Expert: Michael Clark, Ph.D. - 3/7/2004

Question
When we die, people say that they know that the deceased is looking down on them.  In the Bible, it says that we will "sleep" until Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead.  Do people believe they are being watched over in order to make themselves feel better about the passing of a loved one?  Or is there something I am missing?

As Catholics, we practice abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and Friday's during lent.  Since it does not say to do this in the Bible, where did we derive this tradition from.  In fact in the Book of I Timothy 4: 1-5 it specifically states that we should not turn away any food that God has given us, as long as we give thanks.  There is a major contradiction here!


Answer
Hello Brian,

Yours is an interesting question. Let's look at the first part. I'd say that it's possible that some people imagine the presence of a deceased person to comfort themselves. And I'd also say that some may be demonically deceived. But I'd also say that some may indeed feel the presence of a loved one. Putting aside my own opinions for a moment, the Church teaching is that the soul at bodily death can go to hell, purgatory, or heaven. Only later, at the end of the world does the soul *reunite* with a glorified body. This would mean that some of us could perceive the presence of a dead person's soul in moments of intercession, where that soul could be a mediator of grace for us here on Earth.* Why else would so many Catholics kiss relics and statues of saints and so on? Let's not forget that the saints were just people at one time. So the faithful down here are hoping for intercession. And the main point here is that we can all be saints. It just might take a while in this life and the next (i.e. purification in purgatory) before we're fully justified.

Now as for Ash Wednesday, it was an Old Testament custom to smear oneself in ashes as a sign of repentance. Now, we make different, perhaps more subtle, kinds of sacrifices to repent. Here's some historical material on Ash Wednesday:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01775b.htm

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of your question comes in your use of the word “tradition.” “Where do we derive this tradition from” you ask. I'm not sure if you're aware that the Church views its own tradition as one of two branches on the tree of life: The first branch is the Bible. The second branch is Tradition. The validity of the teaching tradition of the Church, for Catholics, comes from these passages of the Bible:

John 14,16; 14,26; 16,13;
Mt. 28,20
Acts 1,8
1 Tim, 3,15

Often what seems like a contradiction, so the Church will tell us, is really our misunderstanding. We're not looking at the full picture, they will say. When we independently select out verses of the Bible, we're subject to err. That's why we must have faith in the Church's ability to correctly interpret the entire body of scripture. To complicate the picture, however, the Church admits that it is not perfect in its temporal form. And when we look at history, we see certain teachings being “updated” with newer ones (e.g. Adam and Eve are not really taken literally any more—but they once were).

So I leave the question of contradiction with you. Bible scholars often quibble over different interpretations of the original Greek (NT) and Hebrew (OT). Some believe that with the presence of the Holy Spirit, even individuals like yourself and myself can get interpretations right—with or without a whole lot of scholarly background. But again, the risk here is in becoming some type of fundamentalist fanatic where instead of receiving God's word, one is playing out their psychological complexes. This of course, may be a part of God's plan of salvation too. But it's not the eternal truth. The last consideration (stance) is that interpretations of scripture may be situation-dependent. If I, for instance, were to read a line from Revelation today, it might apply to my circumstances in a meaningful way. And if you were to read that very same line tomorrow, it might apply to an entirely different set of circumstances for you.

I hope this helps. You question is pregnant with possibilities; it leads to many of the complex issues which face the Church and sincere seekers today.

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Endnote:

* Or vice versa, if the departed soul were in hell.