Why Pray for the Dead?

The other day I was asked (it wasn’t the first time) why we offer memorials for the dead if they have ‘finished’ and reached the objective? I get a variety of questions about praying for the dead, so today’s reading from Saint Paul is a good opportunity to take another look.

Brethren, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why am I in peril every hour? I protest, brethren, by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesos? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. But some one will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

1^st Corinthians 15.29-38

The initial inspiration for today’s post is the point that Saint Paul was making that being dead was not the end at all. We will each be raised by God. The rest of the inspiration comes from love. We are raised from the dead because God loves us.

We pray for the dead because we love them. While they are still alive, we never cease to pray for their health and salvation. Since earthly death is not the end, why stop just because the body is in the grave. The only thing that changes is, instead of health we pray for rest.

When we pray, we are not trying to change God’s mind. It would be arrogant to believe we had some power over God’s decision to save anyone. More often than not, our prayer changes our mind. Sometimes ‘just hearing’ the prayer reminds us of God’s love, and sooths our pain.

We pray for the dead because our hearts grieve the loss. Talking to God is the only connection we have to peace. Even at the funeral service we are reminded by Saint Paul not to grieve as “those who have no hope” (1^st Thessalonians 4.13) Without the funeral we may forget about hope.

It is easy to sink into ourselves and allow ourselves to be swallowed up by despair. When we pray for the dead God touches our heart and reminds us that He loves our loved ones and He loves us. Suddenly we are comforted, and ‘all’ we did was pray for the dead.

Maybe the most important thing to remember about prayer is that God already knows our hearts. He already knows what we will say. He already knows what we will do. When it comes to the dead, He already knows them too. God doesn’t need us to tell Him about our loved ones.

So, whether your friends are alive or in the grave, if you love them you will pray for them. Since death is not the end, there’s no reason to stop loving them.