{"id":20044,"date":"2009-08-28T21:55:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-29T02:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=20044"},"modified":"2022-09-19T17:12:10","modified_gmt":"2022-09-19T22:12:10","slug":"is-it-proper-to-have-rituals-such-as-masses-for-those-who-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-proper-to-have-rituals-such-as-masses-for-those-who-died\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it proper to have rituals, such as masses, for those who died?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I have a handful of questions about the dead. Is it okay to have masses for the dead? My uncle just past away a few days ago and as relatives, we have to attend the funeral wake for several days. What does the Bible say about people who have passed on along with the rituals performed? Is there a sin in performing such ceremonies? Are there any wandering spirits here on earth, or they are either in heaven or hell? I hope you understand what I am trying to say. It somehow bothers me to attend funerals along with the ceremonies, although I hope to see my relatives in heaven soon.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Let’s work through each of your questions.<\/p>\n

First, masses are a Roman Catholic Church tradition. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that after death people must be purified by paying off the punishments for all temporal sins committed in life. This is done by spending an indefinite period of time in a realm they call purgatory. One of the reasons Catholics seek confession of their sins to a priest is to be absolved of their venial sins so that their time in purgatory is lessened. Masses are said for the dead and candles are lit to help speed up the process so that loved ones spend less time in purgatory. Many Catholics accept this teaching, never realizing that none of this appears in the Bible; it is solely the imaginary doctrine of men and not a teaching of God.<\/p>\n

There is no mention of purgatory in the Bible; there is no mention of a realm where people pay for sins through punishment; there is no mention of masses; nor is there mention of lighting candles for the dead. We should consider then the warning of Christ, “And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men<\/em>” (Matthew 15:9). It should also be noted that masses and candle lighting are items purchased by the family from the Catholic church. There are reasons why the Roman Catholic church advocates doctrines not found in the Scriptures.<\/p>\n

Every culture has its traditions regarding major events in life, such as birth, marriage, and death. The traditions are not necessarily wrong, but they can become wrong if they are viewed as religious requirements by God when God didn’t say anything about them. So a tradition of staying with the body of someone who passed away until they are buried isn’t wrong. It doesn’t do anything for the person since they have already departed this life, but it does show respect for the person and his family.<\/p>\n

The Bible doesn’t teach that the spirits of the dead roam the earth. “Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7). God says that once you die you return to Him. Your empty vessel, your body, which once contained your spirit, is all that remains on this earth. In regards to where the dead go, see: “When you die, do you go straight to heaven or hell?<\/a>“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I have a handful of questions about the dead. Is it okay to have masses for the dead? My uncle just past away a few days ago and as relatives, we have to attend the funeral wake for several days. What does the Bible say about people who have passed on along with the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[109,287,284,440,1599],"class_list":["post-20044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-death","tag-mass","tag-purgatory","tag-rituals","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5142,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-a-person-who-dies-at-the-same-hour-as-christ-go-straight-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":20044,"position":0},"title":"Will a person who dies at the same hour as Christ go straight to heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I heard at Mass, during the Liturgy, that one of our church members died about 3:00 on Divine Mercy Sunday. The priest explained that she will go straight to heaven, for having died during the third hour, the hour in which Christ breathed His last breath. I have been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69530,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/church-and-state-rituals\/","url_meta":{"origin":20044,"position":1},"title":"Church and State: Rituals","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Mark 7:1-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In a world where being born in a region determined your religious faith, the Christian approach was novel \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Christians taught a message from God to bring people into the church - Mark 16:20 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It wasn\u2019t just taking people at their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19904,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-you-saying-that-roman-catholicism-is-not-legitimate\/","url_meta":{"origin":20044,"position":2},"title":"Are you saying that Roman Catholicism is not legitimate?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In one of\u00a0your articles,\u00a0you state:\u00a0\"But I would like you to note that the core of the argument is that the doctrines of the Bible could be modified to suit local customs --\u00a0a long-standing Roman Catholic practice.\" My entire family is Roman Catholic and I was raised in the Catholic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9549,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-you-hear-that-the-catholics-voted-away-limbo\/","url_meta":{"origin":20044,"position":3},"title":"Did you hear that the Catholics voted away limbo?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would just simply like to thank you for the time and research you put into studying what the Catholics believe and using Scripture to refute it.\u00a0 I didn't really know a lot about the Catholic religion until I attended an event where a Catholic man did some basketball\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59745,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sola-scriptura-or-sola-papa\/","url_meta":{"origin":20044,"position":4},"title":"Sola Scriptura or Sola Papa?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chuck Durham via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 7, No. 9, Sept. 2007. Pope Benedict XVI released a Vatican document on July 10, 2007, that reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church as providing the only true path to salvation. The document claims that the Roman Catholic Church is the only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32280,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-you-get-your-facts-what-you-say-about-roman-catholic-beliefs-doesnt-match-what-i-was-taught\/","url_meta":{"origin":20044,"position":5},"title":"Where did you get your facts? What you say about Roman Catholic beliefs doesn’t match what I was taught.","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, As a fresh convert to Catholicism, I have some questions regarding the information on your site. What I learned directly from my parish priest contradicts several things you state in \"What is wrong with Catholicism?\", particularly at the end of your article. I want to say right now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}