Ministry to the Bereaved
Part 3 Theological Issues

Chapter f32 What Happens After Death?

Preliminary Questions

How would you answer the question:  What happens to us after we die?  How is your answer to this question influenced by your image of God (just judge, loving parent, immutable supreme being, etc.)?  How is it influenced by your image of Jesus?

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Bibliography

See the bibliography given in Chapter f17 General Bibliography For Funerals and Ministry to the Bereaved

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The Particular Judgment

1.  Seeing Christ face to face  When I was studying graduate theology at Notre Dame, Professor Josef Goldbrunner (Holiness is Wholeness)  ask us to consider what the consequences of that encounter might be.  Might that first loving glance inspire so great a loving response that the heart would be so filled with love that there would no room for any evil or imperfection.  He told the story of a man who had lead a terrible life and when he saw Christ face to face he was filled with love and conversion and cried out:  "So that's who you are!  If only I had seen you earlier!  I never saw you on earth; I only saw Christians."  

2  Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)

1021  Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming [ i.e. the General Judgment; see below] but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith [i.e.the Particular Judgment].  The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul---a destiny which can be different for some and for others. 

TRichstatter Commentary:   New Testament texts lead theologians to make some "model" which can consistently explain disparate data.

1022  Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven---through a purification or immediately,--- or immediate and everlasting damnation.

TRichstatter Commentary:  Note how CCC 1021 speaks of "The General Judgment" and "The Particular Judgment."   The former is worked out from various scripture passages about the second coming and the parables, e.g. the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25.  The Particular Judgment is worked out to explain what happens between the individual's death and the end of the world.  Of course, this presumes that while we here on earth are "in chronological time" those who have passed from chronos to the kairos where there is no past present and future still have to do something while they are "waiting."   These theories also depend on the body/soul understanding of personhood.  Note that CCC1022 says that we enter into heaven or damnation -- and we enter into heaven either immediately or "through a purification" -- this is elaborated in the theory of purgatory.

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Heaven

1.  We believe that there is a heaven and that there are people there (Lex orandi:  e.g. Feast of the Ascension of the Lord).  We believe that there is a hell; but we have no liturgical evidence that anyone is there.

2.  Catechism of the Catholic Church

1023 Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they "see him as he is," face to face 

By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints . . . and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when they died, . . . or, if they then did need or will need some purification, when they have been purified after death, . . .) already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgment---and this since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven---have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.⁵⁹⁹

1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity---this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed---is called "heaven." Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.

1025 To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." The elect live "in Christ," but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name.

1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has "opened" heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.

1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."

1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man's immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory "the beatific vision"

1029 In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God's will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him "they shall reign for ever and ever."

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The Final Purification, or Purgatory

1.  Images:  While the definition of purgatory is in our conscious self (top part of the iceberg), the word brings images to mind (below the iceberg) in our sub-conscious.  After we die we have no "body"; therefore, images of fire, etc. are not applicable.   Also once we pass through death, concepts of past, present, future are no longer applicable.  In eternity, there is no time.  Often in our imagination we think of purgatory of just like hell, only shorter.  [And if after death, the Blessed Virgin Mary went straight to heaven, some people go to Hell, and most of us go to purgatory--which is just like hell, only shorter--no wonder people are afraid to die!]

2.  Theology:  Faith and Good Works  Note that we are saved through the Pascal victory of Jesus.  Our understanding of purgatory must not cause us to think that we earn salvage.

3.  Biblical Issues Salvation in Christ does not "exempt us from the world."  We must be concerned with this life.  It is a form of pseudo-religion that is preoccupied with what happens after death. 

4.  Catechism of the Catholic Church - Purgatory

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.⁶⁰⁶ The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:⁶⁰⁷ 

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.⁶⁰⁸

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."⁶⁰⁹ From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.⁶¹⁰ The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for       the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.⁶¹¹

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Limbo

International Theological Commission (May 27, 2007) The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized

Lawrence Landini. "Baptismal Practices in Catholic Hospitals: A Theological Reflection on Canons 752 and 750," The Jurist (1975) 296-309.

John H. McKenna, "Infant Baptism: Theological Reflections," Worship May 1996. 70:3, p 199.

W. H. Shannon, "The Catechism of the Catholic Church," America 168 (5 June 1993) 8-9. 

1.  Lex Orandi   Limbo is a way to tie up one of the "loose ends" brought about by the theory of Original Sin.  In 1972 during class at the Institut Supérieur de Liturgie, Dr. Professor P.-M. Gy, OP, [director of the institute and one of the principal authors of our current Order of Christian Funerals]  said that according to the principle Lex orandi the Church affirms that the "theory of limbo" is no longer necessary or useful.  Examine the theological presuppositions of the following prayers for infants who die before baptism.

