What does reading the Second Maccabbees and Esther has to do with anything? The early church fathers (including our Jewish fathers) agreed that Esther was inspired and inerrant. Even though the Book of Esther does not mention God, the work of God can be found within the text. Although Second Maccabees mentions God, that is not a qualification for inspired text, otherwise our discussion could be considered inspired.
If you believe comparing the Book of Mormon with Second Maccabees is cognitive dissonance, do you believe the Catholic Church today can officially declare some other writing as God breathed?
RCs actually discuss the latter, as to whether Trent limited the canon versus defining what books belonged in it at that time (and the EO canon is slightly larger, but they get a pass for not conforming to "infallible" Trent).
Meanwhile 2 Maccabees 12 clearly teaches that those for whom prayers and offerings were made died due to idolatry, which according to Rome is a mortal sin for which there is no hope.
Now under the coats of every one that was slain they found things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden the Jews by the law. Then every man saw that this was the cause wherefore they were slain. All men therefore praising the Lord, the righteous Judge, who had opened the things that were hid, (2Ma 12:40-41)
In addition, the prayers and offerings were made in hope that these may attain the resurrection (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead: 2Ma 12:44), not escape RC purgatory, being in which is actually a promise of being in the first resurrection, according to RC delusion (versus Scripture in which all believers to be with the Lord at death or His 2nd coming: 2Co. 5:8; Phil. 1:21-13; Acts 7:59; Lk. 23:39; 1Ths. 4:17).