When a loved one or friend passes on...

This is what I sent to a friend this morning re: her dear friend who passed on last Saturday. I'm not posting this because I think it's so great, not at all, it isn't. But how I so desired and longed to tell her I was 'praying for' her friend, and 'praying for the repose of her soul.' You see, this friend is a devout Christian and an Evangelical. Like so many, she does not believe in praying for the dead, or praying for those who've 'passed on' because to her, and to me at one time, there was 'no sense' in praying for those who had died, as they were either in one place, or the other. Heaven or Hell. There was no such thing as Purgatory or anything close to such a 'strange thing' in my belief system.

Now that I'm a Catholic, that belief I once held, seems more foreign to me than ever! I LOVE the teaching of the Church on praying for those who have passed on, even if it's been years and years since they left us! Those prayers are never wasted, they're never said in vain for those who've gone on to the other side of the veil. I ask you to say a quick prayer for the repose of Marcia's soul. For if she was 'your' loved one, or friend, how wonderful it would be to know that even "strangers" or those Christian's from other faith persuasions were praying for your loved one. Come the day we all meet, I'd like to see those I've prayed for, even once from my heart, that I knew or didn't know here on earth,gathered around the Throne of God, praising and worshiping the Lamb that was slain for us all with all the blessed in the Communion of Saints!

"Wrap yourself up in His love today. Jesus weeps with those who weep.
I've been praying for you, for Ron and for Marcia's family. How I thank
God that He became Man. He shed his garment of righteousness and clad
Himself with skin. The 2nd Person of the Triune Godhead, became a human,
yet remained divine. A mystery indeed, but how much He did and does love
us! He became human to go through everything we go through, to FEEL
everything we feel, to be TEMPTED with all the temptations we're faced with, yet
with an intensity that we'll never know. How grateful we must be for so great a
love, until our spirits soar straight into His bosom, His most Sacred Heart,
where we'll never encounter another trial, never again feel fear, doubt,
hurt,grief,anger, pain. Where never again a tear will fall to our feet,
for they'll all be gathered in a bottle and cast far away, never to be known
again."

doctrine of purgatory/saints