A young black woman in her mid- twenties died of cancer in November 2015. Funeral was held at Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church in Southeast Texas. Recently married, she had been battling cancer for 3 years. I had worked in the same building at a telecommunications office with her for 5 years and had watched her struggle with this disease.
Not being Catholic, I had never even attended mass, much less a funeral of this faith. I did not know what to expect and had only heard that she wanted everyone to wear purple, as it was her favorite color. When arriving I saw people from all ethnic backgrounds, a broad age group, and of diverse religious backgrounds. Attendance was close to 300 people in all. I was surprised that there was modern Christian music playing, instead of the old organ playing that I had been used to. It was a closed casket but I am not sure if this is customary to Catholic faith. There were a few different people that got up and sang solo’s, which inspired many attendees to lift their hands in praise.
The events that I had never seen before were the incense burned in the censer while the persons carried it up and down the aisle. In my mind, I tried to imagine what exactly the motive was. The person sitting beside me leaned over and said that this is used to help transition the deceased into Heaven. A sermon was given that was appropriate and lasted for about 20 minutes. The readings were done, as those of Catholic faith kneeled constantly during this time.
The vehicles present in the parking area were mainly newer model sedans. This gave me
an indication of the higher class persons attending.
As it has been said before, my coworker was an African-American woman. African-Americans mostly belong to different Protestant Churches, such as Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal and others. As we know, the latest branches of Protestant Church use in their religious practice more modern music than traditional Catholic. One of the visitors explained that there is a religious movement in Catholicism that is called Charismatic. It was started in the middle of the XX century when some Pentecostal practices penetrated into Catholic Church. The distinctive feature of it is singing and dancing that help people to be closer to God and get some gifts of Holy Spirit. (Cruxnow.com)There were many young people there and I think they belong to some Protestant groups, so modern hymns and music were played there together with traditional Catholic religious songs. Organs can be replaced by keyboards, guitar or even drums, depending on kind of audience attending the mass. It was quite new information for me.
After the ceremony, I decided to ask some questions to the priest. It was a man in his late thirties who kindly agreed to speak to me.
According to the Catholic Church teachings, Jesus Christ defeated death by His resurrection. Thus, death is just the end of a mortal life and the pass to the new eternal life in Heavens. The soul of a dead person continues its life after death and it will dwell in the Purgatory for some time in order to purify and pay its debts or have some punishments for bad deeds and sins of the mortal life. The time of being in Purgatory can be short or long. It depends on a number of sins. So, the pray is very important. It can help to relieve the soul from Purgatory quicker, so it can start the new life in Heaven together with Jesus, God, Virgin Mary, and saints. Catholic follow the funeral rites to worship and thank God for the gift of life and for returning this life to its creator, God. (Patheos.com)
Traditionally Catholic funeral rite consists of several parts. Each part has its own purpose. Vigil Service or Wake. It usually takes place at home where family and friends get together to recollect the life of the dead person and commend this soul to God. For this reason, the Church encourages eulogies and good words to be told about the dead person. The Vigil Service can take the form of a Service of the Word when a priest reads texts from Sacred Scripture and all attendants pray. (Usccb.org)
Funeral Liturgy where I had been present, is the central part. It usually takes place in the church and can be the liturgical celebration at a Mass or outside a Mass. Its structure is not differ from an ordinary Mass but special texts from the Old and the New Testaments are read. Catholics participate actively in the Mass together with a priest. (Usccb.org)
The girl with an angel’s voice sang a psalm and all participants sang together its refrain “I am sure I shall see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living.” I found this psalm in my friend’s Bible and reread it again.
“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Ps 27:1 New King James Version)
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
And to inquire in His temple. (Ps 27:4 New King James Version)
Wait on the Lord:
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord! (Ps 27:14 New King James Version)
Then I was deeply impressed by the reading from the book of Wisdom. This passage teaches us to accept death not as a disaster but as the start of the new better and real life, the life everyone should desire. “The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.”
The sermon was quite long and lasted for twenty minutes. It was based on the reading from the second epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians in the New Testament.
“For we know that if our earthy house , this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Cor.5:1 New King James Version) “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor.5:6-10 New King James Version) This passage confirm the Church teaching that has been mentioned above, that death is just the end of a mortal life and the pass to the new eternal life in Heavens. In his sermon, the priest explained the Paul’s words. Heaven is our homeland. We are not at home here on the earth. It is just the half way to home, the home of our Father and Creator. Our mortal life show the grade of our love and devotion to God. The God is kind and merciful. He helps and supports us during our lifetime and He waits for their children at home.
The most important attribute of the Catholic Mass is a censer. The roots of this tradition is
deep inside the Old Testament. God commanded His people to burn incense. (Ex.30:7, 40:27) Its sweet smoke reminds people of presence of God. It makes a Mass solemn and mysterious and it is a link between the Earth and Heaven. It is a “burnt offering” which is given to God and it can also symbolized people’s prayers. (Adoremus.org)
The Rite of Committal (Burial). It is the last act and a conclusion of the Catholic funeral rite. Burial shows the tie between the Church on the Earth and the Church in Heaven and cemetery is a place where deceased are waiting for their resurrection. (Usccb.org) My coworker was buried at the cemetery not far from the church. I asked one of the relative if cremation is possible for the members of Catholic community. Historically, Catholic Church did not encourage cremation because according to the Catholic believe on the Day of Judgment souls of all dead people will join their bodies to face Jesus. However, at the present days cremation is allowed but the body must be present for the Funeral Mass and cremated afterwards. The ash should be buried in the ground or placed in columbarium. (Everplans)
Being a weak human I am a bit afraid of death. I can hardly imagine life on the earth without my presence. It is more difficult because I am not a religious person. According to the authors of “American Grace” “15 percent never attend religious services, 17 percent do not identify with a religion, 20 percent are not certain about the existence of God, 40 percent are not sure there is a heaven, and 48 percent are not certain there is life after death.” (Putnam and Campbell) I watched the family and friends. They were sad, very sad but I feel something like peace in their souls. They lost the closest person, they watched her struggling bravely with her disease and suffered together but they are calm because they sure they see her in Heaven.
References
Adoremus.org,. "Adoremus Bulletin". N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
Cruxnow.com,. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
Everplans,. "Everplans". N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
Holy Bible. 2nd ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983. Print.
Patheos.com,. "Roman Catholic Origins, Roman Catholic History, Roman Catholic Beliefs". N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
Putnam, Robert D, and David E Campbell. American Grace. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. Print.
Usccb.org,. "United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops". N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
