355. What do funeral rites express?
(Comp 355) Although celebrated in different rites in keeping with the situations
and traditions of various regions, funerals express the paschal character of
Christian death in hope of the resurrection. They also manifest the meaning of
communion with the departed particularly through prayer for the purification of
their souls.
“In brief”
(CCC 1685) The different funeral
rites express the Paschal character
of Christian death and are in keeping with the situations and traditions of
each region, even as to the color of the liturgical vestments worn (Cf. SC 81).
(CCC 1015) "The flesh is the hinge of salvation" (Tertullian, De res. 8, 2: PL 2, 852). We believe in
God who is creator of the flesh; we believe in the Word made flesh in order to
redeem the flesh; we believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the fulfillment
of both the creation and the redemption of the flesh.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1684) The Christian funeral is
a liturgical celebration of the Church. The ministry of the Church in this
instance aims at expressing efficacious communion with the deceased, at the participation in that communion of the community gathered for the
funeral and at the proclamation of eternal life to the community. (CCC 1012)
The Christian vision of death receives privileged expression in the liturgy of
the Church (Cf. 1 Thess 4:13-14): Lord,
for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our
earthly dwelling lies in death we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven
(Roman Missal, Preface of Christian
Death I).
Reflection
(CCC 1011) In death, God calls man to himself. Therefore the
Christian can experience a desire for death like St. Paul's: "My desire is
to depart and be with Christ" (Phil 1:23). He can transform his own death
into an act of obedience and love towards the Father, after the example of
Christ (Cf. Lk 23:46): My earthly desire has been crucified;… there is living
water in me, water that murmurs and says within me: Come to the Father (St.
Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Rom., 6, 1-
2: Apostolic Fathers, II/2, 223-224).
I want to see God and, in order to see him, I must die (St. Teresa of Avila, Life, chap. 1). I am not dying; I am
entering life (St. Therese of Lisieux, The
Last Conversations). (CCC 1010) Because of Christ, Christian death has a
positive meaning: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain"
(Phil 1:21). "The saying is sure: if we have died with him, we will also
live with him (2 Tim 2:11). What is essentially new about Christian death is
this: through Baptism, the Christian has already "died with Christ"
sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ's grace,
physical death completes this "dying with Christ" and so completes
our incorporation into him in his redeeming act: It is better for me to die in
(eis) Christ Jesus than to reign over
the ends of the earth. Him it is I seek - who died for us. Him it is I desire -
who rose for us. I am on the point of giving birth.... Let me receive pure
light; when I shall have arrived there, then shall I be a man (St. Ignatius of
Antioch, Ad Rom., 6, 1-2: Apostolic Fathers, II/2, 217-220).
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