I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever." These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. (Jn 6:51-59)
Death is a reality which each one of us as individuals and as a family and as a society has to reckon with. When we lose our dear ones we feel so much that nothing in this world can console us at that moment. Prayer, at the moment of lose, is to change and console us. Prayer at that moment stirs our faith and celebrates our faith. In praying for the dead we do two things: we highlight our faith in the power of God and we hold up the life of the person who has died.(to let God take care of things).
We pray for the dead because we believe (and this is a doctrine, the communion of saints) that we are still in vital communion with them. There is still (in spite of death) a vital flow of life between them and us. We who believe in the resurrection after death, feel love, presence, and communication reach even through death. We and they can still feel each other, know each other, love each other, console each other and influence each other. This is what consoles us and probably consoles them too.
Jesus who was with the Father came into this world to create relationship with the people. After his death and resurrection he continued this relationship. He communicated with his followers still continues to communicate. It is this that makes think of the dead and make us communicate with them, love them. Relationship continues beyond death. For us believers Jesus is the link. His body and blood (which are life giving) make this link eternal.
