Curtail eulogies please
http://www.suntimes.com/output/religion/cst-nws-cath11.html
"Eulogies are best given at the vigil service or at some appropriate time during the wake," say the guidelines
"While lengthy, sometimes emotional, eulogies may be common components of Protestant and Jewish funerals, they don't jibe with Catholic doctrine that says the focus of a funeral mass is Jesus Christ, and not the dearly departed."
Amen to that!
posted by Joseph | Sunday, December 11, 2005
1 Comments:
Hi Papalist.
I can remember one Priest presiding at the funeral Mass who knew the woman well, and had a hard time holding back tears.
Which is OK, but he added so many unncomfortable things like “if anyone is in heaven, she is”.
This is all bogus.
So many funerals talk about the deceased surely looking down on us from heaven.
Really? How presumptuous.
And how misleading to the grieving families to which the funeral is a very teachable moment. Knowing the individual better than the Priest, they may very well suspect the deceased is not in heaven, therefore whatever else the Priest says is also suspect (especially for the unchurched). Or they may learn that if this individual is in heaven, then everyone must be there.
The later is probably the case, as surveys tell that the large majority of Americans believe they are going to heaven.
How great a contrast that is with the 1,960+ years of holy fear people attributed to their Judgement before God.
Could it be just our silly recent 40 years of modern society imposing its view upon eternal things? I would say so.
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