Our faith tells us very clearly, however, that when we die our earthly life is changed not ended. God has made us for life, not death. Our confident hope of eternal life – a life that is far more than a vague shadowy afterlife – is founded on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, which transformed the nature of death for ever.

A funeral provides an opportunity for family and friends to mark the end of a person’s life, to remember, give thanks and celebrate their life, and to support and comfort each other. From the perspective of our faith, however, the most important aspect of a funeral is that we pray for the person who has died. Heaven is a place of perfection, and when we die most of us are still a ‘work in progress’. Our Lord will make us ready for heaven, but he shares this work with the whole of the church, so that we can do something to help our beloved dead on their final journey. Our prayers benefit them and us.

A funeral can be a simple service at the Crematorium or Cemetery but for a Catholic person the most powerful expression of our prayer is the Mass. A Funeral Mass or Requiem Mass (from the Latin phrase ‘Rest in Peace’) is filled with hope, gratitude as well as sadness, and the honest recognition of our dependence on the grace and mercy of God to make us ready for the life of heaven.