A Penitent Blogger
In the hand of God
Why pray for the dead? They’re dead and nothing can alter how God will judge them.
The answer lies in the heart of the mystery of prayer: our prayer does not change the will of God, but rather helps to change us and to enable us to participate spiritually in the unfolding of God’s will.
Thus we who mourn, who experience the loss of someone who has died, reach out to God in prayer and place the person who has died in God’s loving hands, together with all of the feelings we have at this passing.
Of course, they are already in God’s hands, as we hear in one of the readings provided for All Souls Day (Wisdom 3:1-9):
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and there shall no torment touch them.
In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die:
and their departure is taken for misery,
And their going from us to be utter destruction:
but they are in peace.
For though they be punished in the sight of men,
yet is their hope full of immortality.
And having been a little chastised,
they shall be greatly rewarded:
for God proved them,
and found them worthy for himself.
By our prayerful action of placing the dead in the hand of God, we are ultimately placing ourselves in God’s hands, as well as uniting ourselves with his loving, saving will that embraces the dead in perfect justice and infinite mercy.
And as we hear in one of the Gospels provided for this day (John 6:37-40), in the hands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ there is eternal life and absolute security for his faithful ones:
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.
In manus tuas, Domine,
commendo spiritum meum
The answer lies in the heart of the mystery of prayer: our prayer does not change the will of God, but rather helps to change us and to enable us to participate spiritually in the unfolding of God’s will.
Thus we who mourn, who experience the loss of someone who has died, reach out to God in prayer and place the person who has died in God’s loving hands, together with all of the feelings we have at this passing.
Of course, they are already in God’s hands, as we hear in one of the readings provided for All Souls Day (Wisdom 3:1-9):
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and there shall no torment touch them.
In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die:
and their departure is taken for misery,
And their going from us to be utter destruction:
but they are in peace.
For though they be punished in the sight of men,
yet is their hope full of immortality.
And having been a little chastised,
they shall be greatly rewarded:
for God proved them,
and found them worthy for himself.
By our prayerful action of placing the dead in the hand of God, we are ultimately placing ourselves in God’s hands, as well as uniting ourselves with his loving, saving will that embraces the dead in perfect justice and infinite mercy.
And as we hear in one of the Gospels provided for this day (John 6:37-40), in the hands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ there is eternal life and absolute security for his faithful ones:
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.
In manus tuas, Domine,
commendo spiritum meum
posted by Penitens | 10:06 AM
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