Catholic Funeral

Catholic Funeral

Welcome to Christianity Oasis. This is Catholic Funeral from our Sojourn With Luz Leigh Collection. We hope you enjoy this enlightening reading and it helps you on your own be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.

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Sojourn With Luz Leigh

Catholic Funeral

Written by Luz Leigh - 21 October 2009

The century old church was filled with mourners. A well liked man in our community had died suddenly and a funeral mass was being recited. Not being of the Catholic faith I was sitting quietly, listening as the devout parishioners responded at the appropriate time with the words ingrained into their being.

Being a very emotional person, I tried to keep my mind on lighter things so I would not be sobbing out loud. As I looked at the grieving widow (years ago I had sat in our church under similar circumstances), my heart broke for her. But, most of all I wanted to cry for the precious granddaughter who was the apple of her paw paw's eye and she loved him as only little three year old girls can love ... with her entire being. So, I began to look around the ornate building and single out certain people.

There was the business man who was so busy looking at his wristwatch every two minutes; now, the man was a Catholic and he should have known the mass would require at least an hour. Sure hope he didn't get a ticket on his way back to his office.

The little girl who sat a couple of rows ahead of me was doing her best to entertain herself by flipping her long hair, re-adjusting the polka dot bow in her tresses. Her grandmother finally gave up trying to keep the five-year-old still. Apparently there was someone behind me who was encouraging her to look back, smile a big smile and toss her head, as if to say, "Away with you."

Most of the time when vocal responses were made, I remained silent, but when it came time to recite the Lord's Prayer, I joined in. Ooops. Forgot that the Catholics stop reciting after the phrase "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." We Baptists and other non-Catholics always forget and try to continue with "for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen" as we are taught (Matthew 6:13b KJV). I do not intend to offend anyone when I speak of this; just that it is sort of funny to hear a few mumbles after the majority of the people have stopped praying.

When I had arrived at the church, David was already seated at the end of a pew. The usher took me there and I slid in beside David and noticed that one of my daughter's best friends was seated to his left. Renae and I smiled a greeting to each other; then she swapped places with David so she and I could sit next to one another, putting her between David and me. Several times during the service I kept hearing someone talking at the rear of the sanctuary; could not understand what was being said. Later a friend told me that the man who was seated next to him kept asking questions or making comments, and since the man is very hard of hearing, did not whisper and could not hear a whispered response to his questions. I hope no one was listening to him, especially when he voiced the question, "Is that David's first or his second wife sitting with him?" Our friend, who was seated next to the questioner, said "Neither." You see, Renae was the pretty blonde young lady to whom the man was referring. It should have been evident this was not David's wife; both his ex-wife and present wife are definitely brunettes. Side note; this misconception was not quite as embarrassing as the incident that occurred on the day I placed my membership in my present church. I had requested my three children and two of my grandchildren to go to the front of the church with me. The pastor knew Don, but had never met David nor Heather. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when Heather was introduced as David's wife. Felt sorry for the pastor when he realized what a faux pas he had just committed.

At last the mass was concluded and we proceeded to the cemetery for the final rites there. As the priest was sprinkling the holy water over the casket, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Now I am fighting laughter and not tears. You see, when I was growing up in this heavily Catholic community, I would ask lots of questions of my friends who were of that faith One question I had was "Where does the priest get the 'holy water' that is used?" With a most solemn face, my friend explained. "Oh, he just uses well water and boils the hell out of it." There not more than fifty feet away in the cemetery was the grave of my most comical friend; probably smiling down from heaven and saying "Sharon, you still wondering where the holy water comes from?"

I wonder what thoughts went through the minds of others during the time we were gathered to pay our respects?

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