As we pray for the Souls in Purgatory, it is a good time to think about preparing our own funeral arrangements.  It is a great act of faith in God’s love which is stronger than death.  It is also a great act of love for your family members.  I highly encourage everyone to prepare your funeral arrangements with a funeral home of your choosing before you get sick or get too old.  When that time comes, your family does not have to guess what you wanted.  Also, you can rest assured that your funeral will be celebrated as you desired.  Then then your family can just mourn your passing without the burden of those difficult details. Some of our local funeral homes advertise on our bulletin and I ask you to patronize them.

Many people ask about Cremation and so here are some points to guide you.

The preferred method of Christian burial continues to be burying the body intact on the day of the funeral services.  However, if the body is to be cremated, again the preference is to bring the body to the Church for the funeral Mass and then cremate the body and having the burial of the cremains soon afterwards. If the body is cremated right away, the ashes may be brought to the Church for the funeral Mass but must be buried or entombed on the day of or soon after the funeral services.  The cremains are not to be kept at the family home until the burial if the burial is delayed.  No Funeral Mass or Services are possible from the Church if there is no intent to bury or entomb the cremains.  None of the Cremains may be separated and distributed among loved ones.  All the ashes must remain in one urn and buried or entombed together.

Holy Infancy Roman Catholic Church Feasibility Study

Our parish leadership is currently seeking the input of our entire parish community regarding proposed projects that we would like to undertake to continue His Good Works happening at Holy Infancy Roman Catholic Church. To gauge the level of support that exists within our community, we are partnering with Our Sunday Visitor to collect the responses of our faithful parishioners through a brief survey. We will allow time during Mass next week to reflect and discern your answers about our proposed projects, and your family’s willingness to participate. All registered households will be receiving a newsletter with more information about our Feasibility Study and a paper copy of the survey. You can return these at Mass next week or mail them to the parish office using the provided mail-back envelope. Thank you for your prayerful and honest answers!