In the face of death, the Church confidently proclaims that God has created each person for eternal life and that Jesus, by his death and resurrection, has destroyed death forever.

Our Christian faith helps us to confront the reality of death as we are reminded that Jesus himself told us that we can overcome death through our faith in him. 

The Mass of Christian Burial brings hope and consolation to the living. While proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and witnessing to Christian hope in the resurrection, the funeral rites also recall to all who take part in them God’s mercy and judgment and meet the human need to turn always to God in times of crisis.