1. LAKE – GEAUGA DISTRICT MEETING
MARCH 13, 2017

2. Pietro Perugrino’s “The Lamentation”

4. Good Saint Joseph of Arimathea, you prepared with reverence the body of our Lord and Savior for burial. You were a follower who demonstrated tremendous bravery and kindness. You went to Pilate asking for permission to take Christ’s body from the cross at Calvary and prepared him for burial. You cleaned the tortured, bloodied body, anointed it with oils, shrouded it in linen and carried it to a cave tomb which had been prepared for your own use one day. May those who continue your work in preparing bodies for burial do so with the same reverence and kindness, and always remember that what they do for the least of their brethren, they do for you. Intercede on our behalf to the Lord so that we might have the grace and courage to love and serve Jesus and his people with sincere devotion all the days of our life.
Dear Lord, bless all funeral directors and help them to be men and women who show mercy in their work of burying the dead, and may they bring comfort and peace to all who mourn the loss of a loved one.
We ask this in your name, Christ the Healer, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

5. Memorable Funerals

6. How do you define “the Good Funeral
How do you define “the Good Funeral?” “It is important for parish staffs and funeral directors to work together to provide the best pastoral care for the bereaved family.”

7. FIVE TOPICS FOR DISCUSSIONS: 1. VISITATION 2
FIVE TOPICS FOR DISCUSSIONS: 1. VISITATION 2. FUNERAL MASS OR FUNERAL WITHOUT MASS 3. CREMATION 4. EULOGIES 5. OTHER

8. CHANGING FUNERAL TRENDS

9. “THE GOOD FUNERAL” IN THE PAST WENT LIKE THIS: Person died on Monday Visitation at a Funeral Home on Tuesday night and then on Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday evening Funeral Mass on Thursday morning at his or her parish church where they attended regularly Burial in a Catholic Cemetery after Mass Luncheon

10. The Popularity of Personalization
As baby boomers age and find themselves having to plan funerals for loved ones and themselves, they are making funeral choices based on values that are different than previous generations. Baby boomers see funerals as a valuable part of the grieving process and are seeking ways to make them meaningful. Funeral service consumers are planning funeral services that are as unique as the person who died. The idea of personalization has resulted in an explosion of unique services that reflect the hobbies, passions and interests of someone who has died. Through personalization, funeral services can be more meaningful. Funeral directors can offer ideas on how families can personalize their loved one's funeral and are open to family suggestions and creativity.

11. EMOTIONAL CONNECTION … IF APPROPRIATE …
The funeral service should be a reflection of your loved one’s life that makes an emotional connection with all those in attendance. Contemporary thought as it relates to funerals incorporates not only a person’s religious tradition, if any, but also that which allows you to remember your loved one’s hobbies, interests, or a certain quality that made them like no other person.
If you have attended a funeral recently, you may have seen a collage of photographs, a memorial video, personal items of the deceased on display, special mementos, eulogies from close friends or family, special life tribute ceremonies, balloon releases or any other number of unique tributes. All of this is done to help make the funeral more personal, to illustrate that which was unique about the person’s life, and to help those who have lost someone special begin to heal. If the funeral service you are planning will be following a prescribed religious ritual, your priest, rabbi or minister can advise as to when any personalized tributes can be incorporated into the events leading up to or during the funeral service, if appropriate.

12. THERE IS A TENSION WHICH CAN EXIST BETWEEN THE PERSONALIZATION OF FUNERALS AND THE CHURCH’S RIGHT TO CERTAIN RITES

13. Whose funeral is this and what are we trying to do
Whose funeral is this and what are we trying to do? When religious tradition is less present, personalization increases in value to family.

14. Christian Burial in the Diocese of Cleveland, March Introduction to the Order of Christian Funerals

15. “the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because of its confident belief that death is not the end nor does it break the bonds forged in life. The Church ministers to the sorrowing and consoles them in the funeral rites with the comforting word of God and the sacrament of the Eucharist. Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now returned to God. The Mass is the principal celebration of the Christian funeral … The Church commends the dead to God’s merciful love and pleads for forgiveness of their sins.”

16. TRADITIONAL FUNERAL CONSISTS OF THREE PARTS: 1
TRADITIONAL FUNERAL CONSISTS OF THREE PARTS: 1.VISITATION AT A FUNERAL HOME – VIGIL FOR THE DECEASED 2. FUNERAL MASS AT THE CHURCH (OR FUNERAL SERVICE WITHOUT MASS) 3. BURIAL SERVICE AT THE CEMETERY

17. TWO DAY VISITATION AT A FUNERAL HOME IS GONE

18. No time for a vigil service

20. VISITATION AT THE CHURCH

21. Is there a time when it is appropriate to do so
Is there a time when it is appropriate to do so? What would be the reasons to do so? Elderly person with few people anticipated for a viewing Family cannot afford a visitation Only for a short time before the Funeral Mass When a very large crowd is anticipated

22. What is appropriate to do at the time of visitation
What is appropriate to do at the time of visitation? When should a Vigil Service be done? Who should do it or can do it?

