Maria Steen
Advent is a time of preparation, when we slow down a little, anticipate what is ahead and prepare for what is to come. As I read about the funeral of Mary Regan in Co. Carlow a few days ago, I was reminded of the similarities between Advent and the funeral mass as celebrated in the Catholic Church: that “in-between” time following death and before burial is a time of sombre mood with preparations being made. Despite the sadness and grief, a funeral, like Advent, looks ahead in hope to something better to come: a new life.
One might be tempted, listening to the news in other places, to think that there is little hope or goodness left in the world, but a beautiful witness to hope and kindness emerged in Askea, Carlow last week. The kindness of one man – the undertaker – led him to put the call out asking people to attend the funeral of Mary Regan.
Generosity
Because he was aware that she had no next of kin, he knew there would be few, if any, to attend her funeral. The people of the locality responded with pity and generosity. Rory Healy, the funeral director, was taken aback to see the response, when about 300 people turned up at the funeral mass in the Church of the Holy Family, Askea in Carlow town.
All the major news outlets covered the story; there was the proper acknowledgment of the role the funeral director had played in assembling the people and of course of the people’s response, but what of the Church?
The same outlets that so often are brutally critical of the Catholic Church, some even going so far as to call for its disbanding, had nothing to say about the fact that it was the Church that provided the opportunity, through its rites, for people to assemble to support the lady who had died. Nor was there any mention of the kindness that the Church extends to her children by actually having a funeral Mass offered for the soul of the person who has died.
Superficial
Our secular world recognised the goodness, but could only read it on a completely superficial level. They looked and saw a great story – one person reaching out in kindness to another, others responding, but for what? On a secular world view – which does not believe in God or the next life or that the soul lives on after death – what does it matter to the lady who died if anyone turns up to her funeral?
To understand the significance of it, we need to understand the purpose of the funeral Mass. A funeral is not made better by a eulogy that brings people to tears, or the rank of the priest who officiates, or even the size of the crowd. None of these things matters. What matters is that we pray for the soul of the person who had died.
The Mass, as we know, is a sacrifice. Christ gave His life for us on Calvary and the Mass recalls this in a mystical way, making Christ present in our midst through the actions of the priest. Just as Christ gave His life for us, the Mass too was made for us. It was instituted by Christ, not for us to be entertained, but so that we might do what we ought by making our offering to God through the priest, and making our own personal offering of our lives by praying in a fourfold way: we adore God, we give Him thanks, we ask forgiveness for our sins, and petition Him or ask for help in whatever way we need.
For a funeral Mass, we do the same thing, but we pray on behalf of the person who can no longer pray for himself or herself. We adore God, we thank him for the person’s life, we ask forgiveness for his or her sins, and we petition God for him or her to be united with Him in Heaven.
Beautiful
What was beautiful about the funeral of Mary Regan was that she had people there to pray for her – even though they didn’t know her. And that really encapsulates the idea of communion within the Catholic Church: the spiritual solidarity of all the members of the one mystical body, praying with each other and for each other.
Mary Regan’s funeral highlighted what is really important about the Catholic funeral, which is easily overlooked at funerals that are packed with well-wishers and friends of the dead person.
It is not about a celebration of the person’s life (remember, the people in Askea did not know Mary Regan personally), but a commendation of the person’s soul to God. A celebration of a person’s life ends at the grave; the funeral mass and commendation looks forward to something else, something much greater. Those haunting words that are so familiar to those of us used to attending Catholic funerals remind us of this: “Receive her soul and present her to God the Most High.”
In the end, the funeral of a lady with no next of kin highlighted the importance and beauty of the faithful working together with the whole Church body in an act of love. That love was to be found in the kindness of one good Samaritan, the response of the people, and the embrace of the person who had died in the bosom of the Church in an act of commendation to God.