Our Faithful Departed

Awarded third place in theology by the Association of Catholic Publishers and third place in grief and bereavement by the Catholic Media Association. When someone we love dies, it's difficult to look beyond our grief to understand that they are still with us. And yet we hear in the funeral liturgy that "life is changed not ended." In Our Faithful Departed, University of Notre Dame theologian Leonard J. DeLorenzo shows us what this means and how we are called to remain faithful in our relationships with the dead. "Those whom we have known and loved in this life we have only known and loved partially, imperfectly,” DeLorenzo writes. "In heaven, what has been partial shall be made complete, and what has been imperfect shall be perfected." He explains that the Catholic Church teaches that heaven is not so much a place as it is a perfect communion in Christ where the living and the dead are forever united. DeLorenzo relates his own story of the loss of his grandparents and shares heartwarming experiences from other Catholics—including Laura Kelly Fanucci, Stephanie DePrez, and John Cavadini—who have felt the connection with their lost friends and loved ones.