Preparing for a funeral

A well-planned funeral is an occasion at which the departed person’s life is celebrated and at which our grief is expressed, yet tempered with consolation from the support of family, friends and the wider community, and with hope in the God who does not abandon us even in death.

 
The parish Priest will always meet with the close relatives or friends of the one who has died to try to help with the choice of readings and music, and to get to know a little of his or her life and character, so that the funeral Mass or service will be as personal and comforting as is possible.
 

Having to contemplate arranging a funeral is difficult. However, the hope is that a funeral liturgy, whether a requiem Mass or a simpler service at a cemetery or crematorium, will in some way express our Christian belief that, in death, ‘life is changed not ended’.