Sharings

Clueless

Dear Editor,
I read your article "Fired up about cremation" (September, ML 24:7). You don’t seem to have a clue why more and more people are opting for cremation over a full funeral and burial. Let me help you.

In my capacity as the Church of St. Timothy’s secretary for over 12 years I have observed more and more people turning to cremation. The answer is as plain as the nose on your face-money. They can’t afford a funeral with a body brought to the church, and then have the body cremated. It is a fraction of the cost to just have cremation. Last week alone I observed a situation where they said they didn’t even want an organist if there was a
charge.

You can preach and teach all you want about the importance of having the body present but the bottom line is always money. There are a lot of things we feel should be done to celebrate our sacraments and liturgies but when you get out in the trenches (in the parish) you discover they aren’t always possible. The idea is beautiful but just taking the body back and forth alone can cost $800 not to mention the casket they will have to purchase. With cremation the whole thing will run a little over $800.

It might be helpful to do a survey of what parishes are actually doing to deal with these situations.

Elizabeth Nienhaus
Escondido, Calif.

High cost of dying

Dear Editor,
You scraped a nerve with your views on cremation! I am in full agreement with your thesis. Nevertheless, both my wife and I will be cremated because neither one of us wants our estate burdened with the thousands of dollars that a "normal" funeral now costs.

I minister in our parish Lazarus committee. We are seeing more and more cremations simply because of economic conditions. Most cremation societies will take care of business for a couple hundred dollars, compared to funeral costs that run into the
thousands. A dear friend of ours died last year and her funeral came to almost nine thousand. That, I submit, is obscene!

I have noticed that some dioceses have either non-profit or low profit funeral businesses. I confess that I don’t know if these are private or are in some way affiliated with the diocese, but it seems to me that this is one answer to the high cost of dying these days. I am sure that there are others. In any event, economics seem to be outweighing liturgical considerations with more and more people. I find this deplorable, but entirely
understandable.

Vic Kieser
Las Vegas

Clued in

Dear Editor,
I have just finished reading your article, "Fired up about cremation" in the September ML (24:7). I think it would make an excellent bulletin insert for our parish. I would like to have permission to reprint this article. The theology is beautiful, simple and understandable. Thank you!

Camille Squillace, OSF
St. Paul

Helpful web words

Dear Editor,
I had to tell you how much I enjoy reading Scott Fitzgerald’s Web Watch column in ML. It’s the first thing I turn to. I have started working on a web page for the church where I am the business administrator * St. Andrew the Apostle in Gibbsboro, N.J. I’ve used the Web Watch column for leads to parish web sites. I don’t always agree with the ratings, but you’ve given me lots to think about. The "Cyberspace Ministry" article in the
September issue (ML 24:7) will also be a big help. Keep up the great work.

KarenAndrewApos@aol.com
Gibbsboro, N.J.

Cyber thanks

Dear Editor,
Thanks so much to Scott Fitzgerald for his very kind review of our parish web page (http://www.alaska.net/~loki/index.html; Web Watch, ML 24:7). The people of St. Paul’s are very proud of it, and they are very excited about the review. Keep up the good work.

Jeff Johnson, OMIloki@alaska.net
Juneau