Prayer for the faithful departed is one of the most misunderstood and neglected practices in the Church today by many people. I was also told that it explains one of the most misunderstood of Our Lords parables. That of the unrighteous steward.
1 And he said also to his disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods.
2 And he called him, and said to him: How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship: for now thou canst be steward no longer.
3 And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed.
4 I know what I will do, that when I shall be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
5 Therefore calling together every one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: How much dost thou owe my lord?
6 But he said: An hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
7 Then he said to another: And how much dost thou owe? Who said: An hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: Take thy bill, and write eighty.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.
9 And I say to you: Make unto you friends of the
mammon of iniquity; that when you shall fail,
they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.
10 He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater: and he that is unjust in that which is little, is unjust also in that which is greater.
11 If then you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon; who will trust you with that which is the true?
12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's; who will give you that which is your own?
I was taught that we are the unrighteous steward, and we see the end of our stewardship in that we will die, and it is only here on Earth where we get to be stewards. The steward is generous with his master’s money so that people will receive him when he loses his job. It is called unrighteous mammon because it does not belong to the steward, rather his master
We can see a parallel if we see the way the steward used the money and how we use the grace of God.
We are stewards of God’s grace, not possessors. It does not belong to us, it comes from God. If we take it and share it with others for their benefit, we will be well received when we enter eternity.
Whether we give alms here, forgive others their sin, offer mass, perform penance or indulgences for the dead, we are asking our fellow souls, how much do you owe my master? Quickly cancel that and write down this instead.
God has given us the stewardship of His grace, how we use it determines how we will be received.
Those in purgatory cannot pray for themselves, so any prayer or penance offered by us is greatly appreciated and spiritually powerful
The reason there is wailing and gnashing of teeth in eternity is that it is so simple to be well received. You mean all I had to do was say a prayer or let go of some material things that I really have no use for? O woe is me how dumb and greedy I was
Be generous while you have your stewardship, share the grace of God with anyone you can. It may not pay off here, but in the life to come, God will praise your cleverness as the worldly master praised the unrighteous steward
