Gospel Reflections for November 2 2014
What about our loved ones who have died?
Are they in Heaven? We hope so! Can we know for sure? Well …we can’t, but we can surely pray for them.
The only people the Church makes any claim at all about heavenly status are the saints, and only after a careful investigation that involves scientifically verified miracles based on their intercessions.
However, some might feel that they are already in trouble of ever having a heavenly reward. They believe they face insurmountable barriers according to the Church, such as those divorced and remarried, or those seeking gay marriage, or wanting to receive communion but cannot because of a long ago marital mistake.
They know Jesus clearly defined marriage as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, and affirmed marriage as a foundation of our faith. Many Church Councils over the years further developed inspiring images of this ideal that are all encouraged to achieve.
We all know the challenge to live up to those ideas, and it takes much prayer and the intercession of the saints to help us do so. Those who do are rightfully regarded as heroes of our faith and worthy of praise, whether they are officially designated as saints or not.
But they are not what the Synod on the Family is about. The Synod will seek wisdom about those who have not lived up to these ideals and yet struggle to do so as honestly as they can. They are the “wounded warriors” who sincerely want to live a virtuous life today. They are people I have met by the many thousands in my 36 years of Parish ministry.
Pope Francis remembered them when he described the Church itself as a “Field Hospital” for those faith-filled people wounded by bad relationships in the past or who have fallen short of ideals now. We cannot just leave them on the “battlefield” without our help. How can we help heal and restore them to the Lord?
The challenge Pope Francis has for all of us is to prayerfully discern how we can help those wounded warriors that is both genuinely helpful and faithful to the traditions we have directly from the Lord.
This All Saints weekend, Cardinal Muller, the Vatican’s chief theologian, will speak at a conference here at Notre Dame University that I will also attend. Perhaps he will indicate promising ideas as we all continue this prayerful and remarkably open discussion throughout this year until next October when the final session will be held in Rome.
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Thank you Father Dave. Keep up the great work.! I was listening to Father John Hampsch C.M.F. and he said. that the more a person gives love the healthier they are, and the people they are loving are. Keep loving even if you are not loved back in a way you would expect. You will be loved back but not by everyone and not in every circumstance. To be loved, love!
Hello! thanks for your kind comments, Pat. I appreciate them! Fr. Dave
Thank you Father Dave!
While we may never be deserving of God’s love, it is his gift to us. To see with the eyes of God is to see only the best in people. It makes for a happier life, too.
God Bless You!
Thanks for your message. Yes, God’s grace is a gift of love that we cannot say that we ever deserve but are always grateful to accept.
Only God knows if our loved ones are in Heaven, unless they communicate with us in another way. Scripture
teaches that one’s final salvation depends on the state of the soul at death. Since no defiled soul can enter
Heaven they may have to do some Purgatory as God sees fit.
Saints are examples of how to follow Jesus. They are joyful people who have shared in our humanity and were
transformed into the image of Christ revealing the face of Christ to us in extraordinary ways bringing a sense
of His Presence to us.
My take!
Well said! You are so right that the saints are joyful. that is one of the signs that the Church looks for in considering whether to pronounce someone a saint. God bless! Fr. Dave
Well said!
Hi Fr Dave,
So, during the Eucharistic Prayer when the priest states something like….remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to rest in the hope of rising again” or “all those that sleep in Christ” are not we acknowledging our dead are NOT in heaven yet? I know we like to say they are heaven because it is comforting but really, are we not waiting until the final judgment?
Teresa Schwartz
Yes, you are correct. We always hope that our loved ones are in heaven but we will never know until the end of our own life. The only people that we make any statement about anyone’s destiny are the saints, and then only after a lengthy scientific study of their life and several medically confirmed miracles. By the way, I apologize for my late response. I was away most of the last few weeks. God bless! Fr. Dave