After having 5 deaths and 4 funerals at Sacred Heart Parish in a very short time since Easter Sunday, I was not surprised when a couple from the parish came up to me the other day and asked about getting together to talk about the options they have when planning their funeral liturgy and answer any questions they might have as they fill out their funeral planning form. Perhaps some of you are not aware that a funeral planning form exists and can be accessed at the church office or in a marked spot on the credenza in the hallway leading from the Narthex to the educational/administrative wing of our parish facilities. There are, of course, many choices that can and really should be made before one takes their last breath in this world, the first one being what funeral home to use. A second decision that has only been an option (in Catholicism anyway) for a relatively short period of time, is whether to have one's body present for the funeral and the interment OR for the funeral followed by cremation and interment of cremains in an urn in the ground or at a columbarium OR immediate cremation and a funeral with or without cremains present in an urn with interment happening at a scheduled time. I hope you already see that it is important for these decisons to be made and shared with family members and our parish (especially of the family cannot be reached if someone dies suddenly with no family aroud). That's only the start, however, as there are choices that can be amde when it comes to the funeral itself as far as the scripture readings that will be proclaimed and songs that will be sung at the Mass of Resurrection and whether a person wants a rosary to be prayed the night before the funeral, the day of the funeral, or not at all. Family members of our deceased parishioners are often (if not always) relieved when I tell them that their loved one has already made decisions about some or all of this (and more) so as to relieve them of decisions they might sturggle to make during their time of grief or worse "disagree over" with other family members, I hope all this gets your attention (if you haven't some or all of this) and leads you to come to a session that I will present on Wednesday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m. and the same one on Thursday, May 18 at 2:00 p.m., both in the Lower Hall. I will have forms available as we go through the choices that can be made and I'll try to have someone from our columbarium committee there to talk about the process of obtaining a niche in the Sacred Heart Columbarium Garden area as your final resting place if you have chosen cremation. I have always said that doing pre-planning when it come to arrangements after your death, especially the funeral itself is the last statement one can make to everyone (including of course the family) of one's faith in Jesus Christ and hope in what Jesus has won for us beyond what we can see or ever experience in life here on this earth!