The Lord has made it clear through various Jewish traditions (see 2 Mc 12:43-44), the early Church (see Mt 12:32), and the Church Fathers that we should pray for those who have died. Because the Church prays for the dead at Mass each day, it is safe to say that the Holy Spirit leads us to pray daily for the dead. However, we need to ask the Holy Spirit how often each day we should pray for the dead. It is important to serve the dead as much as the Lord wills because they depend on us greatly and our prayers make a great difference for them.

St. Augustine preached: “There is no sort of doubt that the dead are helped by the prayers of Holy Church and the sacrifice of salvation, and by alms” (Sermon 172). St. Augustine exhorted us to show “solicitude and care and zeal in offering up for them those things which help the spirits of the departed — alms, and prayers, and supplication” (ibid).

Pray for the dead daily and as frequently as the Lord wills. “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.”

Philemon lost a slave named Onesimus (Phlm 11); when Onesimus ran away, it was a loss of an asset to Philemon. But then through the ministry of St. Paul, Philemon gained a brother in Christ (Phlm 16). Onesimus was lost as a slave and then was found as a brother (see Lk 15:32).

We lose our lives for Christ and, because of our surrender to Him, we consequently find our lives in Christ (Lk 9:24-25; Jn 12:25-26). For what does it profit us to gain the whole world and lose our lives? (Lk 9:24ff)

There is a strong link between loss of attachments, possessions, power, and status, and being “found” by Jesus, the Good Shepherd Who has come “to search out and save what was lost” (Lk 19:10; 15:4-5). We lose our old life and all that binds us to the world. In so doing, if we receive the Good Shepherd and allow Him to find us, we are “found”; we gain a new life.

Lose everything for Jesus. Let Him be your gain (Phil 3:8).

Saints see God, for they are pure in heart. They are pure as Jesus is pure (1 Jn 3:3). “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rv 7:14). “They are pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rv 14:4). Saints have been refined “like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord” (Mal 3:3). “By obedience to the truth,” saints “have purified” themselves “for a genuine love” of their brothers and sisters (1 Pt 1:22). Jesus has opened “a fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness” (Zec 13:1).

Therefore, “let us purify ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, and in the fear of God strive to fulfill our consecration perfectly” (2 Cor 7:1). Let us purify ourselves completely as soon as possible. Let us finish our purgatory before death and in the near future. This will please the Lord and make us more holy, free, and joyful. The more purified we are in our holiness, the deeper is our love for others and the greater is our service to them.

What the world needs now is what it has always needed — great saints. “Holy men and women have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult circumstances throughout the Church’s history. Today we have a tremendous need of saints, for whom we must assiduously implore God” (Consecrated Life, Pope St. John Paul II, 35). Be pure to be holy.