mulcahy (mulcahy) wrote in voicesinmyhead, @ 2007-12-17 12:34:00 |
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Current mood: | peaceful |
Entry tags: | mulcahy, prompt #23 |
Prompt #23: Afterlife
Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, what do you expect to find when you get there?
I believe those who die in God's grace and friendship live for ever with Christ. I believe in purgatory, where the souls of those who died in a state of grace are cleansed to be fit for Heaven.
I believe God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, will grant to the souls of His servants departed full remission of all their sins. I believe that through devout prayers, they may obtain the pardon which they have always desired.
When I was a parish priest in M*A*S*H 4077th, I gave the last rites to more people in three years than most parish priests ever do in a lifetime: young men, mostly, horribly dead of wounds.
When I first started working there, I realised that no one would listen to me unless I was in the OR: that was difficult. I'm not very good with blood. It was a whole year before I could bear to eat liver. I thought at first that I would pray - offer last rites if I was asked for them, pray for the patients when they lived. (Mostly they lived.) But I found that corporeal works of mercy were needed, more than my prayers, and besides, I could pray on the run, as it were: I could fetch x-rays and bring orange juice and sandwiches, or hold a retractor or bring a pint of blood. I'm not sure how useful I was, but at least I wasn't in the way. So many of the people I knew there are dead now.
You asked about what I expect to find.
I don't know. All the torments of hell, they say, but God's grace at the end. I hope for company on the road.
I pray for it.
(Eternal rest grant to them, dear Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.)