May Jesus, our Lord and Savior, bless you with His peace.

Not too long ago, a man wanted to arrange a funeral here in Kingman, Az., at Saint Mary Roman Catholic Church, for his wife. I was more than willing to help him in his time of separation and grief. In his conversation with my staff, he said that he was going to keep the ashes of his wife in his house, to have her close to him, rather than to bury them. At that point, he was informed that as Roman Catholics, we could not agree with his intention, and if he was going to insist, that we could not provide his wife with a Catholic funeral. He insisted, and so ended our dialogue, and there was no Catholic funeral. 

Such a scenario is happening more and more in our society. Television advertisements and programs glorify the idea of holding onto the ashes of a deceased member, or of scattering the ashes over the flower bed, in a stream, or on a golf course, where the deceased spent a lot of time.

There appeared in the Kingman Daily Miner on Tuesday, December 27, 2016, two days after Christmas Day, an article on this subject of cremation: A Fact of Life, Dignity in Death and the Costs of Burial , by J.T. Keith. There is a lament that since one’s parents’ bodies were buried in a cemetery, that the son does not have an relic of his parents, to which he could hang on. Had his parents’ bodies been cremated, he would have been able to carry their ashes with him, wherever he went, according to the son. Others, who have cremated a loved one, brag that they put the ashes in a necklace, or in a ring, or in some pendant. That way the survivor will always be able to hang onto the deceased loved one. And of course, there is brought forth the argument of the cost of burying a body versus the cheap way of cremating the body and keeping the ashes.

Is not death, however, to teach us to let go, and to entrust the deceased loved one to the mercy of God. Letting go of the deceased remains in a holy manner, teaches us to look forward to the resurrection of the body, and to pray for the soul of the deceased, who may very well be in purgatory. Ashes cannot embrace, talk, cuddle, hear, or do anything. There is a danger that the ashes might become like an idol, something more important than God and His love.

The Roman Catholic Church considers the use of the cremains in jewelry an offense against the sacredness of the human body and against the commands of God. God created man in His image and likeness. He formed the human body from the dust of the earth, and He breathed His spirit into the clay, and it became a living being.

Why would anyone want to carry around the cremated remains of a deceased, since what is given back to the family after cremation are the bones and teeth that did not burn and were ground up in a steal blender?, I ask myself. When the deceased was alive, did the family members think of saving the finger and toe nail clippings as a souvenir? What about clipping a lock of hair from the head, and then holding onto that as a relic of the deceased one? Why not take a loose tooth, after the loved one has died, but before cremation, from the mouth of the deceased and then put it under a pillow to wait for the tooth fairy? 

Sounds ridiculous in some ways, does it not? So why is it so important to hang on to ashes, which bears no resemblance to the deceased loved one? It makes no sense to me, and more especially, it makes no sense to the Roman Catholic Church.

And since I am pushing the argument for cremation to the extreme, I present two thoughts. Would that mean that the resurrection of the body will be easier for God, because all He would have to do is just add water to the ashes, stir, like freeze dried coffee?, and Behold!, an entire body comes back to form. My other thought, question, would be: how is the Church going to know if you are saint? That is, many bodies of the saints have been unearthed and found to be incorrupt, an outward sign to believers that indeed this person lived in holiness and the grace of God.

There are many myths about cremation. Yes, cremation is an option, but a reluctant one that the Church allows. The Church would have a funeral service or Mass with the full body present, before it is cremated, because the body is the relic of the deceased person, the habitat of the soul, and which deserves to be blessed and clothed as at Baptism with holy water and the white garment, the pall.

The fast disposing of by-products in modern society is now applied to dead bodies. Hurry, let us dispose of the corpse, burn it so it may not be a burden to keep around or to have to visit at a grave side tomb.

What about relics? How are keeping relics different from keeping the ashes of a cremated body? In the fourth century the great biblical scholar, Jerome, declared, "We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are" (Ad Riparium, i, P.L., XXII, 907). `

The use of the bones of Elisha brought a dead man to life: "So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet" (2 Kgs. 13:20-21). This is an unequivocal biblical example of a miracle being performed by God through contact with the relics of a saint! 

One of the most moving accounts of the veneration of relics is that of the very body of Christ itself. Rather than leaving His body on the cross, to be taken down and disposed of by the Romans (as was the customary practice), Joseph of Arimathea courageously interceded with Pilate for Christ’s body (Mark 15:43, John 19:38). He donated his own, newly hewn tomb as Christ’s resting place (Matt. 27:60). Nicodemus came and donated over a hundred pounds of spices to wrap inside Jesus’ grave clothes (John 19:39), that amount of spices being used only for the most honored dead. And after the body of Jesus was buried, the women went to reverently visit the tomb (Matt. 28:1) and to further anoint Christ’s body with spices even though it had already been sealed inside the tomb (Mark 16:1, Luke 24:1). These acts of reverence were more than just the usual courtesy shown to the remains of the dead; they were special respect shown to the body of a most holy man—in this case, the Holiest Man who has ever lived, for He was God Incarnate. 

One powerful argument for burial of the body instead of cremating it is the example of Christ. His body was venerated and anointed, and buried in a protected tomb. The Catholic Faith insists that just as the body of Christ resurrected and ascended into heaven, and just as the body of Mary, the Immaculate Conception and Mother of God was assumed up to heaven, so too will our own bodies, made holy through Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist, be resurrected and glorified in heaven.

May we love our bodies (and souls) as Christ loves His Body, the Church.

Fr. Matthew

January 30, 2017