When someone close to you dies, even if it is expected, you will begin to grieve. Grief can bring with it intense emotions like pain and sorrow. These are very normal emotions to experience and sometimes one of the hardest things to do is focus on planning a funeral when your grief is still raw.
In the Catholic Church, a funeral Mass allows you to celebrate the life of a person through death into eternal life. It can help strengthen and comfort those in mourning by allowing them to reflect on the life of the person who has died.
It is also a time to share memories, celebrate the person's life and provide comfort to others who are also grieving.
In the Catholic Church, the funeral rites offer hope; the Church proclaims that death is not the end and is an expression of a belief in the resurrection.
If you have the responsibility of planning a funeral for someone you love and you would like the funeral rite to take place in a Catholic Church in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, please contact your local parish office.
Your funeral director may offer to do this on your behalf but this isn't always the case.
When you phone the parish office, a staff member will talk you through the steps involved in planning a funeral − the options available to you, the burial or cremation, and arranging a priest or lay minister to preside.
