Mass of Christian burial source of wisdom, grace

Published: November 4, 2023

By Sister M. Glorea Knaggs, OSB
Holy Angels Convent

In the past 10 months, I’ve attended six funerals: my two grandmothers, three of my sisters in religious life and one of my former students.

After all the visitations, rosaries and sharing memories about our loved one who has died, I always feel a sense of hope and relief when we get to the Mass of Christian burial. Not only is this Mass offered for the soul of the person who has died, but it is also a source of grace, encouragement and wisdom for the living.

Funeral Masses often draw friends and family who are not regular churchgoers. I often find myself interceding for those individuals, that the grace of the Mass would move their hearts closer to the Lord. Hymns can be very powerful — speaking to us on a deeper level of God and eternity. At my grandmother’s funeral last month, during “How Great Thou Art,” there was not a dry eye in the chapel.

The prayers guide us and ground us. The priest starts off the ritual by saying, “In the waters of baptism, our sister died with Christ and rose with him to new life. May she now share with him eternal glory.” At convent funerals, this is striking because so many of my sisters over the years have said, “Please, when I die, pray for my soul — do not assume I have gone straight to heaven!” And everyone nods in agreement. This is the time where we keep that promise to pray for their eternal rest.

The Scripture readings remind us of the truths God has revealed about death and eternity: “the souls of the just are in his hands” (Wisdom 3:3), he goes to prepare a place for us (John 14:3), we do not mourn as those without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), and all this because “if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Romans 6:8). We need to be reminded of these things in our grief.

Homilies can help when the congregation is yearning for comfort. At my former student’s funeral, I will never forget the celebrant saying, “When our worst nightmare happens, Jesus does not abandon us.”

After my father’s unexpected death in 2019, the priest told us in the homily that because of our life in Christ, the relationship with our dad did not end — that the love would continue. This really stayed with my 5-year-old nephew, who was so very sad.

The Mass of Christian burial can also “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). As we pray and enter into the Mass, we know that one day, we will be the one mourned and prayed for. Let us remember this and pray always, not just at the death of a loved one, to be ready for the day when the Lord will call us to himself.

Sister M. Glorea Knaggs, OSB, holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is the formation director at Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro. This article was originally published in Arkansas Catholic Nov. 4, 2023. Copyright Diocese of Little Rock. All rights reserved. This article may be copied or redistributed with acknowledgement and permission of the publisher.