O Lord, whose ways are beyond understanding,
listen to the prayers of your faithful people:
that those weighed down by grief
at the loss of this [little] child
may find reassurance in your infinite goodness.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen. (OCF 282 C)

God of all consolation
searcher of mind and heart,
the faith of these parents [N. and N.] is known to you.
Comfort them with the knowledge
that the child for whom they grieve
is entrusted now to your loving care.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen. (OCF 282 D)

2.  Contemporary Theological Reflection  Even without the above argument (which I believe is conclusive in itself), scripture scholars and systematic theologians pointed out that 1) to believe that the Original Sin of Adam can come to the infant without any intervention on our part and 2) to believe that the Salvation of the Second Adam cannot come to the infant without human intervention (water and the formula of baptism) is to make the First Adam more powerful than the Second Adam -- which in effect puts the sting back into death! 

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man – Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come – and death came through sin ... But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many ... If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:12-19 passim)

"Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (I Cor 15:54-55)

"Vatican II has taught that even a person who has no explicit knowledge of Christ can somehow, aided by God's grace, ratify his condition as redeemed by the second Adam.  In the case of an infant which comes into this world tainted by the sin of Adam and redeemed by the obedience of Christ the situation is different.  But the child comes into the world oriented towards God as a supernatural destiny.  I cannot help but wonder why the objective salvation of Christ cannot gratuitously actualize the condition of redemption should the infant die without baptism.  I would hope that the condition of condemnation of the first Adam would not be dominant over the victory of the second Adam, thereby putting the sting back into the mystery of death."  (Dr. Lawrence Landini, O.F.M. "Baptismal Practices in Catholic Hospitals:  A theological Reflection on Canons 752 and 750,"  The Jurist,1975:2/3, pp 306-307.)

3.  Catechism of the Catholic Church   This understanding that limbo disappears with the publication of the Order of Christian Funerals is incorporated into the Catechism of the Catholic Church

As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all  should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them," (Mk 10:14; cf. 1 Tim 2:4) allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism.   (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1261)  [Note that the word "Limbo" is completely unknown to the text of the CCC; the word is never used.]

4.  Reaction to the Papal Commission  International Theological Commission (May 27, 2007) The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized  the Papal Theological Commission arrived at the above understanding.   Shortly after this decision was published a former student brought to my attention a related article in the L.A. Times.

Some Catholics have criticized any effort to relegate limbo to oblivion. Removing the concept from church teaching would lessen baptism's importance and discourage the christening of infants, said Kenneth J. Wolfe, a Washington-based columnist for the traditionalist Catholic newspaper the Remnant. "It makes baptism a formality, a party, instead of a necessity," Wolfe said. "There would be no reason for infant baptisms. It would put the Catholic Church on par with the Protestants." It would also deprive Catholic leaders of a tool in their fight against abortion, he added. Priests have long told women that their aborted fetuses cannot go to heaven, which in theory was another argument against ending pregnancy. Without limbo, those fetuses presumably would no longer be denied communion with God.

Commentary:  "We baptize infants for what baptism gives; not merely for what it takes away" (Rev. Kurt Stasiak, O.S.B.).  Surely we do not invite parents to have their children baptized merely by threatening them with a vengeful God who condemns innocent infants to hell!  This is not only a deficient view of Baptism, but a very deficient view of God!   

Code of Canon Law:  The Code of Canon Law takes account of these developments:

Can. 1183  §1 As far as funeral rites are concerned, catechumens are to be reckoned among Christ's faithful.

Can. 1183  §2 Children whose parents had intended to have them baptized but who died before baptism, may be allowed Church funeral rites by the local Ordinary.

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Hell

1.  Lex Orandi   Note how we pray for the dead at the Eucharist:

Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon) "Remember, Lord, those who have died and have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, especially those for whom we now pray, N. and N. May these, and all who sleep in Christ, find in your presence light, happiness, and peace.

Eucharistic Prayer II  "Remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again; bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence."

Eucharistic Prayer III  "Welcome into your kingdom our departed brothers and sister, and all who have left this world in your friendship."

Eucharistic Prayer IV  "Remember those who have died in the peace of Christ and all the dead whose faith is known to you alone."

Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I [TRR:  There is no separate petition for the departed; they are included in the following prayer.]  "Help us to work together for the coming of your kingdom, until at last we stand in your presence to share the life of the saints, in the company of the Virgin Mary and the apostles, and of our departed brother and sisters whom we commend to your mercy."

Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II [TRR:  Again, no explicit prayer for the dead]  "In that new world where the fullness of your peace will be revealed, gather people of every race, language, and way of life to share in the one eternal banquet with Jesus Christ the Lord."

Eucharistic Prayer for Children I   [TRR:  In the three Eucharistic Prayers for Children the mention of the dead is very brief in prayers I and II and only implied in III. But note that in all three prayers we are praying for ALL those who have died.]   "... and we pray for those who have died."

Eucharistic Prayer for Children II "Remember those who have died. Bring them home to you to be with you for ever."

Eucharistic Prayer for Children III "Bring us all at last together with Mary, the Mother of God, and all the saints, to live with you and to be one with Christ in heaven."

