Speaking of funerals...

I had just completed writing a very long post to follow up on my earlier comments on the Shriver funeral. Before wrapping up the post I checked my email and there was a comment from a reader named Peter encouraging me to continue the discussion on funerals but not in the context of the Shriver rites. So, at least for now I'm going to follow Peter's suggestion. Here follows the first part of what I was about to post. (There are a few references here to the Shriver funeral but I don't believe they're of a critical nature and they do help me get at some of the basic issues here.) Let's see how folks respond to the following...

Whenever possible, ministers should involve the family (of the deceased) in planning the funeral rites: in the choice of texts and rites provided in the ritual, in the selection of music for the rites, and in the designation of liturgical ministers. (Order for Christian Funerals, no. 17)

I’ve already posted on the funeral of Eunice Shriver. My criticism of the manner in which her funeral Mass was celebrated drew a number of diverse comments. Although I noted in my post that my remarks were certainly not directed at Mrs. Shriver but rather at those responsible for assisting her family in preparing the funeral liturgy, some readers thought my tackling this subject was prematurely timed. I’m not sure just how long one should wait before commenting on a funeral which received international attention.

Others chided me for not posting, instead, on the wonderful life and work of Eunice Shriver. Well, I don’t think the media let us down in that regard. And I did post a lengthy excerpt from a beautiful essay on Mrs. Shriver’s faith by her son, Tim, with a link to the whole article.

Then, there are those who evidently believe that at the time of a funeral the Church and her ministers should abandon just about all liturgical principles and guidelines and accede to whatever the family of the deceased may want to do. Some have hinted that this is what Jesus would do. Well, I can’t speak for Jesus on that matter but I believe that the Church’s prayer has a well-deserved integrity and that in almost every instance, celebrating the liturgy as the Church intends will yield a prayerful, meaningful, spiritual, healing experience for at least all believers and also, often, for those who do not share our faith in the risen Christ.

That’s what 36 years of celebrating funeral liturgies has taught me.

The quote at the head of this post is from the introduction to the Order of Christian Funerals (OCF). Clearly, it’s the mind of the Church that the family have the opportunity to be personally involved in preparing the funeral liturgy. And that’s just how it should be: nothing less than this - not too much more than this, either. The Church’s invitation to families here is to participate in preparing the celebration of the rite, not to rewrite the rite. Unfortunately and for various reasons, some have come to expect that they have a right to fashion the Church’s prayer according to their own tastes and inclinations. The invitation to families in the OCF does not share that vision and it’s often the work of parish ministers to help families understand this.

Every sacramental celebration is marked by the warm fingerprints of those who celebrate it. In the liturgy, we are human beings sharing in the eternal and divine liturgy of Christ’s paschal mystery. While it’s appropriate and inevitable that the liturgy bear the traces of our holding it in our hands, the liturgy’s first purpose is to glorify God with thanks and praise and for us to become more like Christ through, with and in whom we pray.

Some have the mistaken notion that a funeral Mass is, “A Celebration of the Life of John Smith.” Not only is this not what a funeral Mass is about but such a notion seriously misunderstands the liturgy in general and the Mass of Christian burial in particular. Every liturgical rite is a celebration of the Paschal Mystery: the salvation that is ours in the death and resurrection of Jesus. A funeral Mass celebrates the life of the risen Christ and the decedent’s share in the Lord’s Resurrection.

(In the same way, a wedding Mass is not “A Celebration of the Love of Mary and John.” A nuptial Mass or ceremony is a celebration of the mystery of God’s love revealed in Christ, in which love the bride and groom are about to seal a lifelong covenant of fidelity.)

And all of this is not just pious fluff - this is how Catholics are called to understand their faith, their prayer and their Church.

Especially at a time of loss and sorrow, there is an understandable desire for personal recognition of the one being prayed for and opportunities for those close to the deceased to express their affection, their sorrow and their prayer that God will be mercifully faithful to the promise of eternal life offered the deceased in baptism. Fortunately, the funeral rites of the Catholic Church offer many opportunities for all of this. In fact, at the time of a death there are a number of opportunities for personal expression within and outside of the Church’s ritual. A problem arises, however, when there is a desire and an effort to have the funeral Mass bear the burden of all or most of that personal expression and emotion.

*************************************************

Ok! Prescinding from the particulars of the Shriver funeral, what do you think of what you've read above? What questions does this post raise for you? Does it answer any questions you had? What do you think?

H/T to Peter!

-ConcordPastor Kennedy-Shriver Funerals

On eulogies, remembrances and Catholic funerals

A priest incenses the casket at the Final Commendation at a funeral Mass. (Image: NJ.com)

These points may be of interest to those following the conversation here on funeral rites and in anticipation of the funeral of Senator Kennedy on Saturday morning.

