I recently attended the funeral of a young man who died tragically. It happened to be a solemn high Traditional Latin Mass, entirely licit and even affirmed by the presence of our local bishop, his retired predecessor, and a couple dozen priests. That liturgy, however, was – all extraneous considerations aside – definitely not something to be reduced to the controversies surrounding the recent SSPX consecrations, the back and forth about Traditionis custodes (Pope Francis’ sharp curtailing of the TLM), or the short- and long-term fallout of Sacrosanctum Concilium (the Vatican II document on liturgy). It was all directed towards prayer for the eternal destiny of the young man’s soul and the souls of us all, which – sad to say – seem to get scant attention in the Church today, even at funerals.
It was a deeply moving experience, and it got me thinking, afterwards, as to why modern funerals so often are not. There’s been a massive shift in the Church towards what are often even called – even at Catholic funerals – “celebrations of the life” of someone who has died. And there seems to be an unspoken current running beneath it all that, despite all Our Lord’s warnings about the narrowness of the gate, everyone ends up in Heaven.
(By the way, it won’t do to blame Hans Urs von Balthasar or, more recently, someone like Bishop Robert Barron among others, for encouraging this attitude. I noticed during the Rosary before Mass that the Fatima prayer contains the formula, “And lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.” Sure. The prayer doesn’t say that all are saved, or even that many are. And in truth, to judge from the Scriptures, not all of us are. But it certainly expresses that hope, which we all should have.)
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