A Bad Marketing Strategy

I just got this note from a religious order which will remain nameless, and I am flustered.

Recall that this is STILL the month where we pray for the souls of the Faithful Departed in order to relieve some of their temporal punishment while they are in Purgatory. The common ways to make restitution for the souls in Purgatory are to pray, fast, and give alms.

Now think about that last activity. A common way that people can offer prayers and give alms is to make donations to various religious orders (or the local parish) and have a Mass offered for the Faithful Departed. By doing this, we on earth can help the souls in Purgatory, and when they get to Heaven they can in turn pray for us.

Now if you were a member of a religious order which sent out cards which could be filled out to have Masses said for the Faithful Departed, and if you do this with the assumption that the donations that come in can assist your order financially, WHY WOULD YOU PUT IN A POEM LIKE THIS WITH THE CARD?

Safely Home

I am home in Heaven, dear ones;
Oh, so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in Heaven at last.

Did you wonder I so calmly
Trod the valley of the shade?
Oh! But Jesus’ love illumined
Every dark and fearful glade.

And he came Himself to meet me
In that way so hard to tread;
And with Jesus’ arm to lean on,
Could I have one doubt or dread?

Then you must not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still:
Try to look beyond earth’s shadows,
Pray to trust our Father’s Will.

There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idly stand;
Do it now, while life remaineth –
You shall rest in Jesus’ land.

When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you Home;
Oh, the rapture of that meeting,
Oh, the joy to see you come!

Yippee.

If I knew who wrote this I would record it here. They are probably too embarrassed.

The poem states that the deceased is in Heaven already. This would eliminate the need for the Masses said for one’s deceased relatives. If there is no need to pray for the souls in Purgatory(probably empty by now), then there would be no reason to send money to the order!

So I will stop sending my checks.

Please, after I die, find an order that will not suggest that I am kicking back in an easy chair by the pool outside of God’s mansion.

Instead, find an order or a priest that will remember me in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.