Posted on 12/16/2012 3:24:55 PM PST by NYer
My grandmother recently died. She was a Lutheran, but we, her descendents, are Catholic. Who, then, should do the burial? A Lutheran minister, or our Catholic priest? Thank you, and please pray for her soul.
Canon 1183.3 states,
“In the prudent judgment of the local ordinary, ecclesiastical funerals can be granted to baptized persons who are enrolled in a non-Catholic Church or ecclesial community unless their intention is evidently to the contrary and provided that their own minister is not available.”
In this situation, it seems the grandmother’s minister is available.
Since grandma did not convert prior to her death, it seems imprudent to go against her wishes and deny her a funeral in the ecclesiastical community of which she was a member.
Turning the sock inside out for a moment, we often hear of tragic cases in which a good Catholic person dies, but because the children are no longer practicing, she is denied the benefits of a funeral. Yes, funerals benefit the dead! The poor dead person might be given a prayer service at the funeral home or buried without ceremony.
In former ages, respecting the last wishes of the deceased was something that was sacrosanct.
So, unless the Lutheran minister is not available, inquire of the pastor about having the funeral at grandmother’s church. Go, pray for her (do not receive communion at the Lutheran funeral, even if invited), bury her.
Masses can be offered for the deceased, even those who are not Catholic. You can later have a Mass or Masses offered for her, even a Requiem Mass if your pastor is available and amenable.
Everyone, pray for the dead. Do not forget to pray for the dead.
Ecumenical ping!
What was her preference? It is sad when people don’t make these sort of personal intentions clear before they pass.
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Your grandmother would prefer a Lutheran funeral. When you die, you can choose a Catholic funeral. God doesn’t care how you worship him, only that you do.
The funeral is for the living. If you feel comfortable burying her as a catholic then so be it. Quite frankly I don’t care what the hell happens after I am dead, after all how you treat my body will have no bearing on my salvation.
I think everything Fr. Zuhlsdorf says makes good sense and is orthodox. They should respect their grandmother’s wishes. If she was Lutheran, then she should have a Lutheran funeral.
They can, as Father points out, also have a Mass or Masses said on her behalf at their own Catholic church. The dead person doesn’t have to be Catholic for that.
And they can all pray for her.
It’s too bad this priest’s otherwise good and wise advice was injected with this:
“... she is denied the benefits of a funeral. Yes, funerals benefit the dead!”
I’m not looking for a fight, but this is a clear example of Catholic tradition affirming something on its own, without any support from the word of God. I will readily agree that there is nothing said in the Scriptures about the proper rites of burial. There is nothing said, period. But to turn around in the face of that obvious and loud silence - silence! - and then confidently to attribute some kind of efficacy to funeral rites in order to comfort the survivors of the deceased strikes me as an accommodation to people’s feelings and emotions, and therefore their perceived needs (often just psychological/emotion) rather than to direct them to that which has the clear testimony of Holy Scripture, the confidence that comes to them from those plain clear testimonies of God, and therefore their real spiritual needs.
Proceeding from silence - no evidence - to affirm something rather than to proceed from certainty is a strange way to operate.
Just hope that those who plan the rites when it comes time to release YOUR soul show the same courtesy.
My soul is released to the Lord Jesus Christ; no ceremony of man makes any difference. I believe in honoring the wishes of the deceased, but let’s make that point very clear.
No ... the children did not say that. They did the proper thing and inquired as to who should oversee her funeral. The Catholic priest said that "grandma" should be given a Lutheran funeral.
Respect for her Lutheran faith should be given, and her funeral should be Lutheran.
BTW, Lutherans do not pray for the dead. Christ has saved them. No prayers are needed!
When my father died, my mother reached out to his side of the family and they had all started attending a Congregational church with a woman pastor. She was more then happy to preside over the service. My father had told my mother to do whatever she wanted, he was dead, it didn't really matter he'd already be gone from this earth. He even said if a Priest helps you, use him! While this is true, it would have been easier for my mom if my dad had specified what he wanted.
And as Christ himself said, “for God is not a God of the dead, but of the living.” For those who are dead to this world are alive in Christ.
II Maccabees 12: 44-45
“For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.”
In other words, it was in the Bible - until Protestants dropped it from their canon of scripture.
The saddest part is not that you most likely didn’t know about the verse, but that it was most likely prejudice
that kept you from knowing about the verse.
A prominent Lutheran attorney (who was married to a Catholic) was killed in a tragic accident with his son a few years ago in our town. None of the Lutheran churches were large enough for his funeral. His funeral was held at the Catholic Church, but the Tabernacle was removed from the room for the service. This solution pleased all, including the Bishop.
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