Pray for the Living and the Dead
“I believe in the … the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.”
Prayer is a gift of God and one of the most powerful ways we can support others. It connects us with Jesus who connects us with one another. As we acknowledge our dependence on God, we see ourselves connected to each other in Jesus Christ. This connection is not only of this earth. Like God’s love for us, it is eternal and connects us with those who have died. To pray for the living and the dead highlights the communion of saints and the reality of our eternal connection. It is the union of all of the members of the Church: those who are pilgrims on earth, those who have died and are preparing for heaven in purgatory, and the blessed in heaven, who are described as “saints,” thanks to their baptism. In our communion, we are called upon to pray for each other, an obligation that does not end with death. Below are suggestions to consider:
- Request a Mass intention for a friend or family member who is going through a tough time.
- Request a Mass intention for a friend or family member who has passed away.
- Keep your own book of prayer intentions, writing down the names of those who you are keeping in your prayers.
- Ask a friend or family member if there is anything you can pray for them about.
- Through prayer, entrust your cares and concerns for those around you to God.
- Study and reflect on the life of a saint.
- Pray for healing for those who have lost a child to abortion and for the souls of their unborn children. Pray also that more will come to understand that all life, from conception to natural death, is precious and a gift from God.
Stories of Service from Our Diocesan
Chaplains provide spiritual comfort to the sick - May 2022
Scripture
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).
“For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2: 5-6).
Bishop Robert Deeley
“One of the beautiful truths of our faith is the Communion of Saints. When we gather for the Eucharist, we are united with the whole Church, not only the living, but the dead as well. All of us are alive in Jesus Christ. All of us are alive in the love of God. This Communion between us and the whole Church, including our dear loved ones who have died, gives us a moment of remembrance of their kindness to us, of their love for us, and of how grateful we can be that they were in our lives. What is beautiful about this relationship is that we can continue to love them. In fact, they wait for our help. We help them with the aid of our prayers which arise out of our own trust in the promise of Jesus that he would be faithful to those the Father had entrusted to him. As Pope Paul VI taught ‘the merciful love of God is attentive to our prayers.’ It is our faith that the dead, though separated from the living, are still at one with the community of believers on earth and benefit from their prayers and intercessions. We are grateful for the loving family bonds, for the friendships we recall, for the memorable words and acts of kindness. We can commend them to God’s merciful care praying that each of them will be raised up and will be in heaven, where death will be no more.”
