The process of preparing a Catholic funeral can be a healing and life-giving experience for all who are involved. This resource provides parish staffs with a thorough treatment of the various funeral rites—from the first meeting with families after death through the burial. It offers pastoral guidance for collaborating with families, preparing the liturgical environment and music, selecting prayer texts, scheduling liturgical ministers, and ways for your parish to be a source of comfort, hope, and strength for mourners.

This resource offers pastoral guidance for collaborating with families, preparing the liturgical environment and music, selecting prayer texts, scheduling liturgical ministers, and ways for your parish to be a source of comfort, strength, and hope.

Remembering Well offers family members, clergy, funeral professionals, and hospice workers ways to plan services and rituals that honor the spirit of the deceased and are faithful to that person's values and beliefs, while also respecting the needs and wishes of those who will attAnd the services. It is an essential resource for anyone who yearns to put death in a spiritual context but is unsure how to do so-including both those who have broken with tradition and those who wish to give new meaning to the time-honored rituals of their faith. The real-life stories, examples, and practical guidelines in this book address a wide array of important issues, including the difficult decisions that survivors must make quickly when a death occurs-and the sensitive topic of family alienation, where possibilities for healing, forgiveness, and hope are explored. The invaluable insights offered here will help those who grieve to prepare mind and spirit for life's final rites of passage.

This book will help families make comfortable, cost-effective decisions about the final arrangements for themselves and their loved ones.

This is a book for secular (or non-religious) funeral celebrations. In a secular funeral, every word of the service can be personal (this is possible because the focus of the secular funeral is not on God or a hope for life-after-death, but entirely on the deceased). However, there are still words that can be used time and again: there are only so many ways to say 'welcome' or to introduce a reading. With this in mind I decided to create a 'book of words' for my own use. My funerals have had so much positive feedback that I decided to write this short book to share my words and provide some insights from over 20 years of experience with funerals...I don't have enough faith to work as a Priest or Minister (although once upon a time I did), and I don't have enough atheism to buy into the British Humanist Society. I have great respect for both traditions (and this book may be useful to religious and non-religious celebrants) but I fall in between the two. I suspect that is where most people are, most of the time. This book could also be of use to families putting together a service without an outside celebrant (there is no law to say you need one!). This book will give you enough information to run a service yourself without a celebrant or clergy. I believe that anyone with some confidence in public speaking could lead a funeral or memorial service...

Wow, that was a good funeral. Comments like this are not an accident but the result of care and planning, contends David Sparks in A Good Ending. This practical book gives advice and ideas for every step along the way, from supporting the dying person, to planning a funeral, life celebration, or memorial, and to being with those left to mourn. Whether you are a new or seasoned worship leader looking for fresh insights or ideas or someone looking for guidance to support a dying loved one, you'll find this an indispensable resource. Practical helps include prayers, sample meditations and service outlines, and detailed check lists also available as downloadable file. -- David Sparks

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A special 25th anniversary edition of the beloved book that has changed millions of lives with the story of an unforgettable friendship, the timeless wisdom of older generations, and healing lessons on loss and grief—featuring a new afterword by the author “A wonderful book, a story of the heart told by a writer with soul.”—Los Angeles Times “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was his college professor Morrie Schwartz. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live. “The truth is, Mitch,” he said, “once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift with the world.