Could have a Baltimore Catechism question, please …
Why do we celebrate a funeral?
5. Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of the just. The Mass, the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection, is the principal celebration of the Christian funeral.
It’s the Mass. It’s Jesus Christ. There is a context: the death of one of his faithful ones. But the Paschal Mystery remains primary.
Catholic Sensibility 