It's time for autumn and time to reflect on the last things, heaven, judgement, purgatory and hell. We have many obligations, but above all we need to obey the commandments as we prepare for death. One meditation might be to take some time and think about your funeral arrangements. Don't let Father Flapdoodle get involved and mess things up, and don't let your relatives send you to a crematorium where your body, which has received many benedictions and graces in itself, will be tossed into an enormous blender. It's one of those situations where you have to hold your nose and pretend that no one has said it's ok to be cremated. It's never been a Christian custom to be cremated, it is for pagans to do that, and more important, it's not all that expensive if you avoid the state-mandated vault or get put in a family crypt, or better yet, get buried inside the church itself. This article, by a secular journalist in the Philippines, asks his countrymen what they think. Thank God that the Philippines is still Catholic.
Belonging to a Christian nation, Filipinos have been accustomed to burying their deceased loved ones the traditional way because of the belief that the soul of the departed will continue to be with them even after death.
Aside from this, Filipinos believe that the burial site is a corporeal link between the departed loved one and the family members left behind.
That's why many Filipinos still prefer traditional burial since a buried body means the physical presence of the person they would love to cherish and remember.
However, over the years, traditional burial has been overshadowed by the growing number of people preferring to cremate their loved ones as a way of honoring their dead because of financial consideration. For them, cremation is also “more economical” in the long run.
We Respond:
Cremation was once forbidden by canon law, and like a lot of things that have changed in the last 40 years for arbitrary and unreasonable reasons, we don't understand it, and it doesn't seem that anyone is going to explain it to us either. We do believe that those in charge have done a poor job of explaining things. But we like how the journalist tries to give significance to the rite of burial by referring to local and presume ably pre-christian attitudes about burial.
For your perusal, here's the old canon law of 1917:
Canon 1203: "The bodies of the faithful must be buried, and cremation is reprobated. If anyone has in any manner ordered his body to be cremated, it shall be unlawful to execute his wish."
But, in line with the proper feeling of a Catholic conscience and the previous canons and customs of the ancient Church, the best answer is given by this interviewee,
Stephany Andem, 22, of Quezon City, said she wants her body to be buried the traditional way also because of her Catholic faith.
The rest of the article is here...
Of course, Gary North gives good advice, he's recommending that you buy an inexpensive coffin and do whatever you can to make your funeral inexpensive so as not to provide too large a burden on your heirs. The average American funeral runs at an exorbitant price, around $14,000 and that's if you don't want to fly people out to come and be part of it.
One cost-cutting gesture, in addition to not embalming if it's legally permissible, is to find a cheap coffin which you can get here at Trappist Coffins.
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