My Uncle Ray’s Mass of Christian Burial was conducted by the Reverend Ronald D. Coyne on 04 February 2012 at St. Mary Church in Randolph, Massachusetts . The first reading was from Isaiah 25:6a, 7-9.
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples.
On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples,
The web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever.
The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken.
On that day it will be said: “Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”The word of the Lord.
The second reading was from Romans 6:3-9, the same passage that was read at my father’s funeral last month.
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans
Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.
For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection . We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin . For a dead person has been absolved from sin . If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him . We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.
The word of the Lord.
I was unable to attend the Mass of Christian Burial for Uncle Ray because I was out of the country at the time . My cousin Susan who held Ray in her arms when he passed from this life was kind enough to let me know the details of his death and funeral.
