Spiritual redemption comes from accepting Christ.
Completing his list would be a nice thing to do. That is it.
Maybe he thought you needed redemption too.
We Catholics pray for the dead to become redeemed and go to heaven. Carrying out someone’s wishes seems pretty simple.
To the ones that are dead, both people and organizations, a probably crazy idea would be to write about it so people can learn and appreciate all of it.
Leave the list for your next of kin to do. Hand it to them on your death bed with regrets that you didn’t accomplish it. In the meantime enjoy your life and serve the living.
Jesus told his disciples to let the dead bury the dead.
Maybe he chose you because he was a good judge of character and knew you would take this request seriously. Do not overburden yourself with doubt. Do the best you reasonably can. After that, dispose of any remaining funds in a manner consistent with the desires of your cousin or his intended beneficiaries, as best you can. Do not keep a penny or you will be plagued with guilt the rest of your life.
God bless you.
Can't find the lawyer, start with the first child listed in the obit, that's usually going to be the executor, and ask if any estate was opened (ie, a lawyer). No estate, talk to the heir directly.
Companies, even oob companies would still likely have a Registered Agent in their respective state database.
Or you could turn over the whole thing to an estate lawyer who has their head screwed on straight.
One must accept Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior, while alive. The Bible says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” You cannot rectify this; all of us are called to surrender our walk to Jesus Christ Himself, individually, while alive.
That was his quest to fulfill, not yours. He committed the wrongs he was seeking to right, you didn’t. He did what he could do to make amends while alive, for the rest he must rely on God’s mercy.
This sounds like some kind of weird control-freak move by your cousin or whoever’s bringing you this list.
My advice? Select a few charities that would benefit people from similar backgrounds or those now in similar predicaments.
If there is a lot of money, establish a scholarship or a one time grant.
It's not necessary to redress every wrong committed. The sincere attempt is enough. It's not even necessary to remember all of them; sometimes we can't.
All one needs to do is to turn to Jesus Christ for redemption. He is there to receive and to redeem.
He knows--better than we do--what lurks in our hearts and minds, in the depths of the subconscious, including all our sins, our remorse, the sincerity of our desire for Him and His redemption.
All one needs to do is to come to Him for forgiveness and redemption. He already knows about it all, better than we do, and He will give us rest.
It's quite simple, really.
Bible clearly says , “It is appointed to every [person] to die once, and after that the judgement.”
No place such as “purgatory”, or a waiting room.
You voluntarily doing this work for him reflects well on both of you.
I do not believe your actions will help his salvation, but it will help those he wronged.
Even if accounts have been settled or the business owners do not know of the direct infractions, this may help positively restore some of their attitudes toward men.
What do you mean by “Redemption for the deceased”?
Redeemed has to do with salvation. As in: a believer is redeemed from the group of people that is headed for justice; those who are not in Christ. That person is saved, by being “redeemed”. They are deemed by God to be righteous because of Jesus’ payment for sin which he accomplished for that person on the cross.
Once a person dies, there is no further thing that can be done to affect one’s “Redemption” (meaning salvation).
That said, it is still a good thing that he wanted to do what he could to make things right. It just doesn’t affect whether he id redeemed or not.
Good works don’t get anyone into heaven.
Missing from your post is whether or not your friend accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.
Assuming he had, it appears he was doing what we're all called to do as followers of Christ: repent and turn away from sin.
Your friends repentance and turning away from sin is evidenced by the fact he wanted to make things right with those he'd wronged. That is a high calling, one of which I'm confident in saying that your friends repentance and seeking to right his wrongs caused Jesus to smile. By your description of your friend, it sounds as if he was truly saved.
Now onto the remaining wrongs your friend asked you to help him in his death, to make right.
It may likely help those who were wronged by your friend to know what he was truly sorry and that he'd repented and changed the path his life was on. It may give them some peace in their hearts and minds to know, or it may not. That's on them.
You do not help your friend "earn" his way into our Father's Kingdom by completing your friends list. Your friends words, actions, deeds and Salvation in Jesus Christ stand on their own, as is the case for all of us. there is nothing you can do for him in this regard. Jesus knows your friends heart and whether or not he was able to complete his list, he was on the right path and had repented. We are all called to be where your friend was at the time of his passing.
Now, it may be that there is some part of the journey your friend has asked you to undertake for him, that speaks to your heart and mind and contains a lesson for you and your journey through this life. That you have an open heart and mind to take these on and are looking to figure out how to contact those who remain on your friends list, speaks volumes for you.
Consider carefully what you may learn if you take this on, and keep an open heart and mind to whatever the Holy Spirt, our guide, conscience and intercessor for us is doing in you.
Peace.
It seems to me that your relative was not looking for spiritual redemption with his list. He was instead just looking right wrongs.
So make your best effort. If your relative stole from the ABC Corporation, contact them. Ask them if they have a charitable foundation. Many companies do. Send the money there. I don’t think there’s any need to mention the theft.
For individual people, just send the letter your relative wrote, plus a money order. Then it’s up to that person from there.
And if you can’t find a company - or a person - ask the daughter if your relative had any favorite charities. Send the money there.
Oh, and good for you for trying so hard to respect your relative’s last wishes.
The deceased? Too late. That person had to make his own personal decision to accept or reject Christ while living.
(But the scam of Purgatory sure made it possible to rake in some filthy lucre for some imaginative “entrepreneurs”.)
I’d suggest contacting a trusted priest/pastor of whatever faith he was and see what they recommend.
If that’s not an option, based on the info provided it sounds like he might have had a misguided youth/adulthood. Depending on the sum involved, I would pick one or two local charities that work with wayward teens or something along those lines. Doesn’t have to be youths; just something that helps people get on the right path in life. Sometimes there are court or police intervention programs as well.
I suggest local because I would contact the head of the charity, explain the reason for the donation, and ask if you could speak to the participants and tell your cousin’s story.
A lot of nasty anti Catholicism as per usual here
Just telling you what we Catholics do for you to take or leave. Since you asked.
I do find it very helpful in many ways.