A reading for the Book of Ecclesiastes
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from
embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil?
I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear and honour him.
The word of the Lord
A Reading from the book of Wisdom
The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they did appear to die, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us, to be their destruction, but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having being disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them. Those who trust in him will understand the truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love; because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.
The Word of the Lord
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord. This explains why Christ both died and came to life, it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. We shall all have to stand before the judgement seat of God; as scripture says: By my life – it is the Lord who speaks – every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall praise God. It is to God, therefore, that each of us must give an account of himself.
The Word of the Lord
A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
We know that when the tent we live in on earth is folded up, there is a house built by God for us, an everlasting home not made of human hands, in the heavens. We are always full of confidence, then, when we remember that to live in the body means to be exiled from the Lord, going as we do by faith and not by sight – we are full of confidence, I say, and actually want to be exiled from the body and make our home with the lord. Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are intent on pleasing him. For all the truth about us will be brought out in the law court of Christ, and each of us will get what he deserves for the things he did in the body, good or bad.
The Word of the Lord
A reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for his appearing.
The Word of the Lord
A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah
On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food. On this mountain He will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations, He will destroy death for ever. The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth, for the Lord has said so. That day, it will be said: See, this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation; the Lord is the one in whom we hoped. We exult and rejoice that he has saved us.
The Word of the Lord
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians
For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the Saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe.
The Word of the Lord
A reading from the Book of revelation (14,3)
I, John, heard a voice from heaven say to me, “Write down: happy are those die in the Lord! Happy indeed, the Spirit says: now they can rest for ever after their work, since their good deeds go with them”.
The Word of the Lord
Prayers Of The Faithful
Please choose 5 or 6 prayers. The prayers below are examples of how to structure the prayers, please personalize them by putting names of family and those you would like to thank in the prayers.
- Let us pray for N. In baptism he/she died with Christ, may he/she now share in the fullness of his resurrection. Lord, hear us.
- God is full of mercy and compassion. May he forgive N. any sins he/she committed through human frailty. Lord, hear us.
- For the sorrowing family, relatives and friends of N., that you may find strength and consolation in your Christian faith and in the love and support of this community. Lord, hear us.
- We pray for those who mourn N’s death (especially ….); that you may find strength and consolation in the hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Lord, hear us.
- God of all consolation, help us to comfort one another in our grief, finding light in time of darkness, and faith in time of doubt. Lord, hear us.
- We pray for all those we have loved who have died. Lord give them the reward of their goodness. Lord, hear us.
- We pray for those who care for the sick and dying, especially those who cared for N. during his/her illness. Lord, hear us.
- For all parents who grieve over the death of their children; that they may be comforted in the knowledge that they rest in God. Lord, hear us.
- May the prayers of Mary, the Mother of God, who stood by the cross as her son was dying, help those who mourn and be with all of us in our time of need. Lord, hear us.
- We pray for those here today, that our memory of N. whom we loved inspires us with a renewed love for all our sisters and brothers. Lord, hear us.
- We pray for all of us here today and for all members of our Church; that we may be prepared for the hour of our death, when God will call us by name, to pass from this world to the next. Lord, hear us.
