When my Mother died, she had asked to be cremated, because she wanted to be buried next to my stepfather, and the small cemetery only had room for cremated remains. In fact they had closed it to any new burials, and she was only buried there because she had signed up years before. I had no problems with the cremation, since the Catholic Church now allows it. We had a funeral Mass said for her, with the urn before the altar, and another priest said prayers at the burial of her urn.
God wants us to bury our dead with respect. But if someone has lost an arm or a leg, or has been burned in a fire, God will have no trouble putting them back together at the Resurrection. The same with cremated remains. But they should properly be buried, not scattered.
From a commentary/reflection on the Spiritual Body That I am posting for your consideration.
http://bswett.com/2013-01Body.html
Some Christian churches teach the doctrine of the resurrection of the body — that the physical bodies of all the dead will rise from their graves at the end of the age and be restored to health and wholeness, but Saint Paul wrote to the early church at Corinth: “The body that is sown [buried] is perishable; it is raised imperishable — it is sown a natural [physical] body; it is raised a spiritual body.” (I Corinthians 15: 42-44) Here are some indications that this can happen now and not only at the end of the age.
“Jimmy L.”
Jimmy was old. He fell in his bathroom and broke his right hand. It didn’t heal properly and remained badly crippled, drawn up like a claw. Several years later, he died, and I went to his memorial service. I thought I saw him sitting in his usual place in church. After the service, I went outside to smoke my pipe. When I looked back at the church, I saw Jimmy smiling at me through the glass door. He knew I saw him, and grinned, and held up his right hand in the World War Two “OK” sign (tip of forefinger against tip of thumb to make the O, with the other three fingers extended and flexed to make the K). It was only later that I realized the significance of what I saw — his hand isn’t crippled anymore.
“Remember yourself young and strong”
While my son, Bruce, and his wife, Laura, were visiting a nursing home, they saw the ghost of an old woman who probably died there, all crippled and hunched down as though she was still in her wheel chair. They tried to speak to her, but she was unresponsive. They didn’t know what to do, so they prayed for her. Bruce was inspired to say to her, “Remember yourself young and strong.” Both Bruce and Laura saw that crippled old woman suddenly transform into a beautiful young woman and go dancing up into the Light.