Bishop's Note: Reception of the Body

Bishop Eric Menees

Dear brothers and sisters, 

I pray that this Bishop’s Note finds you safe and well! Last week we examined the section titled, “Regarding Christian Death and Burial” that gives background for the whole service. Today we get the very beginning of the service, Reception of the Body.

This section is optional, but its presence really speaks to the hope behind Christian burial. For many in the world, a funeral as a service is entirely for the people in attendance. There are often slide shows or videos of the deceased’s life, people share memories in eulogies, much of the service is about comforting the bereaved. When people talk about the person who’s died, there’s an understanding that they’re in heaven now, and the body doesn’t matter. It plays into a modern understanding that people are “brains on a stick” as James KA Smith says.

That’s a modern understanding, but it’s not a Christian understanding. When God created Adam and Eve, he created them body and soul. Christ didn’t come to the world as some disembodied spirit, he came in the flesh. In the same way that Christ died and was resurrected, we too will be resurrected on the last day. As Paul says in Romans 6:5, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” There are two theories in Anglicanism as to what happens after death. One is that the soul sleeps in anticipation of the resurrection. My view is that as Jesus told the repentant sinner on the cross, if we are baptized, believing, and repentant Christians we will be with him in paradise. The moment we take our last breath on Earth we take our first in Heaven. Both of those theories agree though that that state isn’t the end. Our bodies and souls will be reunited, brought back to life in the resurrection, and after the final judgement those believing Christians will stand body and soul in the presence of God.

Because of that the body isn’t just something leftover, the body is the part of the person still on earth that’s awaiting the resurrection. The funeral pall mentioned at the end of this service is a similar reminder. National flags aren’t allowed to drape coffins or urns for the church service, only the pall. It’s white as a reminder of the Christian’s baptism into Christ’s death, Christ’s victory over death, and the hope and joy we have in the resurrection.

I pray you all have a blessed Fourth Sunday of Epiphany!

RECEPTION OF THE BODY

The following form may be used at whatever time the body is brought to the church.

The Officiant meets the body at the door of the church and says

With faith in Jesus Christ, we receive the body of our brother N. for burial. Let us pray with confidence to God, the Giver of life, that he will raise him to perfection in the company of the saints. 

Silence may be kept; after which the Officiant says

O Sovereign Lord Christ, deliver your servant, N., from all evil, and set him free from every bond; that he may rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations; where with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Let us also pray for all who mourn, that they may cast their care on God, and know the consolation of his love.

Silence may be kept; after which the Officiant says

Almighty God, look with pity upon the sorrows of your servants for whom we pray. Remember them, Lord, in mercy; nourish them with patience; comfort them with a sense of your goodness; lift up your countenance upon them; and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.