Eucharistic Prayer for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions: I. The Church on the Way to Unity "Be mindful of our brothers and sisters [N. and N.] who have fallen asleep in the peace of Christ, and all the dead whose faith only you can know. Lead them to the fullness of the resurrection and gladden them with the light of your face."

Eucharistic Prayer for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions: II. God Guides the Church on the Way of Salvation  "Be mindful of our brothers and sisters [N. and N.] who have fallen asleep in the peace of Christ, and all the dead whose faith only you can know. Lead them to the fullness of the resurrection and gladden them with the light of your face."

Eucharistic Prayer for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions: Eucharistic Prayer for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions: III. Jesus, Way to the Father  "Be mindful of our brothers and sisters [N. and N.] who have fallen asleep in the peace of Christ, and all the dead whose faith only you can know. Lead them to the fullness of the resurrection and gladden them with the light of your face."

Eucharistic Prayer for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions: IV. Jesus, the Compassion of God  "Be mindful of our brothers and sisters [N. and N.] who have fallen asleep in the peace of Christ, and all the dead whose faith only you can know. Lead them to the fullness of the resurrection and gladden them with the light of your face."  [TRR:  The prayer for the dead is the same in all four prayers because there is actually only one prayer, the Eucharistic Prayer for the Swiss Synod translated from French into English.  The prayer has variable prefaces and variable anamnesis.  The USCCB thought that priests in the USA would not be familiar with the structure of the Eucharistic Prayer and know how to insert these variable parts and so they instructed the publishers to print the prayer as four prayers with no variable parts.]

Eucharistic Prayer "A"  Lord of the living and the dead, awaken to the undying light of pardon and peace those fallen asleep in faith, especially (N. and ) those who have died alone, unloved, and unmourned.

2.  Informal Survey  Years ago when I taught the core course on the Sacrament of Reconciliation I asked the participants to fill out an informal, anonymous survey.  The questions ask a variety of questions: if they celebrate the sacrament with the first form (individually) or with the second form (a community service with individual confession and absolution); if they have a spiritual director; is the spiritual director the same as their confessor; etc.  At the end of the survey there were two questions pertinent to this course (anointing and funerals).  Question 13 and 14 asked:

13.  A person who is conscious having committed grave sin is not to receive the Eucharist without prior sacramental confession. In your estimation how many grave sins does an average Catholic commit during an average lifetime?

0 --- 1 --- 2 --- 5 --- 25 --- 50 --- 100 --- 500 --- 1000 --- 3000 --- 5000 --- 5000+

14. At the end of time (e.g. after the "Last Judgment") what percent of the human race do you think will be will be in heaven and what percent in hell?

Heven25%	50%	75%	90%	95%	100%
Hell 75%	50%	25%	10%	5%	0%

I ask these questions knowing full well that no one knows the answer to either question.  And I explain that to the participants.  What I don't tell them before announcing the results of the survey is the relationship between these two questions and their "under the iceberg" configuration of their image of God. 

In the results posted below

Group A are the responses from several groups of transitional deacons who took the survey between 1997 and 2002.

Group B are the responses from a group of priests, deacons, men and women religious, and parish leaders of a large northern diocese during a workshop on the Sacrament of Reconciliation in 1999.

Group C are the responses from a group of priests, deacons, men and women religious, and parish leaders from several southern states during a workshop on the Sacrament of Reconciliation during 1999.

Group D are the responses in 2002 from lay parish leaders from one of the parishes listed by Paul Wilkes in his book Excellent Catholic Parishes. 

Group E are the responses from a group of parents of children preparing to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time in 2002 in a midsize parish in the Midwest. 

13. A person who is conscious having committed grave sin is not to receive the Eucharist without prior sacramental confession. In your estimation how many grave sins does an average Catholic commit during an average lifetime?

0 --- 1 --- 2 --- 5 --- 25 --- 50 --- 100 --- 500 --- 1000 --- 3000 --- 5000 --- 5000+

Comment:  I find it interesting that students who have had nearly identical intellectual and spiritual formation over the course of a number of years can have such a range of opinions on this issue.  It is also interesting that seminarians seem more ready to see sin than do the laity.  Is this because the laity have lost the sense of sin?  Or is it because, as parents themselves, they have deeper understanding of the parental love of God?

14. At the end of time (e.g. after the "Last Judgment") what percent of the human race do you think will be will be in heaven and what percent in hell?

Comment:  The way one answers this question depends primarily on one's image of God. 

3.  Catechism of the Catholic Church - Hell

1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."⁶¹² Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.⁶¹³ To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna," of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.⁶¹⁴ Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,"⁶¹⁵ and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"⁶¹⁶

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."⁶¹⁷ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."⁶¹⁸ 

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth."⁶¹⁹

1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;⁶²⁰ for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance":⁶²¹ 

Father, accept this offering
from your whole family.
Grant us your peace in this life,
save us from final damnation,
and count us among those you have chosen.⁶²²