From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal

At the Funeral Mass there should, as a rule, be a short homily, but never a eulogy of any kind.
(GIRM, no. 382)

From the Order of Christian Funerals:

• From the Introduction:

A brief homily based on the readings is always given after the gospel reading at the funeral liturgy and may also be given after the readings at the vigil (wake) service; but there is never to be a eulogy. Attentive to the grief of those present, the homilist should dwell on God's compassionate love and on the paschal mystery of the Lord, as proclaimed in the Scripture readings. The homilist should also help the members of the assembly to understand that the mystery of God's love and the mystery of Jesus' victorious death and resurrection were present in the life and death of the deceased and that these mysteries are active in our own lives as well. Through the homily members of the family and community should receive consolation and strength to face the death of one of their members with a hope nourished by the saving Word of God...
(Order of Christian Funerals, no. 27)

• At the Vigil (wake) Service, after the Concluding Prayer:

A member or a friend of the family may speak in rembrance of the deceased.
(Order of Christian Funerals no. 80)

• At the Funeral Mass, at the time for the Final Commendation:

Following the Prayer after Communion, the priest goes to a place near the casket. The assisting ministers carry the censer and holy water if these are to be used.

A member or a friend of the family may speak in remembrance of the deceased before the final commendation begins.
(Order of Christian Funerals, no. 170)

(ConcordPastor notes that the Order of Christian Funerals envisions the remarks of remembrance being delivered while the priest and ministers are standing at the casket.)

From the policy on funeral rites for the Archdiocese of Boston:

Following the prayer after Communion and before the Final Commendation, only one speaker, a member or a friend of the family, may speak for not more than five minutes in remembrance of the deceased.
(RCAB Funeral Policy, no. 18)

-ConcordPastor Kennedy-Shriver Funerals

Of tributes and eulogies at the Kennedy funeral

Dina Rudick/Boston Globe Staff

(For those who think I'm too strong on these issues, check this priest's take on the funeral over at the Deacon's Bench.)

I spent a part of the afternoon watching the video of Ted Kennedy's funeral Mass. Regular readers know that funeral rites have been the topic of a series of posts here over the past couple of weeks.

From the beginning, my concern has been the impact of celebrity funerals on parish personnel. As I wrote in the first post on this topic:

It's unfortunate and a burden for local pastors when the funeral rites of celebrities place before millions a ritual that departs in many ways from what the Church intends. Such events set a false standard which makes assisting grieving families in preparing a funeral liturgy for their loved ones an even more difficult task.

It's one thing when a family says to their pastor, "But Fr. Smith over at St. Mary's lets more than one person speak after Communion." It's another thing when the family asks, "How come the Kennedy's get to do what they want?" Well, they got to do what they want because the clergy helping them prepare the funeral liturgy let them.

The comments on these posts have covered a broad range. There are some who believe that whatever the family wants is what they should be able to do. My response is that such an approach fails to understand what the liturgy is, what it offers and what how it's intended to function in the life of the Church. Wanting to discuss the matters in those terms elicits the charge that the Church is unfeeling, cold, legalistic and impersonal.

One has only to look at the liturgical books to know that this is not the way the Church wants to minister or be perceived. The failure is much more in the hands of individual clergy than in the liturgical directives. Some priests fail to understand the rites, some priests may understand them but celebrate them carelessly and others adopt a "do whatever you want" attitude when asked for exceptions to be made. Of course, many priests understand the rites, celebrate them reverently and work with family towards understanding how the Church prays and why.

In the Archdiocese of Boston there is a policy regarding family members or friends speaking at funeral Masses. The policy is based in the directives found in the liturgical books indicating that there is never to be a eulogy at a funeral Mass. What is permitted is for one person to speak no more than five minutes after the post-Communion prayer and before the Final Commendation. At the Kennedy funeral, three people spoke for a total of 38 minutes and that was about 5 minutes longer than the entire Liturgy of the Word -- which included 10 family members offering Intercessions all based on the writing and speeches of the late Senator.

(For those who are to young to remember and for those who have forgotten: before the liturgical reforms of Vatican Council II, there was not even a homily at a funeral Mass.)

Funerals should, of course, comfort the bereaved but that is only one of the reasons the Church so solemnly and sacramentally marks the passing of a brother or sister. Folks I've heard from generally found the Kennedy funeral Mass to be warm, moving, evocative and wonderful. I wouldn't for a moment quarrel with them and say that their feelings are wrong. What you feel is what you feel. And how you make ritual is how, what and why you pray - and hand that prayer down from generation to generation.

A good deal of poor liturgical example (beyond the eulogy issue) was set in this celebration. At least in Boston, pastors will be working with the fallout from this for quite some time.

-ConcordPastor Kennedy-Shriver Funerals

Final (rites) Score: 40-4

I posted my initial comments on Eunice Shriver's funeral service, having only seen part of it, live, on television. After having a chance to review a video of the whole liturgy, I prepared a second lengthier critique but before I published it, a reader happened to write suggesting I continue the discussion on Catholic funerals apart from the particulars of the Shriver funeral. I thought there was a good deal of wisdom in that suggestion so I cut the pending post in half, leaving out the Shriver details, and posted on Catholic funeral rites in general.

