Leaving Footprints: Our Legacy

LEGAL, ECUMENICAL, CATHOLIC

 Catholic Patients in Health Care Institutions who are in danger of death should:  Be provided with medical information to help them understand their condition  Be given the opportunity to discuss their condition with family and health care providers  Be given spiritual support (Prayer, Anointing of the Sick, Reconciliation, Viaticum)

 Catholics have a moral obligation to use ordinary and proportionate means to preserve their life  Catholic patients with chronic conditions who are not imminently dying should receive food and water by “medically assisted” means, if they cannot take them normally  Catholic patients in chronic and presumably irreversible conditions should also receive nutrition and hydration if they can be reasonably expected to live indefinitely, if given such care.  This moral obligation (to provide food and water) ceases when tube feeding becomes excessively burdensome or no longer accomplishes its objective – that is, when medically administered food or water are no longer being assimilated by the patient

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SIGNIFICANCE, CHOICES, CATHOLIC

 Within the context of the liturgical rite of the Roman Catholic Church called: THE ORDER OF CHRISTIAN FUNERALS

 Brief Theology of the OCF  Rooted in HOPE based on the dying and rising of Jesus Christ, the Paschal Mystery (GIOCF #1)  “At the death of a Christian, whose life of faith was begun in the waters of baptism and strengthened at the Eucharistic table, the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because if its confident belief that death is not the end nor does it break the bonds forged in life.” (GIOCF #4)

 To offer worship, praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of life which has now been returned to God  To bring hope and consolation to the living  To recall God’s mercy and judgment  To meet the human need to always turn to God in times of crisis

 Three principle ritual moments in OCF ▪ Vigil for the Deceased (with related rites of prayers) ▪ Funeral Liturgy ▪ Rite of Committal

 Principal Rite of Phase I – The Vigil  Where held? ▪ Parish church, funeral chapel, family home, etc.  Time? ▪ Evening before Funeral Liturgy  Purpose? ▪ Community keeps watch in prayer with family ▪ 1 st Solemn proclamation of God’s Word ▪ Sharing remembrances of deceased – story-telling  Prayer Leader? ▪ Priest, deacon, trained lay leader

 This is the central liturgical celebration of the Christian community for the deceased.  Two Forms  Funeral Mass  Funeral Liturgy outside Mass

 Principal Rite of Phase II – Funeral Liturgy  Where held? ▪ Parish church  Time? ▪ According to parish schedule; not on Sunday or certain Church solemnities  Purpose? ▪ To give praise and thanks to God for Christ’s victory over death ▪ To commend the deceased to God’s mercy ▪ To seek strength in the proclamation of the Paschal Mystery  Prayer Leader? ▪ Priest (if Mass), deacon or trained lay leader (outside Mass)

 Principal Rite of Phase III - Committal  Where held? ▪ Cemetery graveside, columbarium, crematorium, or chapel  Time? ▪ According to parish/cemetery schedule; usually following Funeral Liturgy; according to local custom  Purpose? ▪ To care for body of deceased member ▪ To express the hope that the deceased awaits the glory of the resurrection ▪ Expression of communion between Church on earth and Church in heaven  Prayer Leader? ▪ Priest, deacon or trained lay leader

 Funeral Liturgy Pre-planning Form  Scriptures  Ministers  Music  Locations  Additional Pre-planning Information  Memorial and Charitable donations?  Obituary?  Prayer cards?  Memorial display?  “Words of Remembrance”?

 Additional Helpful Information  Decide where to file your funeral liturgy plans, mortuary and cemetery choices, any pre-paid funeral documents, your will, trust, other financial documents, etc. so that your loved ones can easily find them  Make a list of relatives, friends, people and organizations you would like to be contacted at the time of your death, including their phone numbers and addresses  Write or record a brief personal biography which describes your life, your values, your beliefs, and the legacy you would like to share with future generations

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