Readings and songs which may help in preparing for a funeral sevice. 

Readings from the Old Testament

A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah 

Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice. For I am the Lord your God who grasps your right hand; it is I who say to you “fear not, I will help you”. I have brushed away your offences like a cloud, your sins like a mist, return to me, for I have redeemed you. Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child within her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See, upon the palm of my hand I have written your name. Yes, in joy you shall depart, in peace you shall be brought back. 

The Word of the Lord 

A Reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes 

There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven A time for giving birth, a time for dying. A time for planting, a time for uprooting. A time for building, a time for tearing down. A time for sorrow, a time for joy. A time for mourning, a time for dancing. A time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing. A time for finding, a time for losing. A time for saving, a time for throwing away. A time for mending, a time for tearing. A time for keeping silent, a time for speaking. A time for conflict, a time for peace. What does a man gain from the efforts that he makes? I contemplate the task that God gives mankind to labour at. All that he does is apt for its time; but though he has permitted man to consider time in its wholeness, man cannot comprehend the work of God from beginning to end. 

The Word of the Lord 

A Reading from the Book of Wisdom 

The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope was full of immortality, slight was their affliction great will their blessing be. Having been 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. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through stubble. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them forever. Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect. 

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 we rejoice that he has saved us. 

The Word of the Lord

A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah 

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed; to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning. 

The Word of the Lord

A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah 

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy. And the ransomed of the Lord will return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. 

The Word of the Lord

A Reading from the Book of Wisdom 

The virtuous man, though he dies before his time, will find rest. Length of days is not what makes age honourable, nor number of years the true measure of life; understanding, this is man’s grey hairs, untarnished life, this is ripe old age. He has sought to please God, so God has loved him; as he was living among sinners, he has been taken up. He has carried off so that evil may not warp his understanding or treachery seduce his soul; for the fascination of evil throws good things into the shade, and the whirlwind of desire corrupts a simple heart. Coming to perfection in so short a while, he achieved long life; his soul being pleasing to the Lord, he has taken him quickly from the wickedness around him. Yet people look on, uncomprehending; it does not enter their heads that grace and mercy await the chosen of the Lord, and protection, his holy ones. 

The Word of the Lord 

Readings from the New Testament

1. 1. A Reading From the First Letter of St. John.
      Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,
      By letting us be called God’s children;
      And that is what we are.
      Because the world refused to acknowledge Him,
      Therefore it does not acknowledge us.

      My dear people, we are already the children of God
      But what we are to be in the future has not yet
      Been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed
      We shall be like Him because we shall
      See Him as He really is.
      The Word of the Lord.

1. 1. A Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Philippians.
      (3: 20-21)
      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 mortal 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.

1. 1. A Reading from the first Letter of St. John.
      Let us love one another, because love is from God;
      Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
      Whoever does not love does not know God,
      For God is love.

      God’s Love was revealed among us in this way:
      God sent His only Son into the world so that we
      might live through Him. In this is love,
      not that we loved God but that He loved us and
      sent His son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

      Since God loved us so much, we also ought to love
      One another. No one has ever seen God; if we love
      One another, God lives in us, and His love is
      Perfected in us.
      The Word of the Lord.

A Reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans

All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For, you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him, we do so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory which is waiting for us. 

The Word of the Lord

A Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 

I will tell you something that has been a secret: that we are not all going to die, but we shall all be changed. This will be instantaneous, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. It will sound, and the dead will be raised, imperishable, and we shall be changed as well, because our present perishable nature must put on imperishability, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, then the words of Scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and sin gets its power from the law. So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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 ourselves. 

The Word of the Lord

. A Reading from the second letter of St. 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 a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

The Word of the Lord

A Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians 

We want you to be quite certain, friends, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one another. 

The Word of the Lord

A Reading from the first 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 mortal 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 Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 

When we were baptised in Christ we were baptised in his Death; in other words, when we were baptised we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life. If in union with Christ we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in resurrection. We must realise that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery of sin. When a man dies, of course, he is finished with sin. But we believe that having died with Christ, we shall return to life with him: Christ, as we know, having been raised from the dead will never die again. Death has no power over him any more.

 The Word of the Lord

A Reading from the first Letter of St. John

 Let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s Love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us.

The Word of the Lord

 

 

 

Reflections;

DEATH IS NOT THE END 

Death is nothing at all I have only slipped away into the next room, whatever we were to each other that we still are. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way, which you always used. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effort. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was; there is absolutely unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of your mind because I am out of your sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well. Nothing is past; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before only better, infinitely happier and forever we will all be one together with Christ.

Peace at last

May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in his mercy, may he give us a safe lodging, a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND 

One night a man had a dream. He dreamt that he was walking along a beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed the scenes of his life. For each scene he noticed not one, but two sets of footprints in the sand. He understood immediately that one belonged to him, and the other to the Lord. But then he noticed a curious thing. At the lowest and saddest times in his life there was only one set of footprints. This bothered him, and so he asked the Lord: “How come that during the most difficult times in my life, the very times when I most needed you, you left me on my own?” The Lord replied, “My friend, during your trials and sufferings, when you see only one set of footprints, those footprints are mine. It was then that I carried you. 

I’M FREE 

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free. I’m following the path God laid for me. I took His hand when I heard him call. I turned my back and left it all. I could not stay another day. To laugh, to love, to work or play. Tasks left undone must stay that way. I found that peace at close of day. If my parting has left a void, Then fill it with remembered joy. A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss. Ah yes, these things I too will miss. Be not burdened with times of sorrow. I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow. My life’s been full. I’ve savoured much. Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch. Perhaps my time seemed all too brief. Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief. Lift up your hearts and share with me. God wanted me now; He set me free. 

 

GONE ONLY FROM OUR SIGHT 

I am standing on the seashore. Suddenly a ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze, and starts out for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until at length she is only a ribbon of white cloud just above where sea and sky mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: “There! she’s gone.” Gone where? Gone from my sight – that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her, and just at the moment when someone at my side says: “There! She’s gone!” there are other voices ready to great her with a glad shout: “There! She comes!” And that is dying. 

PERHAPS 

Perhaps, if we could see the splendour of the land to which our loved ones are called from you and me, we’d understand. Perhaps, if we could hear the welcome they receive from old familiar voices all so dear, we would not grieve. Perhaps, if we could know the reason why they went, we’d smile – and wipe away the tears that flow: we’d wait content. 

I DID NOT DIE 

Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swi upli ing rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the so stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there. I did not die 

. A SIMPLE LIFE BUT CLOSE TO GOD 

(Peig Sayers reflecting on her life on the Great Blasket Island) It is a simple life we lived here, But nobody could say that it was comfortable. Often during life I have known God’s holy help, Because I was often in the grip of a sorrow From which I could not escape. Then the need was greatest, God would lay his merciful eye upon me, and the clouds of sorrow would be gone without trace. In their place would be a spiritual joy whose sweetness I cannot describe here. We helped each other, and lived in the shelter of each other. But my life is now spent, like a candle, and my hope is rising every day that I’ll be called into the eternal kingdom. May God guide me on this long road I have not traveled before. I think that everything is folly except for loving God.