For centuries there has been a lot of speculation about where a soul goes after someone dies. The common interpretation today is that regardless of whether someone lived a good or bad life, most of society generally considers that once dead, that person is in heaven. Please note that ‘a good life’ in the author’s sense is considered to be one that was lived in accordance with the teachings of Moses, Jesus Christ and the Holy Catholic Church. The author does not write to represent the full teaching of the Catholic Church but rather from the point of view of a lay Catholic.
Where does this concept of going straight to heaven come from regardless of one’s disposition at death? Was it from the Looney Tunes cartoons as they portrayed this? Is it because people are so saddened by the loss of their loved one that they can’t bear to think that the deceased could be anywhere other than Heaven? Has society ruled out the existence of Purgatory and Hell, but has maintained the belief in Heaven?
The concept of believers seems to be that when someone dies, they come face to face with Jesus, who will show them all the bad things they have done and all the good things they should have done throughout their lives. These things would determine the ultimate place, or more correctly, the ultimate ‘state’ of that soul. This is the Judgment of him. It seems more appropriate to refer to a soul as being in the ‘state’ of Heaven, Hell or Purgatory rather than ‘places’ because they exist in the spiritual realm that is outside of time and space.
Also, there is a concept among some that it is the decision of the person, or of the soul, during its Judgment (ie, after death) whether it chooses to be in Heaven or not. This ‘decision’ is much more likely to be made during one’s lifetime. The reason for viewing one’s life during the Judgment could be a way of showing that actions and decisions throughout his life have led to the person’s final decision of whether to be with God for all eternity or No. This would then show the great importance of living a good life and show that every responsible decision we make in life is the result of a ‘test’ that God presents us with. In other words, after death, it’s too late to decide!
According to the Catholic Church, one should generally pray for all the dead because unless there is some kind of special process that determines whether a soul is in Heaven or Hell, we simply don’t know. The process to determine if a soul is in Heaven is Canonization. If there is a process for determining whether or not a soul is in Hell, then it would only be safe to do so under the guidance of the Catholic Church with specially trained Catholic clergy. Anyone who attempts to contact the dead through séances and the like, in ways that are not taught by the Church, and who are not trained with a good foundation and understanding, exposes themselves to great danger! yourself and those around you! Please do not let your children play with such things!
So why does the Church pray for the dead? The Catholic belief (and all Catholics are required to believe this) is that any soul that is not damned but not cleansed of all sin cannot enter heaven. They go through a ‘state’ of the soul that we call Purgatory. Therefore, Purgatory can be described as a state in which the soul undergoes purification by voluntarily agreeing to be cleansed by the fiery love of God. According to Saint Faustina Kowalska, the greatest torment in Purgatory is the longing for God. This brings us to what humanity needs most: God’s mercy.
Jesus explained in the Diary of Saint Faustina that no matter how bad life gets, God’s mercy is so great that even at the last moment of life, if the person truly feels great remorse for the wrong he did to Throughout your life and honestly beg God to forgive you, God has promised that He would show you mercy, which would guide you on your way to finally being in Heaven. There is no way to fool God on this. His ‘foolishness’ is greater than our wisdom. That is why we should not judge anyone who has died. We should not say, “That person is in hell.” That would only prevent people from praying for the deceased. And the departed definitely want our prayers. They need our prayers to help them reduce their Purgatory so that they can enjoy the absolute bliss of spiritual perfection in the glory of Heaven with God the Father.
The greatest intercessor that the Church teaches us to get help from is the Holy Mother of God. Her role has been of the greatest importance since the incarnation of Christ. Invoking it frequently, especially towards the end of life, can offer great help as we pass from this life to Eternal Life.
More information on the message and devotion of God’s Mercy can be found at http://www.divinemercy.com.au.