To Christians, when someone dies, it is not the end of life. It is the beginning of a new life--eternal life. If Jesus' Resurrection doesn't convince you, there are these scripture verses.
Christians often ask for prayers for this or that, and even for one another. Presently, I am soliciting prayers for a friend's wife, who is in dire condition in ICU. Her name is Katie Field. Please pray for Katie Field, her seven children, and husband, Brandon this morning at your worship service. Her condition is dire, she needs a miracle, and your prayers make such a difference.
In addition to asking for your prayers, Catholics also ask Mary and the saints to join in our prayers. Remember, Mary and the saints, living in eternal life, are more alive than we are, and will pray too.
The family has also asked that when we pray, we specifically ask for the intercession of Venerable Antoinietta Meo. Antoinietta died when she was seven and is considered venerable.
Every one dies and in heaven is considered a saint. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us:
In the communion of saints, “a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things.”
In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the punishments for sin (CCC1475).
In other words, we pray for those in purgatory and heaven and they pray for us--communion of saints. But how do we know whether someone is in Purgatory, heaven or hell? The church has a process to determine without a doubt whether or not someone is definitely in heaven. This is the canonization process.
The process to prove sainthood requires a lot of paperwork and investigations. If miracles have incurred through a saint's intercession, the Vatican investigates.
Antonietta is interceding for Katie Field. Everyone is asking for Antonietta's intercession. Hopefully, through God's grace, Katie will be healed and the Vatican will add that miracle to Antonietta's canonization process. This is why, I ask you to pray for a miracle to heal Katie, through the intercession of Antonietta Meo.