24. Visitation discussion
When is it appropriate to do visitation at the church?
What are the problems in doing so?

25. FUNERAL MASS

26. In discerning the appropriateness of the funeral Mass, the makeup of the assembly should be considered.

27. When is it appropriate to not have a Funeral Mass
When is it appropriate to not have a Funeral Mass? Is it appropriate to recommend not having one or to encourage families to have one?

28. The funeral liturgy is normally celebrated in the parish church to which the deceased belonged … it is possible to choose any Catholic church for a funeral liturgy, provided that the pastor of that church agrees and the pastor of the deceased has been informed. The funeral mass may not be celebrated in funeral homes without the permission from the chancery in individual cases.

29. CONVENIENCE OF SATURDAY FOR FAMILIES

30. PRAYERS REQUESTED ON SATURDAY BETWEEN 3:00 & 7:00 AT THE PARLOR

31. Are there ways to limit the number of funerals on Saturdays or some restrictions which can be placed regarding the time of funerals on Saturdays? Can there be a pool of pastoral ministers or deacons who may wish to assist with Saturday celebrations?

32. Funeral with mass or without mass
When is it appropriate to have Mass or not have Mass?
When is Funeral Service/Mass to be celebrated?
Where is Funeral Service to be celebrated?

33. BURIAL SERVICE AT CEMETERY: The body of the deceased is to be buried or entombed … these practices demonstrate Christian faith awaiting the resurrection

35. How do you encourage people to bury the cremains
How do you encourage people to bury the cremains? The ashes must be placed in a grave or niche in a mausoleum known as a columbarium. They are never to be kept in the possession of the family or scattered, since these practices are not the reverent disposition the Church requires.

38. Will there be some direction from the Diocese regarding the requirement of cremains being buried? There is a need to educate people regarding the teaching of the Church – sometime prior to the loss of a loved one.

39. Pious practice of burying the dead:
It is a corporal work of mercy, and mirroring the burial of Christ, it more clearly expresses hope in the resurrection
The final resting place is marked with the person’s name with which he was baptized & called by God
It is an expression of belief in the communion of saints, the unity in Christ of all the baptized
Believers have a right to pray at a tomb and to remember the deceased
We belong to a community of faith not just our relatives
It prevents the faithful from being forgotten or their remains being shown a lack of respect

40. cremation
How to encourage families to not keep ashes, scatter ashes, wear ashes, divide ashes, etc.?
How to discourage families from by-passing funeral directors?
Is the Memorial Service becoming the norm?

41. WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH EULOGIES OR REMARKS OF REMEMBRANCE
WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH EULOGIES OR REMARKS OF REMEMBRANCE? LET’S BURY THE EULOGY!

42. TOO MANY OR TOO LONG OR TOO INAPPROPRIATE

43. A member or a friend of the family may speak in remembrance of the deceased before the final commendation begins and should ordinarily be allowed.

44. Should there be a Diocesan policy (pending), a District policy or a parish policy? There are samples of policies available on-line.

45. In a Catholic funeral, the “Remarks of Remembrance” should be seen as a way to give praise and thanks to God for the life of the deceased … how God has been acting in the life and in the death of the deceased or how God blessed us and the world through the life and faithful example of the deceased.

46. They should not be a listing of the accomplishments of the deceased
They should not be a listing of the accomplishments of the deceased. Even more so, care should be taken that the remarks do not become a recitation of stories about the speaker …ordinarily, there is to be only one person.

47. A time should be set aside during the Vigil/wake or at the after-funeral gathering for more people to share remarks individually. The person chosen to offer Remarks should be able to maintain composure while speaking. It becomes very uncomfortable for all present when grief overcomes the speaker.

48. Given the sacred nature of the Mass … not permitted to share stories, use language or perform any action which is in poor taste, disrespectful of the deceased or embarrassing to anyone present for the funeral … remarks are to be written and not given “off-the-cuff.” They must not appear to be excessively long or more important than the Mass itself … they should be no more than one single -spaced typewritten page.

49. EULOGIES AND REMARKS OF REMEMBRANCE
Any ideas on what to do or how to do it?

50. SUPPORT GROUPS FOR THE BEREAVED

51. CAN THERE BE A LIST OF GRIEF SUPPORT GROUPS FOR THE LAKE – GEAUGA DISTRICT? OR A LIST OF SUPPORT GROUPS IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY?

52. FEES: CELEBRANT (VIGIL, MASS & BURIAL) CHURCH MUSICIANS

53. WHAT KIND OF MUSIC IS AND IS NOT APPROPRIATE AT MASS?

54. THE INDIGENT PERSON AND HOW TO HELP THE DECEASED AND THE FAMILY?