Have you ever had a Mass offered for an acquaintance, friend, or loved one who has died? If you have, you are guilty of initiating the greatest, most efficacious gift we as human beings can give to someone who has died. Do you understand why I can make this definitive statement?

Before I answer my last question, let me do two things. First, tell you that I like the word efficacious. Its meaning---having the power to produce a desired effect---is the most appropriate word I can use on this topic. Second, ask you to indulge me as I fire one final question your way. Do Masses offered for the dead help those who are in heaven, hell, or purgatory? If you're not sure, take a guess before I give you the answer.

Those who have died and gone to heaven do not need help from anyone. They already live in the presence of God; and they are witnesses to the Beatific Vision. (Our Sunday Visitor Dictionary says that on earth, believers know God through faith and reason; in heaven, faith will disappear and God will be known as He is. The Beatific Vision is the clear, immediate, and intuitive knowledge of God granted to those in heaven. Jesus in His human nature enjoyed the Beatific Vision on earth. Good angels also experience this reality.) A burning desire should exist within us to ultimately live in the presence of the Beatific Vision.

Those who have died and gone to hell can no longer benefit from anything done for them here on earth; their eternal damnation cannot be reversed. They have freely chosen to reject God's grace and mercy. They will forever suffer through the absence of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states in paragraph 1033, "We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love Him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against Him, against our neighbor or against ourselves...To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from Him forever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'hell.'" [Emphasis added by author.]

Masses offered for the dead can only help those in purgatory. Neither those in heaven nor in hell can benefit from anything we do. When the CCC talks about purgatory, it reminds us that "From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice (the Mass1), so that, thus purified, they may attain the Beatific Vision of God." [1 added by author] Those in purgatory know that they will spend eternity with God in heaven; but their soul must first be cleansed from venial sin and the temporal punishment due to confessed mortal sin.

It is a worthy and Christian endeavor to make a monetary donation to medical research to help discover a cure to the disease that took the life of a friend or loved one. Likewise, it is a worthy and Christian undertaking to help care for those who have lost a friend or loved one. But the most direct way to help the deceased is to have a Mass offered for them. You see, Christian baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit makes us members of the Body of Christ. We remain a member of the Body of Christ unless we enter hell. This Body of Christ consists of the Church militant, the Church suffering, and the Church triumphant: respectively, those on earth, those in purgatory, and those in heaven. Jesus Christ---God Himself---is the phone line through which communication flows between the three groups.

When a Mass (the source and summit of the whole Christian life) is offered for a deceased member of the Body of Christ, Jesus represents His passion, death, and resurrection on Calvary to His Father and our Father in heaven. Death does not separate us from those we love who are in heaven or purgatory. Saint Paul proclaims in Col 1:24, "Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the affliction of Christ on behalf of His Body, which is the Church." Not only has Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection won eternal salvation for everyone, but our suffering on earth, our faithfulness to Christ and His Church, our active participation in the Mass can help those in purgatory with their purification.

The Church does not judge the state of a person's soul, except in two cases: one, the saints who it canonizes; and two, those who die after baptism and do not reach the age of reason. Therefore, unless your loved one falls into one of these two categories, we cannot know with certainty whether he or she is in heaven, hell, or purgatory. Always assume he or she is in purgatory. If he or she isn't, the Church teaches that God will use our prayers and Mass participation for others who are there.

As a deacon, I have been involved with a growing number of funerals; and I've talked with a growing number of priests about funerals. Most of these priests and I agree that too many Catholics make the misguided assumption that their loved one is in heaven. The Church warns all believers to guard against this misguided inclination to make their loved one a saint. Only God knows the heart of each of us. Even the Church, in her sacred funeral liturgies, avoids words that might mislead those who are mourning into thinking their friend or loved one is in heaven. Instead, the Church speaks in terms of hope and calls on the mercy of God.

The Church is Jesus' voice on earth. As faithful Catholic Christians we are called to listen to her and trust her. Therefore, let us continuously offer Masses for those who are members of the Church suffering.

For more insight read CCC paragraphs 163, 946-48, 954, 958, 1023, 1028, 1030-33, 2548, 2550. Also, pull out your "Catholic" Bible and reference 2 Macc 12:46; Job 1:5; Mt 25:31-46; Jn 14:7-14; 1 Cor 3:15; 15:25-27; Eph 4:15-16; Heb 36; 1 Jn 3:13-15; Rev 22:10-17.