#Christian funerals

[globalindeed]

Most Common Questions about Cremation and Their Answers

The past two decades have seen an immense rise in the concept of services, so much so that funeral homes are also now highlighting this as a premium service they offer. People use this service more than burial or any other method of disposing of the body as it is less time-consuming and less harmful to the environment. There are different questions in mind related to cremation services that people have no idea of home to ask for answers.

Cremation Faqs What Is a Cremation?

An essential part of funeral homes services, cremation is the process of reducing the human body using high heat and flame. However, it is not the final disposition, and in some countries, it is also not considered a type of funeral.

Is A Casket Needed?

If funeral homes directors advocate the use of caskets, you should immediately look for other funeral homes because caskets are not needed at all for this service. However, you can use an alternative container that can be made of wood or cardboard, and also, there is an option of not using a container.

Is Embalming Required?

Strictly 'no', and it is the responsibility of funeral homes to guide you that it is against the law for them to use this process or advocate it for you.

Can The Body Be Viewed Without Embalming?

Yes, funeral homes and crematories definitely allow family members to view the deceased for the final time prior to cremation.

What If The Family Wants To Witness The Cremation?

This request can be forwarded to funeral home directors, and they will have no other alternative than to allow the family to witness the process. They can be around the cremation chamber where the body is placed and see the process till the end.

Can An Urn Brought Into The Church?

Protestant churches allow people to bring the urn during the memorial services, and also catholic churches allow the remains to be present during the memorial mass.

What Can Be Done With The Cremains?

The cremains of the body are pulverised after the cremation process, given a form of powder, and handed over to the family. They are responsible for what can be done, but state laws also come into play. You can bury the cremains in the garden or interred in a columbarium or kept at home or scattered in a field or some river nearby, of course, with the authority's permission.

[divinum-pacis]

October 20, 2023: Greek Orthodox Archbishop Alexios holds a funeral prayer for Palestinians who were killed in Israeli airstrikes that hit a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

[10yrsyart]

(alternative music only video)

"Can anything separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (-) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loves us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our fears about tomorrow- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:35,37-39

transcript:

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste It all revolves around you And there's no mountain too high No river too wide Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side Storm clouds may gather And stars may collide But I love you Until the end of time Come what may Come what may I will love you Until my dying day

[ssaemilyhotchner]

currently capping Emily's funeral and once again getting emotional at seeing Hotch standing at the head of her casket.

in the few seconds that this image is on screen, I think the default assumption is that he's standing at her feet, with the priest officiating at her head. but casket sprays are typically placed over the head of the deceased, and in catholic tradition, the body is usually positioned with the feet to the altar (or in this case, in the direction of the priest)

there's a kind of responsibility and guardianship that the spot entails, which is a lovely position for Hotch to be standing in as her unit chief, but all the more so as one of her secret keepers. it's such a fleeting detail but I love it as a reflection of his enduring care for and duty toward Emily--in life, in death, and (as is the case here) in the messy in-between.

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

I'm allowed to make this joke, but I love that Jewish death rituals are like:

"Pfeh, for what should I spend $12,000 on a big fekakte box they see only for five minutes before they cover it with dirt?"

"Don't waste my good suit what might fit my nephew Lev if the bum should ever even try to get a real job!"

"Embalming? Don't mind me, I'll rot in the dark."

[maxx-the-queer]

Can't believe I'm saying this but I miss the references to Andraste and the Maker in Dragon Age. The exasperated exclaimations of "Maker's Breath," or "Andraste's ass," were so incredibly absent in Veilguard, I can't recall any dialogue where characters use them or an equivalent. I know the focus was on the Evanuris, but man, we've got at least 3 humans and 1 dwarf who by all likelihoods should be Andrastian and follow some version of the Chant.

I've seen fanfics where characters use "gods!" as an exclaimation like we're in Faerûn and not Thedas, because Veilguard just straight up forgets about the cultural importance of the Maker and Andraste and so new fans to the series have no idea either.

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Oswald Achenbach (German, 1827-1905) Funeral in Palestrina, ca.1857

[theshoesofatiredman]

I kinda want to start planning my funeral not because I think I'm going to die or want to die but because I don't want a god damn church service. The thought of a Christian funeral, which is undoubtedly what would be planned for me by my family, is nauseating. I know I won't be there to be mad about it but fuck! If someone shares the gospel at my funeral I'm gonna resurrect so I can punch them in the face.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

My toxic Catholic trait is being extremely annoyed at blessed Carlo Acutis fans who are indifferent/dismissive about soon to be saint Pier Giorgio Frassati.

[nepentheisms]

This is it; this is the Big 'Un that's been knocking around in my head since the bookclub's inception.

When it comes to mentions of the biblical parallels in Trigun, I've seen that Wolfwood is most frequently discussed as a Judas figure. I think it's important, though, to note that carrying out the Judas role to Vash's Jesus was a job he was ordered to take, and it's one he went through the motions of following while having the ulterior motive of killing the one who gave him the order in the first place. In fact, when Wolfwood does turn traitor, it's actually Knives and the GHG he chooses to betray. He ends up Judas-ing the guys who assigned him to the Judas mission - that's some sweet irony!

