Funerals

Dear Friends,

Please be assured of the heartfelt prayers of Christ the King parish family during this time of loss. It is our confident hope that your loved one, who has gone to their rest in the peace of Christ, may experience the joys of heaven and one day know the resurrection promised by our Lord Jesus. We pray also for your own consolation and strength, which we hope will be realized, at least partially, through the sacred rites of Christian burial we will celebrate with you and your family here at Christ the King. CTK staff stands ready to assist you in any way that we can. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any question regarding the details contained within these funeral guidelines.

It is our fervent desire to commend your loved one to the Lord with all the dignity and grace which the Catholic tradition affords us in these moments, and which without a doubt your loved one deserves. May faith be your consolation, and eternal life your hope! Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord! Let perpetual light shine upon them! May they rest in Peace, and may their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace!

You and your deceased loved one will be remembered in our prayers in the coming days. In the past, you have loved others, comforted them, and shared their losses. During the hours and days ahead, it will be your turn, your time, to be loved, to be comforted, and to let others share your grief.

May the God of Hope give you the fullness of peace, and may the Lord of Life always be with you!
With our prayers and sympathy in the Risen Lord,
The Clergy and Staff of Christ the King Catholic Church

The Church confidently proclaims that God created each person for eternal life and that Jesus, the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, has broken the chains of sin and death that bound humanity... principally by the paschal mystery of his blessed passion, resurrection from the dead and glorious ascension.
Order of Christian Funerals, 1.

Holy Mother Church who, by her preaching, generates to a new and immortal life the
children who are born to her in Baptism, and nourishes them by the sacraments during
their earthly pilgrimage, accompanies each of them at his journey’s end, in order to
surrender him “into the Father’s hands.” She offers to the Father, in Christ, the child of
his grace, and she commits to the earth, in hope, the seed of the body that will rise in glory.

At the death of a Christian, the Church gathers to offer praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of the life now returned to Him. The Church also intercedes on behalf of the deceased in the belief that death is not the end of human existence, nor does it break the bonds forged in life. Recognizing the power of Paschal Mystery, the Church asks that the deceased and all the faithful will have their sins forgiven and be raised in Christ.

The Christian funeral confers neither a sacrament nor a sacramental on the deceased,
who has passed beyond the sacramental economy. It is nonetheless a liturgical
celebration of the whole Church,4 who celebrates funeral rites to offer worship, praise,
and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life that has now been returned to God, the
author of life and the hope of the just. 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.

A Funeral Mass (Mass of Christian burial) is one celebrated in the presence of the body, usually in connection with the burial.

A funeral Mass should be celebrated only in a parish church. Celebrating a Funeral Mass in a
cemetery or funeral home chapel can only be done if it is Catholic.

It is recommended that the family of the deceased meets with the CTK funeral coordinator to initiate the planning for the funeral before making funeral arrangements with the funeral director or mortuary.

Only Christian symbols may rest on or be placed near the coffin during the funeral
liturgy. Any other symbols, for example, national flags, or flags or insignia of
associations, are to be removed from the coffin at the entrance of the church, and may be placed after the coffin has been taken from the church.


Words of Remembrance, and ‘Eulogies’
the most appropriate times for family members and friends to offer extended remarks about the deceased are:
a. Before or after a vigil or wake service.
b. At the graveside, before or after the rite of committal.
c. At a reception, held before or after the funeral rites.
These venues allow for more speakers, more time, more spontaneity, a wider range of themes and methods of paying tribute (stories, songs, or poems), and less emotional stress for the speaker(s). other ways of sharing memories of the deceased can be through a pamphlet distributed at one of these venues or at the funeral liturgy, or even through an electronic document produced by family or friends and shared through the Internet.

If words of remembrance are to be offered at the end of mass, they are to be succinct, written, and discussed in advance with the celebrant and pastor or funeral coordinator. It is to be simple and brief, lasting no more than five minutes. The address should be respectful and in decorous terms and in a manner respectful of the Church.

Music
Music for the funeral rites should be chosen with great care, so that it will support,
console, and uplift the participants. The texts of songs should be related to the readings
from Scripture, and should express the Paschal Mystery of the Lord’s suffering, death,
victory over death, and the share of the Christian in that victory.

Secular songs and music of any kind, whether classical, popular, or patriotic, even if they were favorites of or requested by the deceased, are not to be used in ecclesiastical funeral rites. As with any words of remembrance spoken by family members and friends, the appropriate venues for the singing or playing of secular music are either:
a. Before or after a vigil or wake service.
b. At the graveside, before or after the rite of committal.
c. At a reception, held before or after the funeral rites.


Cremation
The Church does not prohibit cremation unless it was chosen for reasons contrary to
Christian doctrine. However, cremation does not enjoy the same value as burial of the
body.

The cremated remains of a body should be treated with the same respect given to the corporeal remains of a human body. This includes the use of a worthy vessel to contain the ashes, the manner in which they are carried, care and attention to appropriate placement and transport, and final disposition.

Cremated remains should be reverently buried or entombed in a cemetery, mausoleum, or    columbarium; they may also be buried in a common grave in a cemetery.

Cremated remains may be properly buried at sea in the urn, coffin or other container in which they have been carried to the place of committal. Cremated remains may be buried at sea, but should be submerged in a container, not scattered. In general, the practice of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or keeping cremated remains in the home of a relative or friend of the deceased are not the reverent disposition that the Church requires.

For more information on cremation please check this link:
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20160815_ad-resurgendum-cum-christo_en.html

For general information check this link:
https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments-and-sacramentals/bereavement-and-funerals#tab--for-adults



Preparing a Program / The Order of Mass
When preparing a program for guests to follow during Mass, the basic elements are the following:
• Greeting of the family and blessing of the deceased. • Entrance song (Processional)
• Opening Prayer
• Reading 1 *
• Psalm Response
• (Reading 2)
• Gospel and Homily
• Intercessions
• Offertory Song and Presentation of Bread and Wine
• Eucharistic Prayer
• Communion and Communion Song
• Euology
• Concluding Prayers (Final Commendation) and Recessional Hymn.
If two readings are chosen, Reading 1 is from the Old Testament and Reading 2 is from the New Testament.