A Beautiful Funeral

[catholicschoolmom]

As horrible as this sounds, I attended a beautiful funeral today of the father of a friend.  2 things absolutely amazed me.... first, the church was incredibly beautiful.... Sacred Heart church in South Amboy NJ....  although not a TLM parish, it  first time in a long, long time I was in a N.O. parish with the Tabernacle right in the center behind the altar...  statues, paintings, mosaics, stained glass as far as the eye could see...  ... awe inspiring to say the least... secondly, the priest gave a very poignent sermon revolving around the story of Lazarus, but focused on the need for our redemption, confession, preparing the soul to meet God, what the Church teaches us about death, penance, etc.... asked us to pray for their soul, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, etc... not the usual fluffy stuff you hear at NO funerals.    Finally, the most impressive part was at Communion, the priest said "We as Catholics believe that this is the Real Presence, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ... therefore, only those Catholics that are of good disposition and grace should approach to receive the Eucharist."  He continued to say that "You will be receiving our Lord on the tongue and will consume the Host in my presence".  So refreshing to see --- had to share.

[kingtheoden]

That sounds like a good Priest, very much needed in those parts.  Thanks for sharing!

[JacafamalaRedux]

Good to know.  :)

[Teresia]

I wish my grandfather's funeral was like that.... when my extended lapsed family members asked if they could have the football anthem sung, the priest just answered: "No, you cannot, because I do not go for that team!!!!!!!!!"  ::) What a wonderful reason to give for not having the anthem sung at Mass!!

Then, he did not mention that only those who are in the state of grace can receive communion......I asked him to, but to no avail!!  Which meant that EVERYONE went, even the non-Catholics....makes me shiver just thinking about it!

At that funeral I was crying more over the abuses that were occuring than over my grandfather's death!