It Is Right to Mourn: Toward Funerals that Acknowledge Death as Loss and Lack

Introduction

“For to me life is Christ, and death is gain” (Phil 1:21). Jesus Christ our Life has passed through death. Since Jesus Christ is also our Way, the Christian, too, must pass through death to reach life. It seems, indeed, that “death is gain” for us. But death is also an enemy that is ultimately to be destroyed (1 Cor 15:26), when “every tear is wiped away” (Rev 21:4). Then how should a Christian respond to death, particularly the death of a loved one? Is death to be avoided at all cost? Or, rather, should death be welcomed as the gateway to life? Is death an enemy or a friend? Is it to be ignored or celebrated?

The present essay suggests that Catholic funerals, and the preaching at those funerals, are too often marked by one or the other of two distorted approaches toward death. In some cases, funerals amount to little more than a tribute to the completed life of the deceased; in other cases, funeral rites become a congratulatory celebration of the blessed afterlife that the deceased is to enjoy. Neither approach takes a properly Christian view of death, since neither of them acknowledges death as the final enemy to be overcome.

We will show that, in addition to natural or human reasons for the acknowledgement of death as that which must be overcome, there are properly theological reasons for this, extending beyond a proper regard for the doctrine of purgatory. In particular, with the guidance of St. Thomas Aquinas’ theological anthropology and eschatology, we will propose that a Catholic funeral ought to pay attention to death as loss and lack—the loss of the fully human, bodily existence of a loved one, and a lack of that which will finally bring us fulfillment: risen, bodily life, with Christ and the communion of saints in a renewed world. Funerals and funeral preaching that flow from the recognition of death as loss of personhood, and that look toward resurrection as the perfection of the person, allow for truly Christian grief and hope.

Here, we are not claiming to offer a comprehensive theology of death, nor an exhaustive theological response to the challenges that death poses.¹ Rather, we offer a brief sketch as to how Thomas’s teaching, particularly his teaching on bodily resurrection, may contribute to a Christian, pastoral response to the challenge of death—not only the death of loved ones, but our own death, which none of us escapes.²

This essay is not about Thomas’s explicit counsel or teaching on responding to the difficulties that death poses. Rather, it is about how aspects of his teaching on bodily resurrection—and, by extension, theological anthropology—may hold important implications for a Christian approach to death. This is not to say that Aquinas’s particular positions on resurrection and anthropology are somehow unique to him. Yet the way he saw the bodily resurrection promised in the Gospel as a fully human perfection owed much to his innovative theological use of Aristotelian hylomorphism. Even if his concern for soul-body unity is appreciated today as an improvement over the previously prevailing anthropology, it is the way this insight suffused his teaching in a consistent and penetrating manner that makes his thoughts on these matters worthy of attention.³ We are offering not a comprehensive treatment but a consideration regarding one important area in which eschatological doctrines may inform a Christian approach to death, which may be applied most explicitly in Christian funerals.

This essay, then, is divided into three main parts. Part one (I) will deal with two current approaches to death, and some of the questions they raise. Part two (II) concerns St. Thomas’s eschatology and theological anthropology, focusing on his teaching surrounding resurrection of the dead. Part three (III) considers that teaching as a resource for a Christian, pastoral approach to death—one that accords with the whole of the Christian faith.

I. Two Current Approaches to Death

At this...