And as Wolfwood's time in the story draws to an end, he takes the path completely contrary to Judas' ignominious end by suicide. He instead takes a leap of faith and dares to place his trust in Vash's vision for humanity's future. His faith remains imperfect, but in the midst of all his doubt and uncertainty, he persists anyway.

This last stand of his becomes Wolfwood's ultimate affirmation of his devotion to Vash's ideals, and he effectively becomes a martyr, which places him far outside the image of Judas. In fact, I think that when we look back on his character arc as a whole, we can see how it more neatly lines up in trajectory with the story of another apostle: Peter.

Like Peter in the gospel narratives, Wolfwood finds it difficult to have the kind of faith that is asked of him. Vash goes into his battle with Rai Dei insisting to Wolfwood that he can finish the conflict without taking a life, but Wolfwood intervenes against Vash's wishes because he was worried about Rai Dei's next move. Peter sees Jesus walking on water and goes out to join him, but with the rough winds blowing around him, Peter becomes overwhelmed by fear and begins to sink. After these failures of faith in their respective stories, Peter and Wolfwood are then chastised by the men they follow.

Matthew 14:31 (NRSV) - Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

And it's these struggles with doubt, these moments of fear and cynicism overtaking faith that are so instrumental to the Christian perspective on salvation with its message of "You are flawed by nature, but you are loved beyond all comprehension nonetheless. Accept this love that it may save you and change you."

In Peter's case, although he is singled out multiple times for his failures (e.g. denying Jesus three times), he still holds a special place of prominence among Jesus' disciples. The 21st chapter of John features a conversation between Peter and the resurrected Jesus in which Peter affirms his love for Jesus three times (a reversal of the three times he denied Jesus), and Jesus responds by instructing Peter to care for his flock. After Jesus ascends to Heaven, Peter continues the work set out for him in building the early church until his eventual martyrdom, which, according to church tradition, occurs via upside-down crucifixion (see Caravaggio's rendition here). Interestingly, Wolfwood's martyrdom also involves lots of grievous bodily harm being dealt by crosses.

So the saint gets brought to death's doorstep, and that brings us to the infamous whiskey bottle

Others have already pointed out that "The Bride" likely refers to the Bride of Christ. This excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church sums up the concept:

The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. The Lord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb.

Now Peter is of particular importance when talking about the Church as an institution, because in the Catholic tradition, Peter is believed to have been granted a distinguished position of authority as the very foundation of Jesus' church, and every Pope is considered a successor to Peter in their occupation of the Church's highest office.

So Peter = Pope = the head of the Bride of Christ. And if we take the reading of Wolfwood as a Peter analogue.... you see where we're going. The Bride of Christ has been sanctified through a powerful demonstration of sacrificial love and prepared for the wedding to the bridegroom, but right here Yasuhiro Nightow subverts the biblical metaphor to devastating effect. The wedding doesn't come to fruition, because Vash can't bring himself to step into the role of the heavenly bridegroom. In this moment, he just feels all too painfully human in his grief. Wolfwood ascends - celebrated across the sky by those he saved with his selfless love, but Vash descends - acting as an ordinary person mourning the loss of a loved one.

John 13:36 (NRSV) - Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now...."

[cerealbishh]

some pics of the outer range s2 cast hanging out(credit to chefseanvm, jmquinteros, christianjames_official, ybutterfly2, the.pbread, impoots, thetamarapodemski, and isa.arraiza on ig)

[animepopheart]

Y'all already know how much of a Frieren fanboy I am, so—big shocker—I wrote an article about the series in relation to faith. It's up at Love Thy Nerd. Please go check it out!

[globalchristendom]

The Church of Saint Porphyrius was built in the 12th century AD and is on the site of a previous church that existed since the 5th century AD. The church itself was only minorly damaged, but a building on the church campus sheltering Gazans was destroyed and several Gazans were killed.

[artofkhaos404]

A tip for those still in highschool:

Don't spend the highlights of your highschool experience with people that will dampen those memories. Please select the people in your life carefully, more so than I did, so that you can look back on those memories and smile. Differentiate who stuck with you through the hard times, who values your honesty, who tells you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear, who brings you closer to Christ, who is loyal to you no matter what, who never talks shit about you, who believes in self improvement, who sees how much you care and appreciates you for it, who has their priorities straight, who reminds you what you're worth even when you forget... and who is all talk.

Coming from someone who is deathly afraid of being alone, it is always better to be on your own than to be surrounded by liars and manipulators and fake "I love you"s.

Because you are who you hang out with. Everything you hate about them is what you will become. And even after you come to your senses, discover your worth and emerge from the waves of half truths you were trapped under, because of the time already spent with them, their stench will remain.

And it will drive you mad.

Pray for discernment, my friends. There are few wounds in life as painful as betrayal.

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 3x15 - "The Big Bang Job"