The results have been telling.

The first post brought in 40 responses before I closed the combox.

I cut off comments because even though the post included an update linking readers to the more recent post, folks were still reacting to the first post and raising questions answered in second.

The second post has elicited only 4 responses.

I'm tempted to post the material which I held back containing further detail and critique of the Shriver funeral - but I've decided not to do that. I had hoped that discussion of the celebrity funeral might offer a teachable moment but it seems that many were more interested in the celebrity nature of the discussion rather than in the heart of the matter.

I offer for your consideration my observation that this dynamic mirrors real life. As a parish minister I know that often those who don't get what they want simply walk away disgruntled, with little patience for listening and learning how and why the Church prays, celebrates and acts as it does.

Those still hoping to learn more about Catholic funeral rites are certainly welcome to engage the questions raised in my more recent post.

-ConcordPastor Kennedy-Shriver Funerals

The funeral of Eunice Shriver

AP Photo by Elise Amendola

CHECK HERE for another post on things funereal!

UPDATE: The complete video of Eunice Shriver's funeral Mass is available at this interesting site: Your Funeral Guy.

I've just caught part of Mrs. Shriver's funeral Mass on television. I tuned in just before the Lamb of God as a soloist was singing Pie Jesu. I hope to see the complete funeral on YouTube or somewhere else so that I might understand how Pie Jesu found a place just before the Breaking of the Bread of the Eucharist.

I'm also looking forward to reading any cyber reviews of this liturgy in the blogosphere.

Mrs. Shriver was a wonderful woman whose faithful life as a Catholic woman touched and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands. A funeral liturgy more faithful to what the Church intends would have been a more fitting prayer for commending her to the mercy and peace of God.

(These comments are not directed at the Shriver family but rather towards those responsible for assisting them in preparing the funeral liturgy.)

UPDATE: H/T to NED, You can link to the "worship aid" for the funeral, at the Boston Globe. (Scroll down to the end of the Globe article.)

It's unfortunate and a burden for local pastors when the funeral rites of celebrities place before millions a ritual that departs in many ways from what the Church intends. Such events set a false standard which makes assisting grieving families in preparing a funeral liturgy for their loved ones an even more difficult task.

O God, to whom mercy and forgiveness belong,
command that Eunice be carried safely home to heaven
and come to enjoy your eternal reward.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

-ConcordPastor Kennedy-Shriver Funerals

Memorial Service and Funeral Mass for Kennedy

Penny post card of Mission Church where Senator Kennedy's funeral Mass will be celebrated (image source)

It's been just two weeks since I began what became a series of posts on the funeral of Eunice Shriver and what I thought would be its impact on pastoral ministry:

It's unfortunate and a burden for local pastors when the funeral rites of celebrities place before millions a ritual that departs in many ways from what the Church intends. Such events set a false standard which makes assisting grieving families in preparing a funeral liturgy for their loved ones an even more difficult task.

Bearing that in mind it will be interesting to see what a review of tomorrow's funeral Mass for Senator Edward Kennedy will bring.

The funeral will be celebrated at Mission Church in Roxbury. Cardinal Sean O'Malley will preside as archbishop and conduct the Final Commendation at the end of the Mass. Boston College Chancellor Donald Monan, SJ will be the principal celebrant of the Mass and Rev. Mark Hession, pastor of Our Lady of Victories Parish in Centerville, on Cape Cod, will be the homilist.

Among the music ministers will be cellist Yo-Yo Ma, tenor Placido Domingo, members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a soloist from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver "the eulogy."

(Update: more details on the funeral Mass here)

As I've posted, there is no place for a eulogy at a Catholic funeral Mass. I'll be pleased to be wrong about this but I suspect it's unlikely that POTUS will limit himself to the local church policy of speaking for "five minutes in remembrance of the deceased." This is especially unfortunate since tonight (Friday, August 28) there's to be a "Celebration of Life Memorial Service" at the JFK Presidential Library at which a number of speakers will step to the microphone to offer a good word about the late senator. (Note: the word eulogy comes from two Greek words meaning a good word.) One can hardly imagine a better venue for the president's remarks than such a service.

For the record: Obama should certainly not be taken to task for something he was probably invited to do by the family and with the approval of the clergy involved in preparing the liturgy. The nation's chief executive may have made many mistakes but for this one he bears no blame.

-ConcordPastor Kennedy-Shriver Funerals

Edward M. Kennedy: Requiescat in pace

Image: David L. Ryan/Boston Globe Staff

It's been a very busy weekend in my parish and just now did I finally locate video of the Kennedy funeral online. (At the time of the senator's funeral, I was celebrating a funeral here at Holy Family Parish.) I won't get to see or comment on it until Sunday afternoon or evening.

-ConcordPastor Kennedy-Shriver Funerals

Edward M. Kennedy - R.I.P.

O God, to whom mercy and forgiveness belong,
command that Edward be carried safely home to heaven
and come to enjoy your eternal reward.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

-ConcordPastor Kennedy-Shriver Funerals