” The Council of Lyons (1274) likewise
affirmed this interpretation of our Lord’s teaching.
4) In I Cor, 3:15, St. Paul speaks of a “test by fire” after
death to prove the worth of our work in this world: “But if your work
is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you
had escaped through the fire.” Several of the early Church Fathers
considered this a reference to a process of purification after death.
5) Zec 13:19 “And I will test the third that survives and
will purify them as silver is purified by fire.” The Jewish School of
Rabbi Shammai interpreted this passage as a purification of the soul through
God’s mercy and goodness, preparing it for eternal life. The Fathers of the
Church interpret the statement as a reference to Purgatory.
6) Sir 7:33“Withhold not your kindness
from the dead” The Jewish rabbis used to interpret this passage as
imploring God to cleanse the souls of the deceased.
The Church’s teaching:The Church’s official teaching
on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification
called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped
by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). In Lumen Gentium (50-52),
Purgatory is seen in the broader context of salvation and Heaven. Vatican
II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church asserts, “This sacred
council accepts loyally the venerable Faith of our ancestors in the living
Communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of
Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death; and it proposes again
the decrees of the Second Council of Nicaea, of the Council of Florence, and of
the Council of Trent” (No. 51). The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes
Purgatory as the “final purification of the elect, which is entirely
different from the punishment of the damned” (CCC #1031). “All who die
in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed
assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification,
so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (CCC-1030).
“Hope does not disappoint,” says St. Paul in today’s second reading. Purgatory
is a good-news, bad-news situation for those who are there. The good news is:
You are on the way to salvation. The bad news is: You have to suffer
temporarily as you prepare for the presence of God. But it is very different
from the pain of hell. Purgatory is suffering, but not torment. “The
souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them,”
says today’s first reading. Purgatory is an invention of our God of great
mercy, who never wants to give up on us. “And this is the will of the One who
sent me,” says Jesus in the Gospel, “that I should not lose anything of what
He gave Me, but that I should raise it on the Last Day.”
Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory
is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and His fire of love.
They also speak of Purgatory as an “instant” purification immediately after
death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each
individual. According to this view, the refining fire of Purgatory is only a
relic of medieval imagery. It is actually the fire of Divine love. It may, in
fact, be a form of “blazing enlightenment“ which
penetrates and perfects our very being. God can anticipate and apply the merits
of our present and future prayers for the dead, in favor of the souls we pray
for, at the time of their purification. Pope Benedict considers Purgatory as an
“existential state” and hence it is not necessarily accurate to speak of a
location or duration of Purgatory. According to Pope Benedict XVI, “the souls
that are aware of the immense love and perfect justice of God consequently
suffer for not having responded correctly and perfectly to that love.” It is
the suffering of the holy souls. He continues that Purgatory is thus “the
fringe of heaven, a state where Heaven’s eternal light has a refining effect on
the “holy souls” (not ‘poor souls‘), who are held in the
arms of Divine Mercy.”http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dWf_BtITG1Y .
How do we help the “holy souls”? The Catechism
of the Catholic Church (CCC # 1032) recommends prayer for the dead in
conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Pope Leo XIII in
his encyclical Mirae caritatis (1902), states, “The grace of
mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the Sacrament of
the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass], to
all who belong to the Communion of Saints. The Catechism also
encourages “almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead.” All these prayerful acts are to be conducted as
matters of Faith, and not as something magical. The greatest act is to offer
Mass for the dead, because in this One Sacrifice, the merits of our Lord Jesus
are applied to the dead. Hence, this reconciling offering of the Lord is the
greatest and most perfect prayer, which we can offer for the dead in their
state of purification. Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed, have
Masses offered for them, visit their graves, and make daily sacrifices for
them.
Let us raise this prayer to God: “God of infinite mercy, we
entrust to Your immense goodness all those who have left this world for
eternity, where You wait for all humanity, redeemed by the precious blood of
Christ Your Son, Who died as a ransom for our sins. Look not, O Lord, on our poverty,
our suffering, our human weakness, when we appear before You to be judged for
joy or for condemnation. Look upon us with mercy, born of the tenderness of
Your heart, and help us to walk in the ways of complete purification. Let none
of your children be lost in the eternal fire, where there can be no repentance.
We entrust to You, O Lord, the souls of our beloved dead, of those who have
died without the comfort of the Sacraments, or who have not had an opportunity
to repent, even at the end of their lives. May none of them be afraid to meet
You, after their earthly pilgrimage, but may they always hope to be welcomed in
the embrace of Your infinite mercy. May our Sister, corporal death, find us
always vigilant in prayer and filled with the goodness done in the course of
our short or long lives. Lord, may no earthly thing ever separate us from You,
but may everyone and everything support us with a burning desire to rest
peacefully and eternally in You. Amen” (Fr Antonio Rungi, Passionist, Prayer
for the Dead). (Taken from Pope Francis’ Angelus message on Nov. 2, 2014).
Testimony by Fr. Paddy: When I was young, the
devotion to the Holy Souls was very popular. People offered Masses for the Holy
Souls. On All Souls Day each Priest offered three Masses, people came in great
numbers for the Masses, and they visited the Church often during the day to
gain indulgences by their prayers. Even today relatives have Mass offered for
their loved ones on their anniversary, birthday, Christmas, and Easter. Sadly,
however, prayer for the Holy Souls is not as popular as in times past. If I
were to ask what is the best thing you can do for a loved one who has died what
would you say? A funeral to talk about them? A nice grave and headstone? A
tree, plant or a beautiful flower? Have a wonderful reception? Yes all those
things are nice. But the best gift is prayer because that is the only thing
that can help them on their journey to the Lord. I have put at the end of my
will, “Please don’t spend time talking about me, spend time praying for
me.” For it is a holy and wholesome thing to pray for the dead that
they may be loosed from their sin. (Oct 30, 2009) (sacredheartparish)
