Lecture Notes: The Importance of Visiting Cemeteries and the Concept of Burying the Dead
Introduction
- Speaker: Father Mike Schmitz
- Platform: Ascension Presents
- Topic: Why do Catholics visit cemeteries?
The Nature of Human Beings
- Human beings are a body-soul composite.
- Body and soul together constitute a human person.
- Divine and angelic persons do not have bodies.
- Death is the separation of body and soul.
- After death, neither the body nor the soul is fully the person.
Reasons for Visiting Cemeteries
- Connection to the person:
- The body is as much them as the soul is, despite its decay.
- Tangible connection to the person through their resting place.
The Corporal Works of Mercy
- Origin: Derived from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25.
- Includes actions like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned, etc.
- Burying the dead is a recognized corporal work of mercy.
- Emphasizes the care for the body.
- Historical context: Book of Tobit highlights burying the dead as a virtue.
- Rabbis consider it a mitzvah with no expectation of repayment.
The Concept of Mercy
- Mercy: Love needed most and deserved least.
- Burying the dead as an act of mercy, as it involves caring for someone who cannot reciprocate.
Catholic Practices Regarding the Deceased
- Catholic guidelines:
- Cremated remains (cremains) should be interred, not scattered.
- Remains should be placed in holy ground.
Visiting Graves as an Act of Mercy
- Visiting graves is a way to pray and intercede for the dead.
- Based on 2 Maccabees chapter 12: Praying for the dead is righteous.
- Personal invitation: Recognize visiting graves as an opportunity to pray and remember.
Reflection
- The Bone Church in Rome as an example of a sacred resting place.
- Reminder: "What you are now, we once were. What we are now, you will be."
- Importance of reflection on mortality and the practice of praying for the dead.
Closing
- Encouragement to recognize visiting cemeteries as a holy act.
- Call to pray for the deceased and recognize the sanctity of their resting place.
- Conclusion by Father Mike: Reflect on the transient nature of life.
Note: These lecture notes summarize the key points made by Father Mike Schmitz regarding the Catholic practice of visiting cemeteries and the theological basis for burying the dead as an act of mercy.