July 18, 2011 – Catechism 954-959

The three stages the communion of saints are in are here on Earth, those in Purgatory, and those in Heaven. But even though we are separate, we are still connected into the same Body of the Christ. This connection allows those in Heaven to intercede for us and lay our petitions before God. Many non-Catholics find the asking of intersession of the saints to be a hurdle that they are unwilling to accept. But does it make any sense that those in Heaven would not want to intercede for us. We believe they are in Heaven because they were people that lived lives so closely to God’s will that they receive the reward of eternal life washed in the majesty of God. Why would that stop once they get there. Yes, you can pray to God, Catholics do not say this isn’t something you shouldn’t do, but the understanding of asking those in Heaven to intercede for you is on par with asking your neighbor to pray for you. The only difference is that the person in Heaven is face to face with God and can bring your intercession in a very special way. Your neighbor can pray for you as well, but why limit yourself when it comes to prayer.
I have heard the argument that those in Heaven cannot possibly hear our request. Says who. They are intimately connected to God, who’s to say what abilities they have. Who are we to put limits on what God wants to do with those that are already in Heaven with Him. Eyes has not seen, nor ear heard, what God has in store, but they couldn’t have any more gifts than what a normal human has here on Earth. If that is the only basis to not ask the intersession of those in Heaven, then they have a poor and diminished view on the power of God and probably a very limited view on the glories of what is in store for us in Heaven.
Another thing that this brings to mind is the Catholic practice of praying for the dead. It seems that there is a an eagerness to put everyone in Heaven after they pass. There are many good people in the world, but are we really so secure in the fact that so many people will get to Heaven. Catholics, unlike other denominations, actually believes in a place after death where a person can go if they die in a state in which they are not completely ready for Heaven, but have not lived a life in which they have chosen Hell. Nothing that is imperfect can enter Heaven, but if your theology only believes in Heaven or Hell, there are very few that leave this world so free and clear as to be that prepared. Purgatory is a place in which a soul goes in order to be purified of what still clings to them when they die. We need to be purified in order to enter Heaven, there is no other way there. And if you of the belief that there is only Heaven and no Hell, then you are not following what the Bible expresses. The Bible does not mince words about the fact that there is a Hell and it also says that getting to Heaven is not an easy path. Catholics pray for the dead that we hope are on their way to Heaven, traveling in Purgatory, whatever that might look like, and we pray that their purification might be shortened so that they can enter Heaven sooner (however time may work in the afterlife). All of these beliefs seem absolutely logical and fitting to me.